Pitt in the NFL: McCoy finishes Week 10 as league’s leading rusher

LeSean McCoy made Pitt fans proud with a strong performance in week nine of the NFL season, and his effort was enough to maintain the lead in a tight race for the rushing title.

With a 155-yard game against the Green Bay Packers, McCoy (Pitt 2007-2008) pushed his league-leading total to 932 rushing yards so far this season, 31 yards more than Seattle’s Marshawn Lynch. Washington’s Alfred Morris is in third with 825 yards, and Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson sits in fourth place with 786 yards.

Although McCoy holds a steady lead, the Eagles have yet to reach their bye week, which is in week 12. Running backs such as Morris and Peterson, who have been heating up lately, already had their bye week, giving them more opportunities late in the season to catch up to McCoy.

McCoy also added one catch for six yards in the 27-13 victory against the Packers. He will travel to Washington next week and try to his extend his lead in rushing yardage against the Redskins’ 18th-ranked run defense, which has yielded 113.8 yards per game.

With many teams on a bye week in week 10, only a couple of other former Panthers performed notably.

Although he appeared to be physically fine, Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald (Pitt 2002-2003) did not play a significant part in a 27-24 win against the Houston Texans.

Fitzgerald hauled in only three of his six targets for 23 yards Sunday afternoon. His performance seems like it should improve next week, when the Cardinals take on the 1-8 Jaguars, but Jacksonville’s pass defense is ranked 13th in the league.

San Francisco 49ers punter Andy Lee (Pitt 2000-2004) had a busy day in a defensive battle with the Carolina Panthers. Lee gave his defense good field position by booting seven punts that traveled an average of 48.7 yards. San Francisco’s offense, however, could not take advantage of any opportunities and fell 10-9.