EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The Eagles confirmed what was already known on Sunday.
The team turned an early lead into a lopsided 48-22 victory over the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium Sunday, moving to 12-1 and becoming the first team to officially secure a playoff berth while staying atop the NFC.
For the second straight week, the Eagles’ starters watched the final minutes from the sideline after taking care of business early. It was the type of game that required an Eagles security official to hunt down a touchdown ball that wound up in possession of a fan and one where many Eagles fans would be forgiven for checking on other games.
Here’s our instant analysis off the Eagles’ win:
Hurts’ hot start
Jalen Hurts picked up right where he left off.
After flirting with his career high in passing yards in a win over the Titans last Sunday, Hurts made a handful of elite throws at MetLife Stadium. Hurts’ progress as a passer was well-established through the season’s first 12 games, but the contrast of his showing at this stadium last season was another stark reminder. Hurts threw three interceptions in arguably the worst game of his career at MetLife last season.
In his return, he went 21-for-31 for 217 yards, two touchdowns and a 109.2 quarterback rating. He added 77 rushing yards and another touchdown on the ground.
Hurts whipped in a tight-window throw to A.J. Brown on a slant route during the Eagles’ opening drive. The next series, he stood firm in the pocket against a free rusher to deliver a strike to Quez Watkins for a pivotal third-down completion and found DeVonta Smith on a slot fade for a touchdown a few plays later.
Each throw, particularly the one to Brown with accuracy and anticipation, are the types Hurts didn’t consistently make last season and each help explain why he’s firmly in the MVP conversation going into the last few games of the season.
In the second half, Hurts scored his 10th rushing touchdown of the season on a quarterback draw, tying his career high from last season.
Milestone
After scoring his 10th touchdown of the season, Miles Sanders raised his arms in the air and paid homage to LeSean McCoy with his touchdown celebration.
A couple hours later, Sanders became the first Eagles running back to surpass 1,000 yards since his predecessor.
Sanders finished with a career-high 144 rushing yards, including a 15-yard run that put him over the benchmark for the first time since McCoy managed to do so in 2014.
Sanders hit the mark late in the third quarter with a 15-yard run, one of multiple runs that showcased the strides he has made with patience at the line of scrimmage and explosiveness running through contact. His 40-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter precipitated both sides pulling their starters after the Eagles somewhat surprisingly left the first team in early in the fourth quarter.
Sanders wasn’t the only Eagle to hit the 1,000-yard mark.
A few plays before the running back got his milestone, Brown went over 1,000 receiving yards on the season. It’s the third time the 24-year-old, whose social media handle has “1K” at the start of it, has hit the thousand-yard mark in four years.
Puzzling punts
The first half featured two punts with significant implications on this game and the ones to come.
The first one came from Giants punter Jamie Gillan, whose gaffe set up a quick scoring drive for the Eagles. Gillan inexplicably dropped the ball onto the turf before scrambling to punt it away, drawing an illegal kicking penalty. The penalty, which is a spot foul, resulted in the Eagles offense starting at the Giants’ 33-yard line. It took Hurts and Brown just eight seconds to capitalize, connecting for a touchdown on the first play of the series.
The second punting mishap came when Arryn Siposs’ attempt got deflected at the line by Giants outside linebacker Elerson Smith. Siposs did well to recover the loose ball and get upfield, but took a hard hit by the sideline just shy of the first-down marker. Siposs suffered an ankle injury on the play and did not return.
In Siposs’ absence, return man Britain Covey assumed holding duties and did so uneventfully. Jake Elliott took over the lone punting opportunity the Eagles offense allowed and also did so without a hiccup.
Slowing Saquon
Giants running back Saquon Barkley was cleared to go pre-game despite dealing with a neck injury that rendered him a game-time decision.
Albeit hobbled, Barkley had a quiet day against the Eagles’ defensive front. The former Penn State star finished with just 28 rushing yards on nine carries. The Giants offense has typically revolved around Barkley this season, but the group struggled to sustain drives with him limited; one of New York’s scoring drives was set up by a short field after the Giants blocked a punt.
The Eagles have shored up their run defense in recent weeks, but even found success with even fronts against the Giants’ rushing attack. Typically the team has relied on odd fronts with Linval Joseph or Jordan Davis at the nose tackle to plug up gaps, but did just fine while committing less men in the box against the Giants.
With the run neutralized, the Eagles pass rush got to work. Brandon Graham had three sacks, pushing his season total to 8.5, one shy of his previous season high. Haason Reddick also recorded a sack, moving his season total to double digits for the third season in a row.
Injury updates
Eagles safety Reed Blankenship was carted off with a knee injury during the first half and was ruled out shortly thereafter. The undrafted rookie was filling in for injured starter C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who is on injured reserve with a lacerated kidney and ineligible to return until the Eagles’ Week 16 game against the New Orleans Saints.
Backup edge rusher Kyron Johnson was also ruled out with a shoulder injury. Lane Johnson left during the fourth quarter with an abdomen injury and did not return, although he was listed as questionable as the team turned things over to its backups.
