The Philadelphia Eagles improved to a sterling 12-1 after demolishing the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium, 48-22. As always, win, lose, or tie, we hand out 10 awards.
1) The '1K Club' Award ♣️: Miles Sanders
Sanders rushed 17 times for 144 yards (8.5 YPC) and 2 TDs, eclipsing the 1,000-yard mark along the way for the first time in his career. On the season, Sanders has now rushed 204 times for 1,068 yards (5.2 YPC) and 11 TDs, a season after he had zero TDs.
His day was punctuated by a 41-yard TD run behind Jack Driscoll, Landon Dickerson, and Grant Calcaterra.
In Week 4 against the Jaguars, Sanders set a new personal single-game rushing performance, when he ran for 134 yards. He bested himself in Week 12 against the Packers, when he ran for 143 yards. And then once again on Sunday, 144 yards became his new single-game high.
- MORE ON THE EAGLES
- Eagles clinch playoff berth, widen lead for 1-seed, stay two ahead in NFC East
- Final observations: Eagles 48, Giants 22
- Miles Sanders is first Eagles player to rush for 1,000 yards in eight years
The Eagles as an offense totaled 253 rushing yards on the day. Meh. Been there, done that. Jalen Hurts rushed seven times for 77 yards and a TD, and Boston Scott chipped in 33 yards and a TD on 6 rushes.
The Eagles as a team now have 27 rushing TDs this season. Single-season NFL bests:
• 1924 Frankford Yellow Jackets: 38
• 1962 Green Bay Packers: 36
• 1976 Pittsburgh Steelers: 33
• 2006 San Diego Chargers: 32
• 2003 Kansas City Chiefs: 32
• 2004 Kansas City Chiefs: 31
• 5 teams: 30
The 2022 Eagles are on pace for 35 rushing TDs.
2) The 'MVP Case Grows Stronger' Award 💪: Jalen Hurts
In addition to Hurts' day as a runner, he was 21 of 31 for 217 yards, 2 TDs, and 0 INTs. Again, ho hum. Two of his best throws were actually incompletions. He hit Sanders in stride deep down the right sideline, but Sanders could not "survive the ground" on the catch. DeVonta Smith also had a chance for a TD on a corner route that was an absolute dime from Hurts, but he could not keep both feet in bounds.
Hurts has been the best player in the NFL this season, on the best team with the best record.
3) The 'Co-No. 1' Award 🤝: DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown
Smith may have missed an opportunity for one TD reception, but he made a fabulous play on another. On a fade ball down the right side, Giants safety Julian Love was bearing down on Smith, who showed incredible concentration and fearlessness by extending for the ball, knowing he was likely to take a huge hit.
Smith was fortunate that Love foolishly hoped the ball would be overthrown and he could intercept it. But nope:
Meanwhile, Brown caught his 10th TD pass of the season.
If you call a coverage in which a guy with the No. 44 is trying to man up on A.J. Brown, it's not hard to figure out how that's going to go. Brown went over 1,000 receiving yards on the day.
The Eagles have a pair of legit No. 1 receivers.
4) The 'Feastin' Award 🍗: The Eagles' defensive line
The 2021 Eagles had just 29 sacks, second-worst in the NFL. This year, they have 49 sacks with four games left to play. Against the Giants, they had seven sacks. Brandon Graham had three, while Fletcher Cox, Milton Williams, Haason Reddick, and Josh Sweat had one each.
Four Eagles have a pretty good shot at double digit sacks this season:
- Haason Reddick is already there (10)
- Brandon Graham (8.5)
- Javon Hargrave (8)
- Josh Sweat (7.5)
Cox (6) could also get there if he finishes strongly.
5) The 'Wait And See' Award 😬: The Eagles' injuries: Lane Johnson, Reed Blankenship, Arryn Siposs, and Kyron Johnson
The Eagles suffered a number of injuries in this game, mostly to role players. A quick review:
• RT Lane Johnson left the game in the fourth quarter with an abdomen injury and did not return. In the locker room after the game, Johnson said that he could have finished the game if it weren't a blowout.
• S Reed Blankenship was carted off with a knee injury. The Eagles are already thin at safety, with Chauncey Gardner-Johnson on injured reserve with a lacerated kidney. K'Von Wallace filled in. If Blankenship's injury is serious, the Eagles are going to have to add a safety to the active roster, since they'll be down to Wallace and Marcus Epps.
• Arryn Siposs injured his ankle when he tried to run for a first down after his punt was blocked. He too was carted off the field. Jake Elliott handled punting duties, and Britain Covey became the holder on field goals and PATs.
• Kyron Johnson injured his shoulder and didn't return.
6) The 'Shenanigans' Award 🤹♂️: The punters
Here's the aforementioned blocked punt and ensuing big hit absorbed by Siposs.
That's not the first time Siposs made an athletic play this season. Remember his tackle after the blocked field goal against the Vikings?
But the star of the day was Giants punter Jamie Gillan:
Lol.
7) The 'Oh He's Good Now' Award 👍: Britain Covey
As noted above, Covey filled in as the holder on field goals and PATs, and the transition was seamless. Covey practiced holding for kicks all throughout college, but never got an opportunity to do it in an actual game. He also said that he works on it "a couple times per week" since he has been with the Eagles. When the Eagles needed him, he was prepared.
As a returner, Covey wasn't much of a threat the first 11 games of the season, but the lightbulb seems to have gone on for him in the last two.
8) The 'Get Some Rest' Award 😴: The Eagles' starters
For the second week in a row — and for the third time this season — the Birds blew out an opponent and were able to rest starters in the fourth quarter. That should be helpful as this was the first of three consecutive road games.
9) The 'Playoff Bound' Award 🤷♂️: The Eagles
I guess we should mention that the Eagles clinched a playoff berth with their win over the Giants. That was already a foregone conclusion.
“Yeah they said that [we clinched] in there (the locker room)," Nick Sirianni said after the game, pretending like he didn't know beforehand that if they won they were in. Sirianni added, "Oh, that’s nice.”
Sirianni's messaging was that the Eagles have much bigger goals than making the playoffs, as they should.
10) The 'Inching Closer' Award 📏: The Eagles' first round bye
The Vikings lost to the Lions today, which means that if the Eagles win their next two games against the Bears and Cowboys, they will clinch the 1 seed, and homefield advantage throughout the playoffs.
It's also worth noting that the Cowboys were lucky as hell to escape with a win at home over the Texans, who are very easily the worst team in the NFL. Maybe Dallas isn't some juggernaut, and, you know, maybe the Eagles are.
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