The Philadelphia Eagles went out and stomped the yard in Week 14. They wrecked the New York Giants 48-22, physically and mentally dominating their bitter NFC East rivals in their own house. The Eagles pushed their record to 12-1 and clinched a playoff berth in the process.
Unstoppable. Unbelievable. Unbeatable. The last adjective was a direct quote from star running back Miles Sanders during his post-game press conference. Perhaps he was feeling himself a little bit after ripping off a career-high 144 yards on 17 carries with 2 touchdowns. Sanders was locked in. Everyone in a midnight green jersey was. The Eagles sure look like the best team in football right now.
“We just want to continue to chase progress,” quarterback Jalen Hurts said. “Continue to learn from our mistakes, continue to learn from our successes, and just continue to grow. That’s what it’s about. Just progress. Constant progress.”
Hurts was sensational once again and turned in another MVP effort. He finished 21-of-31 for 217 passing yards and 2 touchdowns, adding another 77 rushing yards and 1 score on the ground. No one is playing at a higher level.
Hurts led the Eagles down the field on their first offensive possession with ease: 14 plays for 84 yards. Sanders capped it with a 3-yard touchdown run in a time-consuming drive that took 8:05 off the clock. Later, Hurts found DeVonta Smith for a 41-yard scoring strike and A.J. Brown for a 33-yard touchdown.
“You just never want to ride waves,” Hurts told FOX Sports. “You never want to ride waves. You never want to get too high or too low. You just want to keep the main thing the main thing and keep going. Nothing else really matters but chasing that growth every day. That’s what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to do it.
“We’re trying to stay focused, we know what we believe in and we’re continuing to do that. I think you sit here and you watch these games and you wonder so many different things, but the reality is we’re never satisfied. I think there’s more out there or us to do.”
NFC Playoff Scenarios Starting to Unfold
The Eagles qualified for the playoffs by virtue of Sunday’s impressive 26-point win. They also have a pretty clear path to the NFC’s No. 1 seed thanks to an NFL-best +138 point differential. They have four games left in the regular season: at Chicago (December 18), at Dallas (December 24), vs. New Orleans (January 1), vs. New York (January 8). Click here for a breakdown on some possible playoff scenarios.
No one was throwing confetti around the locker room or cheering too loudly about getting into the postseason party, though. The Eagles want the NFC East crown … and, hopefully, they end up at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona on February 12, 2023.
Miles Sanders said: “Ain’t done yet. It’s a great accomplishment, long time coming, but ain’t done yet.”
Nick Sirianni said: “Eh, we got way bigger goals and it’s on to the next one.”
Brandon Graham said: “That’s one box we can check off. We’re not done yet. I feel great, us reaching our goals of making the playoffs, the postseason, but we got so much more game and more ball to go. We just gotta make sure we finish like we want to. Great first step.”
Jalen Hurts Keeps Silencing His Doubters
Hurts’ improvement as a pocket passer – a poised and confident one, with deadly accuracy and arm strength – has been incredibly fun to watch. He finds a new way to amaze Eagles fans every week, while continuing to silence his doubters. Remember, this is a guy many people considered a gimmick (in the mold of Taysom Hill) coming out of college.
“I carry my scars with me everywhere I go. I don’t forget,” Hurts told reporters on Sunday. “Do I waste my energy worrying about the pain of someone else or the pain of a sheep? No. But I truly invest my focus in me getting better as a player, getting better as a quarterback, and doing the things that I need to do for my team, so everybody and their opinion don’t deposit at the bank. I just try to stay true to myself, true to my teammates, and just chase that growth alongside with them.”
Now Hurts is the front-runner for MVP, quarterbacking an Eagles team that suddenly looks like a legit Super Bowl contender. Deposit that.
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