Eagles Put Together a 'Special' Running Game
PHILADELPHIA - There's running the football and then there is what the 10-1 Eagles did to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night during a 40-33 victory.
You have to go back almost 55 years to find a better rushing performance by Philadelphia than the 363 it piled up on Joe Barry's leaky defensive unit.
Both Jalen Hurts and Miles Sanders amassed career-highs on the ground in the same game and the former set a franchise record for quarterbacks with 157 yards.
Sanders, meanwhile, continued his career year in what is a contract season with 143 yards, a number that put him at 900 yards for the first time in his five years as a pro with six games to play.
The backup running backs - Boston Scott and Kenny Gainwell - ripped off runs at the clips of 8.0 and 4.9 yards per carry.
As a team, the Philadelphia run offense was at a mind-numbing 7.4 yards per carry.
It was so dominant that waiting for a duplicate performance may take another half-century or so.
The stars - with the help of Jeff Stoutland and the game's best offensive line - aligned despite the overcast skies in South Philadelphia.
"Bottom line is, you can’t allow somebody to run for 363 yards against you and you can’t turn the ball over in a game like this," Packers coach Matt LaFleur said.
Hurts set the tone early with runs of 24 and 28 yards on the first offensive drive of the night which was finished by a Gainwell 4-yard TD run.
“He did a lot of things that are tough to account for," LaFleur said when discussing Hurts. "I don’t want to ever say can’t because certainly, I think we were in some situations where we were capable of making some tackles that we didn’t make. He is an unbelievable talent."
That unbelievable talent was first seen in any kind of extended action by Green Bay in 2020 and no one could have seen what was coming as an overmatched rookie who has turned into an MVP candidate within three years.
"It’s ironic that I think we were the first team a couple years ago, I think that was the first game he got significant action in," said LaFleur. "...The guy is everything I’ve heard about him just coming out and knowing some people here and talking about what a leader he is.
"He’s a hell of a competitor and he’s extremely talented. You saw it not only obviously on the ground. That’s one thing but there are some remarkable throws as well.”
Sanders, meanwhile, wasn't shy when pointing to what got the running game going.
"Oh, he opened it up, yes he did," Sanders said of Hurts. "I appreciate him for that. It’s good to have a quarterback like him when you can just drop back, and if you don’t see nothing, and it looks cloudy, you can just take off and get … 20 yards, and that’s going to kill a defense, and make them change their play calling with coverages and stuff like that."
Sanders saw what the rest of us saw. A defense grasping at straws.
"It makes (the defense) all discombobulated with trying to contain all the talent that we have with this offense," the RB1 said. "(Jalen) showed out.
Head coach Nick Sirianni felt the dominance bubbling up during the game.
"You feel that - I mean, I love when Lane Johnson comes off the field and is juiced up," he said. "He's crushing the edge or crushing the combination block with Isaac (Seumalo), so you feel that from the players."
And that feeling pushes Sirianni to press the issue to the point the result can only be described as special.
"You obviously feel that in the flow of the game, and that's where (offensive coordinator) Shane (Steichen) and I are in constant communication," said Sirianni. "He's doing a great job getting the plays called, and I might say to him during that drive, ‘Hey, run it again, run it again, run it again,’ because you feel that, right? And so that, man, that was special.
"That was a special game running."
-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Football 24/7 and a daily contributor to ESPN South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
