PHILADELPHIA − There was little reason to pass the ball.
Not with Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, Miles Sanders running all over the Green Bay Packers.
Hurts set a record for most rushing yards by an Eagles quarterback with 157 yards, Sanders added a career-high 143 yards, and the Eagles beat Green Bay 40-33 on Sunday night.
As a team, the Eagles had 363 yards on the ground, just short of a team record of 376 yards set 74 years ago, in 1948 against Washington.
“It shows that we can do this day in and day out,” Sanders said. “It is a lovely feeling. I am not going to lie … When the run game is working, we are not shying away from the run game. We have been dominant every time we stick to the run game.”
The Eagles improved to 10-1 on the season for only the fifth time in team history. The other four times, they played for championships, winning twice.
The Eagles needed all of that to hold off Green Bay, which nearly matched the Eagles point-for-point, even after quarterback Aaron Rodgers left the game late in the third quarter with an oblique injury. Jordan Love replaced Rodgers in the fourth quarter and led the Packers to a touchdown and field goal.
But the Packers could never catch up once the Eagles took a 27-20 lead at the end of the first half, mainly because the Packers couldn’t stop the Eagles’ running attack.
Oh sure, Hurts was still effective passing the ball, completing 16 of 28 passes for 153 yards and 2 touchdowns. In all, Hurts accounted for 310 yards.
Hurts had 102 yards rushing on just 6 carries in the first quarter alone. His previous high for a game was 106 yards, in his first career NFL start on Dec. 13, 2020 against New Orleans. That was also the last time two Eagles players surpassed 100 yards rushing in a game. Hurts and Sanders did it that day, too.
Hurts broke the Eagles’ previous high for rushing yards by a quarterback, set by Michael Vick with 130 yards in 2010 against the Giants.
Why was Hurts so successful early in the game especially?
“I don’t know how to answer that question, to be honest,” he said. “I ran and they couldn’t get me.”
In all, the Eagles had 500 yards of offense.
They needed it, too, even though Rodgers threw two first-half interceptions, both to players who have never had one in their careers in Josiah Scott and Reed Blankenship.
Blankenship, who made the team as an undrafted free agent, was in the game because Chauncey Gardner-Johnson left with a rib injury in the first quarter.
“I know that my name was going to get called eventually,” Blankenship said. “It’s a long season. I was ready for it. I was prepared for it. I went in confident.”
The action started early. On the third play of the game, facing a 3rd-and-10, Hurts took off and gained 24 yards. Later in the drive, he ran for 28 yards before Kenny Gainwell capped the drive with a 4-yard touchdown run.
Scott then intercepted Rodgers, setting the Eagles up at Green Bay’s 29. Sanders converted that with a 15-yard touchdown run for a 13-0 lead as Jake Elliott missed the extra point.
Then Rodgers and the Packers got going. A.J. Dillon scored from 20 yards out. Then Green Bay took over at the Eagles’ 37 after Hurts was stuffed twice in a row on quarterback sneaks on 3rd-and-1, then 4th-and-1.
Rodgers turned that in to a touchdown with an 11-yard pass to Randall Cobb for a 14-13 Green Bay lead.
But the Eagles answered with Sanders’ 2-yard TD run, set up by Hurts’ 42-yard run on 3rd-and-2.
Then the hijinks ensued as Blankenship picked off Rodgers at the Eagles’ 22. The Eagles drove down to Green Bay’s 22, facing a 3rd-and-8. Hurts hit A.J. Brown for a short gain, but Brown fumbled and Quay Walker picked it up and returned it 63 yards to the Eagles’ 13.
Rodgers converted that with a 23-yard TD pass to Aaron Jones. The extra point missed, leaving the two teams tied at 20-20 with 7:41 left in the first half.
Not for much longer as Hurts finished the half with his strike to Watkins.
Then Hurts hit A.J. Brown for a 6-yard touchdown pass midway through the third quarter for a 34-20 lead. The Packers came back with a field goal, at which point Rodgers left the game with his injury.
The Eagles just ran out the clock, and the Packers were done.
Left tackle Jordan Mailata was asked how he knew:
“I think 357 yards (363 actually) kind of says it,” he said. “When you’re moving the chains, getting first downs, converting on third downs. Just executing … and moving the chains and scoring touchdowns.”
Added Eagles coach Nick Sirianni: “You feel that. I love when (right tackle) Lane Johnson comes off the field and is juiced up. He’s crushing the edge or crushing the combination block with (guard) Isaac (Seumalo).
“I might say to (offensive coordinator Shane Steichen) during that drive, ‘Hey, run it again, run it again, run it again,’ because you feel that.”
So did the Packers.
Career high for Sanders
The Eagles were playing their 11th game, but already Sanders set a career high for rushing yards in a season. He needed 110 yards to tie his previous career high of 867 yards in 2020. Sanders had surpassed that total in the third quarter and is at 900 yards for the season.
Sanders is well on his way to his first-ever 1,000-yard season. Sanders’ mark in 2020 came in only 12 games.
Sanders said he wasn’t aware that he had surpassed his career high.
“I’m just going to keep going and keep showing what I can do,” he said.
Eagles sneak fails (twice), starter injured
The Eagles had faced a 3rd-and-1 at their 37 late in the first quarter, and they went to their customary quarterback sneak. It didn’t work, setting up 4th-and-1. The Eagles went for it on fourth down. The snap was fumbled. Sanders recovered, but he was short of the first-down marker.
Sirianni said he didn’t challenge the spot on third down because he didn’t feel confident enough that it would be overturned.
The Packers took over at the Eagles’ 37 and scored, taking a 14-13 lead. On that drive, Gardner-Johnson suffered a rib injury. He was helped off the field and onto a cart. He was ruled out with a rib injury.
“We put the defense in a tough spot because of my decision,” Sirianni said.
Eagles have a sack party
Fletcher Cox was among those sacked Rodgers. For Cox, it was his fourth sack of the season, but first since Week 3 against the Washington Commanders.
Josh Sweat also had a sack and Brandon Graham and Haason Reddick shared one. The Eagles came into the game with 33 sacks.
Delaware native leaves with injury
Darnell Savage’s homecoming lasted two plays. The Packers safety who starred at Caravel Academy left the game on the third play with a foot injury. Facing a 3rd-and-10, Savage came up to the line of scrimmage to tackle Jalen Hurts, who decided to run. Hurts ended up gaining 24 yards on the play for a first down.
At halftime, Savage was ruled out for the rest of the game.
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
