Eagles rush past Giants, into NFC Championship Game with 268 yards on the ground in 38-7 win
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PHILADELPHIA – To finish off a 38-7 victory over the Giants Saturday night, Kenneth Gainwell, a 5-foot-9 reserve tailback for the Eagles, took a handoff at the 35-yard line, read his blockers, bounced outside to the left and split the rest of the defense. He outlasted all would-be tacklers before crossing the goal line.
It punctuated a flawless performance by the 23-year-old Gainwell, who needed just 12 rushes to accumulate 112 yards, a career high.
“I don’t think he knows how big that is,” said starting tailback Miles Sanders, who added 90 yards of his own on the ground. “But I’m going to make sure he knows it is. I’m proud of him. He runs hard, catches the ball well. He’s helping us be better all around.”
Forgive the Giants. Gainwell was held without a rushing yard three times this season and the most he previously picked up was 39 yards against the Packers. Two weeks ago, in the regular season finale against New York, he contributed 35 yards, but he chose the Divisional Round of the NFC Playoffs to demonstrate his top-flight getaway speed and just how much of the load he could carry. His devil-may-care dashes and ability to run through contact served a reminder that while Jalen Hurts has developed a strong passing game with wideouts A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, the rushing attack, which combined for 268 yards on the ground against the Giants, is powerful enough to lead the way to the Super Bowl, too.
“You can pick your poison,” Sanders said. “Start with the quarterback to us to the tight ends to the O Line. It is just all good work across the board. Everybody plays for each other and that’s the most important part.”
In all, four Eagles rushed for 30 yards or more. Hurts (34 rushing yards and 148 passing yards) felt healthier after resting his shoulder during last week’s bye, returned to form on designed runs and scored a touchdown on a five-yard sprint to put the Eagles up 28-0 at halftime; Sanders embraced offensive coordinator Shane Steichen’s commitment to rhythm in the run game as he took six straight handoffs during one stretch. It wouldn’t be a win over the Giants without Boston Scott (32 yards) picking up another touchdown. His tally now stands: 11 touchdowns scored versus New York and 6 touchdowns against the rest of the league in his career.
“I think the most important thing is that we’ve been able to be effective in every possible way and that’s all you can ask for as an offense,” Hurts said. “Being able to efficiently run the ball, throw the ball efficiently and if the quarterback can do it as well it’s a good thing to have and I think it’s a special thing when we’re able to do all of that. We definitely want to pose a threat to the defense and that’s something we work on every day.”
Sanders, who played at Penn State at the same time as Giants tailback Saquon Barkley, smiled when asked whether he relished the victory even more for the personal pride. Barkley was slow to get going against the Eagles before breaking a 39-yard run. He finished with 61 rushing yards and 21 receiving yards.
“I’ll wait until the offseason to brag about that,” Sanders said. “He ain’t in a good mood right now.”
For now, Barkley will rest as Sanders’s focus remains trained on advancing the ball to the NFC Championship.
“We still think we haven’t played our best ball,” he said.
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Kevin Armstrong may be reached at karmstrong@njadvancemedia.com.
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Philadelphia Eagles fans celebrate a touchdown by RB Boston Scott (35) vs. the New York Giants during the second quarter at Lincoln Financial Field, Jan. 21, 2023.
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