The Eagles advanced to the NFC Championship Game in dominant fashion against the Giants on Saturday night at the Linc.
The final score was 38-7 — fittingly on the fifth year anniversary of the 2017 NFC Championship Game with the same score — but it wasn’t even that close.
On Saturday, the Eagles simply out-classed the Giants and showed why they were the No. 1 seed in the NFC this season.
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What’s most impressive is that the Eagles saved their best performance of the season for the playoffs.
Quarterback
Jalen Hurts: 16/24, 154 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INT; 9 rushing attempts, 34 yards, 1 TD
The final stat line won’t blow you away but Hurts was great on Saturday and got the Eagles off to an incredibly fast start. In the first quarter, he was 7-for-7 for 89 yards and 2 touchdowns, the only two touchdowns the Eagles would end up needing. It was also very encouraging to see the playbook opened up again for Hurts, who apparently told FOX sideline reporter Pam Oliver that he was “nowhere near 100 percent.” Didn’t matter. Whatever percentage Hurts was on Saturday night, it was more than enough.
NFL
Grade: A
Running back
Kenny Gainwell: 12 carries, 112 yards, 1 TD
The Eagles ran all over the Giants’ 27th-ranked run defense on Saturday. Miles Sanders had a great game with 17 carries for 90 yards but then Gainwell went off and Boston Scott had 6 carries for 32 yards and a touchdown of his own. All three backs did impressive things on Saturday.
Grade: A+
Receiver
DeVonta Smith: 6 catches on 10 targets for 61 yards, 1 TD
The Eagles hit a deep shot from Hurts to Smith on the second play from scrimmage for a big 40-yard gain and the route was on. A little bit of a quiet day in the stat sheet for A.J. Brown, who had 3 catches on 6 targets for 22 yards but he made a couple huge blocks for his teammates. So did Zach Pascal, who got the start in 11 personnel over Quez Watkins.
Grade: A
Tight end
Dallas Goedert: 5 catches on 5 targets for 58 yards, 1 TD
Goedert’s final stat line wasn’t crazy but he dominated whenever the ball went to him. Goedert also played like a man possessed, especially with a crazy stiff arm early in the game. “He’s trying to punish somebody,” Hurts said. “He’s not trying to spare no man.”
Grade: A
Offensive line
The Eagles finished with 268 yards on the ground, just six away from their franchise playoff record set back in 1949! They absolutely dominated up front against a defensive line with some pretty good players, including Dexter Lawrence, who was coming off his own dominant performance last week. Not only was the run game unstoppable but Hurts was kept clean. He was sacked just one time.
Grade: A+
Defensive line
Haason Reddick: 5 tackles, 1 1/2 sacks, 3 QB hits, 1 TFL
The Eagles destroyed the Giants in the trenches on both sides of the ball. Reddick and Sweat led the way with 1 1/2 sacks each, while Fletcher Cox and Brandon Graham each contributed 1 apiece. Daniel Jones was constantly under pressure and the Eagles still rushed with discipline to make sure Jones didn’t hurt them with his legs.
Grade: A+
Linebacker
T.J. Edwards: 4 tackles
Sure, the Giants ended up averaging 5.9 yards per rushing attempt but in a game where the Eagles got a big lead early, that’s fine. Let them establish the run in the second half of a game when they trail by three scores. The linebackers did their jobs.
Grade: A
Secondary
James Bradberry: 2 tackles, 2 PBUs, 1 INT
It had to be sweet for Bradberry to pick up an interception in the playoffs against the team that released him in May to save some cap space. Jones completed just 55% of his passes and finished with a passer rating of 53.8. And some of those sacks were because no one was open down the field. The corner trio put the clamps on. Marcus Epps made some big tackles. And Reed Blankenship rebounded from a shaky start to make some big plays the rest of the way.
Grade: A
Special teams
Brett Kern: 3 punts, 129 yards (43.0), 3 inside 20
All of a sudden, the veteran punter looked pretty good. Kern had been shaky at times down the stretch but it’s hard to argue with three punts inside the 20. Jake Elliott was perfect, hitting his only field goal attempt and all five PATs. And Britain Covey had four fair catches but they were all the right decisions.
Grade: A
Coaching
No rust here. That was the fear for some fans after the Eagles earned that first-round bye and really didn’t play great in Week 18. But the Eagles looked prepared from the first snap. Shane Steichen called a gem of a game on offense and Jonathan Gannon did the same on defense.
Grade: A+
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