Jalen Hurts stats, Kenny Gainwell stats, third-down stats … we’ve got it all here in our conference semifinal round edition of Roob’s Eagles Stats.
Here’s our 10-best stats off the Eagles’ 38-7 win over the Giants (plus a couple bonus stats).
MONSTER NUMBERS FROM JALEN: Jalen Hurts didn’t throw the football a lot Saturday night, but when he did he was incredibly efficient, and his 112.2 passer rating is fourth-highest in Eagles postseason history. Rodney Peete still holds the franchise record at 143.3 from the 58-37 wild-card win over the Lions at the Vet in 1995, Nick Foles is second at 141.4 from the 2017 NFC Championship Game win over the Vikings, and Tommy Thompson had a 127.3 in the Eagles’ win over the Steelers in 1947 in the old divisional round. Oddly, Hurts is not only the first Eagles quarterback to throw two TD passes in a first quarter, he now shares the franchise career record for TD passes in a first quarter with Ron Jaworski and Nick Foles. Donovan McNabb threw 24 postseason TD passes but only one in a first quarter.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Philadelphia sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
AND HE’S ONLY 24: Only 11 quarterbacks younger than Hurts have ever had a passer rating of 112 or higher in a postseason game, including Brock Purdy, who had a 131.5 figure two weeks ago against the Seahawks. Hurts is also one of only nine quarterbacks in history 24 or younger with a postseason performance with two or more TD passes, no interceptions and 67 percent completion percentage. Among the others are McNabb (vs. the Bucs in 2000) and Nick Foles (vs. the Saints in 2013).
THE BOSTON SCOTT MIRACLE: Boston Scott’s rushing touchdown Saturday was the 18th of his career but the 10th against the Giants. Only four players in history have more: Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith (21), Hall of Famer and Simon Gratz graduate Leroy Kelly (14), Hall of Famer Jim Brown (12) and four-time Pro Bowler Larry Brown. Ezekiel Elliott and Ricky Watters also have 10. Scott’s 92 carries are 60th-most ever against the Giants. Scott has more career TDs vs. the Giants than Duce Staley, Miles Sanders, Jalen Hurts, Correll Buckhalter, Charlie Garner, Wendell Smallwood and Earnest Jackson combined. Scott also has at least one TD in nine straight games against the Giants, tied for the longest streak ever. Brown had a TD in nine straight games vs. the Giants from 1971 through 1975.
CLOSE TO AN NFL RECORD: The Eagles recorded 17 rushing first downs Saturday night, just two off the NFL postseason record of 19 set by the Cowboys in the wild-card round against the Rams and equalling the most by any team in the postseason in 25 years. It’s seventh-most in NFL history and ties the most ever in the NFC semifinal round. The Rams had 17 against the Cowboys in 2018. Last team with more rushing first downs in a playoff game was the Broncos in their 1997 wild-card win over the Jaguars.
FIRST TIME IN 73 YEARS: The Eagles outgained the Giants by 189 yards Saturday night (416 to 227), their largest yardage margin in a playoff game in 73 years. In 1949, they outgained the Rams by 233 yards (342 to 119). The Eagles’ 31-point margin of victory matches the largest by an NFC team in the conference semifinal round in 29 years, since the 49ers beat the Giants 44-3 at Candlestick in 1993.
NFL
HISTORIC RUSHING NUMBERS: With Kenny Gainwell rushing 12 times for 112 yards and a 9.3 average, Miles Sanders 17-for-90 and a 5.3 average and Boston Scott 6-for-32 with a 5.3 average, the Eagles became the first team in 34 years and only the fourth team in history with three players averaging 5.3 yards per carry or better on at least six rushing attempts. The 1940 Chicago Bears did it with Harry Clarke, Joe Maniaci and Bill Osmanski against Washington, the 1984 Steelers vs. the Raiders with future Eagle Walter Abercrombie, Franco Harris and Cliff Stoudt and the 1988 Bengals with Icky Woods, James Brooks and Stanley Wilson.
GAINWELL’S MONSTER GAME: Gainwell’s 9.3 rushing average is highest by a running back in a postseason game on 10 or more carries in 20 years, since former Eagle Charlie Garner of the Raiders ran 10 times for 158 yards (10.5) in a wild-card win over the Jets in 2002. One-time Eagle Felix Jones of the Cowboys and the Steelers’ Willie Parker both averaged 9.3 in a playoff game, but Gainwell’s average down to the 100th was 9.33, higher than Jones’ 9.25 or Parker’s 9.30. Donovan McNabb still holds the Eagles’ postseason record at 9.7 on 11-for-107 in the 2003 overtime win over the Packers, but Gainwell’s 9.3 is highest ever by an Eagles running back in the postseason. Brian Westbrook averaged 8.9 yards per carry on 13-for-116 in the 2006 loss to the Saints. Gainwell’s 9.3 is highest by an Eagle in any game since Bryce Brown’s 9.4 on 19-for-178 against the Panthers in 2012.
UNSTOPPABLE: One more on Gainwell: His 35-yard TD was the 4th-longest in Eagles postseason history, behind two Brian Westbrook TDs in 2006 (62 yards vs. Saints, 49 yards vs. Giants) and Wilbert Montgomery’s 42-yarder in the 1980 NFC Championship Game. The 23-year-old Gainwell is the youngest player to rush for a TD of 35 yards or more in the postseason since Tim Hightower had a 70-yarder in the Cards’ loss to the Saints in 2009.
ELITE COMPANY: The only Eagles with more rushing yards in a playoff game than Gainwell are Steve Van Buren (196 in the 1949 NFL Championship Game vs. the Rams), Wilbert Montgomery (194 in the 1980 NFC Championship Game vs. the Cowboys) and Brian Westbrook twice in 2006 (141 in the wild-card win over the Giants, 116 the next in the loss to the Saints). Gainwell’s previous career high was 78 yards in last year’s meaningless year-end loss to the Cowboys.
PILING UP THE RUSHING YARDS: As a team, the Eagles netted 268 rushing yards, only seven shy of the franchise postseason record of 274 set against the Rams in the 1949 NFL Championship Game at L.A. Coliseum. The Eagles rushed for 253 yards against the Giants last month and 656 yards in three games this year. The Eagles ran for 250 yards against the Giants five times in the first 89 years of the rivalry and twice in the last seven weeks.
RIDICULOUS 3RD-DOWN NUMBERS: The Eagles tied the franchise postseason record for 3rd-down conversions at 71.4 percent on 10-for-14. They set the previous record five years earlier to the day in their other Jan. 21 38-7 playoff win. That’s also 6th-highest since the NFL began tracking 3rd-down conversions in 1990. It’s also the Eagles’ 3rd-highest 3rd-down percentage in any game behind only a 76.9 percent game against the Giants on the last day of the season (in the one game coached by Pat Shurmur after Chip Kelly was fired) and a 73.3 in a 40-8 win over the 49ers at Candlestick in 1994 (the game George Seifert benched Steve Young for Elvis Grbac).
“IT’S A LONG DRIVE, IT’S OUTTA HERE:” The Eagles’ 15-play field goal drive in the fourth quarter Saturday was their longest postseason scoring drive in 41 years. They also put together a 15-yard touchdown drive culminating in Wilbert Montgomery’s one-yard 3rd-quarter touchdown run in their 1981 wild-card loss to the Giants at the Vet. Drive info isn’t available before 1980. Their 14-yard TD drive Saturday night just before halftime culminating in Hurts’ TD run matched their longest postseason TD drive on record. They also had 14-play touchdown drives against the Falcons and Patriots in 2017.