Larry Henry Jr
Jalen Hurts made his long-awaited return to action for the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, and although his performance wasn’t dazzling, he did help Nick Sirianni’s men complete the job in the NFC East.
The Eagles (14-3) downed the visiting New York Giants 22-16, capturing not only a division title, but also the No. 1 seed in the NFC. Hurts totaled 242 yards while the Eagles rushed for 135 yards as a team in the victory over the Giants backups.
Hurts also became the second Eagles player in franchise history with 3,500 pass yards and 500 rush yards in a season, joining Randall Cunningham, while wide receiver A.J. Brown broke the team’s single-season receiving yards record previously held by now announcer Mike Quick (1,409).
The Eagles raced out to a 10-0 first quarter lead after Jake Elliott’s 32-yard field goal paired with an eight-yard touchdown run by Boston Scott helped the hosts strike first. Elliott would nail two additional field goals in the second quarter from 52-and-39 yards respectively, extending the Eagles lead to 16-0 heading into the interval.
Hand it to the giant killer #NYGvsPHI | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/n4yT3scOUV
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) January 8, 2023
Elliott’s 54-yard field goal in the third quarter extended the Eagles lead to 19-0 before the Giants got on the board with 0:50 remaining. Graham Gano’s 24-yard chip shot made it 19-3 heading into the fourth quarter.
Despite New York’s best efforts through a 14-yard touchdown run by quarterback Davis Webb and a 25-yard passing score from Webb to Kenny Golladay, the Eagles would hang on. Elliott added his fifth and final field goal of the night in between the Giants’ touchdowns, capping the final score at 22-16.
The Eagles were held to only two sacks on Webb through the 60 minutes, a surprisingly low total for the NFL’s leaders in that category.
Make some noise for your NFC East CHAMPS🗣#FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/8C8dpZIX0p
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) January 9, 2023
After setting a new franchise record for wins in a regular season (14), the Eagles will now head into a first round bye before welcoming the lowest-seed remaining to Lincoln Financial Field in two weeks.
You can follow Larry Henry on Twitter (@lhenry019) and e-mail him at [email protected].
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