Eagles’ Miles Sanders eclipsed 1,000 yards in a rout of the Giants. Bigger (contract) numbers could be in his future.
Sanders ran for a career-high 144 yards against the Giants, and he has likely earned himself a decent payday when his contract expires after the season.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Miles Sanders didn’t celebrate when he eclipsed 1,000 rushing yards for the first time in his NFL career. He said he didn’t realize that his 15-yard scamper — when the Eagles faked a quarterback sneak and Jalen Hurts pitched him the ball — was the carry that put him over one grand.
But Sanders did bask in the moment a drive earlier after he delivered a devastating block that helped spring Hurts for a 24-yard rush.
“I had a plan to yell like The Waterboy because I was mic’d up today,” he said, referencing to the Adam Sandler movie. “I hope you all hear it.”
If there was a game to get audio of the fourth-year running back, the Eagles couldn’t have chosen a better one. Sanders established a career mark with 144 yards on the ground in the 48-22 cakewalk over the New York Giants on Sunday — topping his previous best by a yard just two weeks after he set it — as he reached a milestone many aspire to reach.
“It’s a great accomplishment. Long time coming,” said Sanders, who has 1,068 yards rushing with four games remaining. “But ain’t done yet.”
» READ MORE: Dallas who? Eagles, clearly the NFL’s best team, make a mockery of ESPN’s predictor
The same could be said of the 12-1 Eagles, who clinched a playoff berth with the victory. They still have the NFC East crown and the No. 1 seed as goals, but coach Nick Sirianni’s team will be playing in the postseason for the second straight year.
And Sanders has played a vital role in that accomplishment, if somewhat under the radar. He has earned his share of praise back in Philly. But Hurts and others — such as receiver A.J. Brown, who also went over 1,000 yards — have tended to get more credit.
Certainly, they have on a national scale. When Pro Bowl voting was released last week, Sanders wasn’t even in the top 10 among running backs, even though he entered Week 14 sixth in the NFL in rushing yards and tied for fifth in touchdowns.
“I didn’t see that. Maybe they should put me in there,” Sanders said. “It is what it is. I ain’t trippin’. I got a bigger goal. Hopefully, I don’t have to play in that thing.”
A trip to the Super Bowl, of course, would prevent any Eagles player from competing in the Pro Bowl, which isn’t even a game anymore. But there is a certain prestige with earning the honor, and Sanders, at the least, deserves to be in the conversation.
His two rushing touchdowns on Sunday — the second a 40-yard burst in the fourth quarter – upped his total to 11, another career best. And his 8.5 yards per carry increased his average to 5.2. But it isn’t just numbers that reflect Sanders’ improvement this season.
He’s running harder. He’s making fewer mistakes. And he’s playing with the joy he showed as a rookie.
“It’s all a mindset,” he said. “Everything’s coming together. My mindset changed and I just focused on what I can control. And that’s what I’ve been doing. Whatever it is — blocking. I’m just out there having fun.”
Sanders was productive in his second and third seasons. But he suffered individual setbacks at certain points. There would be a fumble. Or he would drop a pass. Or he would run out of bounds in the four-minute drill, as he did twice last season, causing Sirianni to pull him.
But most of his travails had to do with the various injuries that forced him to miss nine games.
“He’s been out there every single game, and he’s improving as a player,” Sirianni said. “He’s improved his game, not only running the football, but all these other things I talked about.”
» READ MORE: Miles Sanders has ‘more in the tank.’ Will the Eagles hit the gas?
Sanders didn’t exactly have a ball security problem. He lost only four of seven fumbles in his first three seasons. But he hasn’t put the ball on the ground once this season — which could partly explain his increased carries.
Last season, he averaged only 11.4 rushes a game. This year he’s been more the bell cow, averaging 15.7 totes.
“We’ve ran the ball efficiently here for a while,” center Jason Kelce said. “But it’s been more by committee. Last year, we ran the ball really well, obviously. Jalen was a big part of that, Miles was a big part of that. Boston [Scott] was a big part of that.
“So Miles has had a lot of really good games this year.”
The Eagles opened Sunday’s game wanting to pass against the Giants’ blitz-happy defense. And they did so successfully, with Hurts engineering long drives with precise throws. But once they got ahead, 21-0, and then 24-7, Sirianni and play-caller Shane Steichen got Sanders and Hurts going on the ground.
On the first two series of the second half, the Eagles ran 10 times for 100 yards. Sanders and Scott combined for six carries for 45 yards, but Hurts gained 55 yards on four designed rushes that culminated with yet another draw into the end zone.
Hurts as a plus-one in the run game evens the numbers and has given opponents fits since last season when the Eagles decided after a 2-5 start to become more run-heavy. But the difference this season has been that Hurts and the offense can throw with as much effectiveness when defenses load the box.
Sanders would be the first to admit that Hurts is the X-factor, and that the Eagles’ offensive line is just as crucial on the ground. But he’s likely earned himself a decent payday when his contract expires after the season.
“I ain’t worried about all that,” Sanders said. “That’s going to come.”
Will it come with the Eagles? The last homegrown running back to receive a long-term second deal was LeSean McCoy, who was also the last Eagle to reach 1,000 rushing yards in 2014.
“We got to give miles 16 touches a GAME. He gets busy,” McCoy wrote on Twitter.
Given the opportunity, the 25-year-old Sanders has delivered the more he’s gotten. It was perhaps fitting that he had his best game with Saquon Barkley on the opposite sideline. Sanders stood in his shadow at Penn State, and to some degree, since joining the NFL as a second-round pick a year after Barkley was the No. 2 overall draft pick.
But he’s only 15 yards behind Barkley for this season, even though the Giants running back, who was limited by a neck injury on Sunday, has 47 more carries.
Sanders doesn’t appear to care, at least ostensibly. Asked if his yards or his touchdowns meant more, he simply answered, “Super Bowl.”
However the season ends, Sanders is getting closer to reaching his ceiling.