Eagles stats: Birds get back to their bread and butter with a dominant ground performance

The Eagles head into their mini-bye with a 2-0 record on the season after beating the Vikings, 34-28, in their home opener on Thursday night.

Here are four stats that help paint the picture of the Week 2 win.

The Eagles had a field day against the Vikings’ run defense, posting 259 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 48 carries. Since coach Nick Sirianni assumed his role in 2021, the Eagles have had only one better day in the run game. That was when they racked up 363 rushing yards against the Green Bay Packers on Nov. 27.

» READ MORE: Philly native D’Andre Swift saves the Eagles — and Jalen Hurts — upon his return home

Running back D’Andre Swift accounted for the vast majority of the Eagles’ run total on Thursday. The St. Joseph’s Prep alumnus who hails from Mount Airy had 28 carries for a career-high 175 rushing yards and a touchdown. Quarterback Jalen Hurts punched in a pair of touchdowns on quarterback sneaks.

“He’s a great talent, a great player, and a great person and teammate,” Hurts said of Swift. “He took advantage of the opportunity that he had and he had a career day. I don’t know if he’s ever rushed for 175 [yards] but it was a hell of a job and we needed it from him.”

If you blinked, you might have missed wide receiver DeVonta Smith transporting the ball at speeds up to 20.82 miles per hour, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. Smith, the game’s fastest ball carrier, exhibited his quickness on a pair of explosive receptions that humbled the Vikings secondary.

On the Eagles’ first drive of the game, Smith torched Vikings safety Theo Jackson on second-and-11 to connect with Hurts on a 54-yard pass. Hurts tossed another deep ball Smith’s way on the Eagles’ first possession of the second half. On third-and-4, Smith beat Vikings cornerback Akayleb Evans inside, running unabated toward the end zone and snaring a 63-yard touchdown pass.

According to Pro Football Focus, Smith’s two receptions on passes of 40-plus yards on Thursday ties the total number of catches of the same minimum distance from receivers around the rest of the league this season.

» READ MORE: Eagles OC Brian Johnson leans on D’Andre Swift and learns to run the damn ball

Defensive end Josh Sweat was in Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins’ face all night long, registering a game-high five quarterback hits. He got home on one of them in the third quarter, beating backup left tackle Olisaemeka Udoh off the edge and posting the game’s fastest sack in 3.1 seconds, per NFL Next Gen Stats.

But the play didn’t end there. Cousins fumbled as Sweat brought him to the ground and defensive tackle Fletcher Cox recovered the ball at the Vikings’ 7-yard line. Sweat’s strip-sack set up a scoring drive in which Hurts found the end zone on a quarterback sneak to put the Eagles up, 20-7.

After the game, Sweat said that his dominant performance was an extension of his strong showing in training camp.

“I work against Lane [Johnson] and Jordan [Mailata],” Sweat said. “I mean, that’s probably the toughest matchup I’mma get. [...] They get me ready and my offseason was way better this year, too.”

» READ MORE: Inside Josh Sweat’s career night and the strip-sack that swung the momentum for the Eagles

To state the obvious, if a team has a positive turnover differential, then they have a better chance at winning the game. The 4:1 ratio of Vikings turnovers to Eagles turnovers spelled disaster for the visitors. The Eagles forked the ball over only once when Hurts tossed an interception to the Vikings’ 35-yard line on third-and-16, which was essentially an arm punt. Wide receiver Britain Covey fumbled on a punt return, but cornerback Kelee Ringo came up with the loose ball.

Meanwhile, the Vikings coughed the ball up on three offensive fumbles and one special-teams fumble, losing possession on all four blunders. The Eagles scored 10 points off of turnovers, which was ultimately the deciding factor in the game. The Vikings offense nearly fumbled on a fourth occasion with less than two minutes remaining in the game when cornerback Mario Goodrich knocked the ball out of running back Alexander Mattison’s hands while wrapping up for a tackle. However, defensive tackle Kentavius Street had jumped offside prior to the play.

“Protecting the football is not an easy thing,” Sirianni said. “You saw the opposite of the ends today. We did a great job of taking it away. Would have had another turnover there at the end on defense had we not been offsides, and then our guys did a good job taking care of it besides the interception.”