Saquon Barkley took off running in the open field to the sound of "M-V-P!" chants – in a road stadium more than 2,700 miles away from Philly.
By the time Sunday night out in Los Angeles was done, the Eagles' superstar running back had two touchdowns, 255 yards rushing, and 302 yards of offense in total.
He broke the game open again, the Eagles settled in again after another shaky opening quarter, and they stormed straight to a 37-20 win over the Rams in primetime for their seventh straight victory since coming back from the early October bye.
The Birds are 9-2, now have a commanding lead atop the NFC East when coupled with the Commanders' loss earlier in the day, and with Barkley's monumental performance, they might have just flipped the entire MVP conversation on its head.
Here are the pivotal plays from Sunday night at SoFi Stadium that made it all happen…
Get that first stop
The Eagles struck first on Sunday night, flipping a reviewed and overturned fumble call on Kyren Williams into an 80-yard field goal drive that hit a wall in the red zone.
Matt Stafford and the Rams answered with a 70-yard touchdown march, gashing what has been a stout Philadelphia defense with a steady rush and short-medium throws that took advantage underneath the secondary.
So after Williams bounced back to punch in for an LA score and the Eagles' offense couldn't withstand pressure on the following possession, the defense came back out needing a stop to re-establish its ground.
They forced a three-and-out.
Darius Slay stuck to Puka Nacua on an out route to the left sideline to make the pass breakup and force a 3rd and 4, then Cooper DeJean locked up Cooper Kupp to force into an incompletion on the next play, sending the LA punt unit out for the first time on the night.
That’s fantastic by Cooper DeJean on 3rd down pic.twitter.com/86HcoafWBw
— Shane Haff (@ShaneHaffNFL) November 25, 2024
A big play that only gets 3
Like with Tampa way back in October, the Rams' plan defensively was to get pressure on Hurts earlier and often.
To an extent, it was working.
Rams defensive tackle Braden Fiske got to Hurts on a third-down sack to force a punt on the Eagles' second drive of the game, and coming back from it, Hurts was scrambling, leaving the pocket, and running pretty frequently.
Hurts and the offense got a set play off perfectly though facing a 3rd and 4 at the LA 40, and then some.
On the snap from the gun, Hurts looked to his right then fired a pass straight to A.J. Brown on a comeback route that was more than enough for the first-down distance, but then Brown spun out of the first oncoming tackler's grasp and cut in between a couple of more before a group of defenders could finally drag him down.
By the time they did, Brown had a 27-yard gain that took the Eagles down to the LA 13.
27 yards and 3 broken tackles 💪 @1kalwaysopen_
📺: #PHIvsLAR on NBC/Peacock
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/irYyrQjMjZ— NFL (@NFL) November 25, 2024
It put the Eagles in a great spot, but they ran into another wall, this time done in from a couple of ill-timed offensive penalties that pushed them back – an ineligible man downfield call on Landon Dickerson on 1st and 10, then an illegal motion flag on Dallas Goedert that was declined from 3rd and long.
The Eagles still got three on a 31-yard kick from Jake Elliott, but were still trailing 7-6 on an opponent that showed it can move the ball on them.
Send 'em back
Or so the Rams thought.
Williams could only push the ball forward a yard on back-to-back carries, then on the 3rd and 9, 36-year-old Brandon Graham burst straight off the edge like he was 26 again to take Stafford down and force a punt.
.@brandongraham55 comes in HOT for the sack 💪
📺: #PHIvsLAR on NBC/Peacock
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/pK6r840QVf— NFL (@NFL) November 25, 2024
On the next Rams possession, Nakobe Dean blitzed, ran straight through Williams' blocks, and then sent Stafford eight yards backward for a sack of his own to force a 3rd and long that LA couldn't make up the difference on.
Nakobe D̶e̶a̶n̶ Mean 😡
📺: #PHIvsLAR on NBC/Peacock
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/UOAKIWpDlK— NFL (@NFL) November 25, 2024
And before the half was over, Josh Sweat took his turn to make it three sacks on Stafford before the intermission.
Josh Sweat with stutter/cross chop/club on #71
got there in about 2.2 seconds or so …
shouldn't happen pic.twitter.com/19bKrjdFXh— Jim Youngblood 53 (@53_jim70721) November 25, 2024
That's a major credit to Vic Fangio's group. They adjusted well, and quickly, after that first Rams touchdown.
On LA's first two drives, they racked up 123 yards of offense.
On the three possessions the Rams had for the rest of the half after, they didn't just go nowhere, they went backward minus 6 yards.
Make it count
In between, the offense finally put up six.
Hurts turned a broken play at the LA 20 into a 13-yard, tip-toe completion to Barkley at the 7…
Hurts finds Saquon to put the @Eagles in the red zone 👀
📺: #PHIvsLAR on NBC/Peacock
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/jWLqJvIFOL— NFL (@NFL) November 25, 2024
Then Hurts went to Brown again for another big one to the left corner of the end zone, and this one counted, even after review, to put the Eagles up 13-7 after the extra point.
TD @Eagles! 6️⃣ for @1kalwaysopen_
📺: #PHIvsLAR on NBC/Peacock
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/ygPD0kW1ww— NFL (@NFL) November 25, 2024
Momentum swung.
There goes Barkley
And Barkley made sure it stayed in favor of the Eagles coming back from the break.
Philadelphia received to begin the second half, and on the first play following the touchback, Barkley took the ball and was immediately 70 yards gone for the touchdown and a 20-7 lead.
SAQUON. PERIOD.
📺: #PHIvsLAR on NBC/Peacock
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/OBVX9o6oqV— NFL (@NFL) November 25, 2024
The star running back had a few plays in the first half where he was arguably just a step short from breaking completely away, so that run almost felt inevitable.
There he goes again
So did the prospect of him doing it again.
On a 3rd and 10 from the LA 44 – and after the Rams scored a touchdown to stay within six – Hurts checked down to Barkley on a screen, and on a cut inside from the block ahead of him, he went taking off again, for 31 yards down into the red zone and to the sound of "M-V-P!" chants coming from the heavy contingent that filled the road SoFi Stadium.
The Giants are so dumb. That’s it. That’s the tweet. pic.twitter.com/9Ggj4S72Io
— Shane Haff (@ShaneHaffNFL) November 25, 2024
Kenny Gainwell put on the finishing touches with a 13-yard run into the end zone right after for his first TD of the year and to put the Eagles back up two scores, 27-14.
Gainwell takes it to the 🏠 for the @Eagles!
📺: #PHIvsLAR on NBC/Peacock
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/8H7XgnDVzX— NFL (@NFL) November 25, 2024
Suddenly that touchdown the Rams answered with from the drive prior didn't seem to matter much anymore.
The pieces clicked into place. The Eagles were rolling.
Whiff
The long LA drive that followed pushed into Eagles territory, but got stood up on a third-down offensive holding call and then a Milton Williams sack on Stafford for the repeated third and long.
The Rams opted for the field goal try from 47 yards away and with 1:36 left in the third quarter. Their kicker Joshua Karty missed, and the Eagles, still up two scores, went into clock-killing mode.
Hurts, Brown, and Barkley led a 12-play, 55-yard drive that drained 6:02 going well into the final quarter. Elliott tacked on another field goal to make it 30-14.
The Eagles, at that point, were free to take their time en route to 9-2, seven straight wins, and a sizable lead atop the NFC East.
One more
Just not before Barkley housed another touchdown run of 72 yards, giving himself, easily, a new career-high mark of 255 yards rushing and the Eagles a more than comfortable 37-14 lead late.
WOW SAQUON WOW pic.twitter.com/DliVWBTUVn
— NFL (@NFL) November 25, 2024
The "M-V-P!" chants followed again.
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