The city of Philadelphia The Philadelphia Eagles advanced to the NFC championship game for the second time in three seasons on Sunday after holding off the turnover-prone Los Angeles Rams 28–22. Saquon Barkley ran through the snow for touchdown runs of 78 and 62 yards and finished with 205 yards rushing. Jalen Hurts also had a 44-yard scoring run.
In the first half, Barkley scored a touchdown from 62 yards out. In the fourth quarter, he extended the lead by running a touchdown from 78 yards out after blowing through a hole. When he reached the end zone, he fluttered his arms and slammed his helmet with his hand on his last snowy steps.
Slide, Eagles, Slide! Barkley slipped into the snow during the post-game festivities.
After the Commanders defeated No. 1 seed Detroit on Saturday, the Philadelphia Snow Birds had reason to celebrate—they will host the NFC championship game against Washington on Sunday.
Barkley claimed that although the weather was fantastic, the atmosphere was even better. We had incredible fans. It was a close game, but that’s football in the playoffs. And in the end, we completed the task.
Jake Elliott of Philadelphia missed two extra points, which allowed the Rams to maintain the upset threat.
With a 4-yard touchdown pass to Colby Parkinson, Matthew Stafford, who threw for 324 yards, kept the Rams in it, making the score 28–22. With two minutes remaining, the Rams regained possession of the ball, and Stafford moved it into Eagles territory with consecutive passes of 11 and 37 yards.
However, the threat was eliminated when Stafford threw an incomplete throw on fourth down and was sacked by Jalen Carter on third down.
For the seventh time since Lincoln Financial Field’s opening in 2003, the Eagles will host the NFC championship game.
To celebrate the turnovers, Eagles defenders created snow angels in the end zone and played in the snowy mess. Despite no reports of snowball flinging, some courageous cold fans went naked, and indeed, Santa Claus was present in the house.
While Eagles scooped and kicked snow to create a circle for Elliott’s field goal tries, stadium technicians used snow blowers to remove hash markers and yard lines.
Hurts only tossed 128 yards, and after getting fitted for a knee brace, his movement was limited in the second half. He was easily pummeled on the safety, but he didn’t miss any snaps. He had seven layoffs.
Hurts missed two games in a December loss to Washington due to a concussion. After returning from the bye with a 2-2 record, it was the Eagles’ lone defeat.
It passes through Philadelphia. Hurts stated, “We have everything we want in front of us, and that means everything for this city and this team.”
The Rams defense, fresh off a nine-sack performance against Minnesota, sacked Hurts three times in the half, despite Barkley’s 118 total yards at the half. The Eagles were out of field goal range after Hurts was sacked on consecutive plays to conclude the first half, totaling 16 yards lost.
The Eagles took a cue from their November victory in Los Angeles, where they won easily because to big plays like Barkley’s 70- and 72-yard touchdown runs.
On the fifth play of the game, Hurts raced for the longest touchdown of his career, a 44-yarder that threw a chilly crowd still energized by the pregame spectacles into a frenzy. For the second consecutive postseason game, Elliott failed to make an extra-point basket.
Stafford connected Tyler Higbee for a 4-yard touchdown to make it 7-6 after converting a fourth down on the drive. Higbee was hospitalized for a chest injury after spitting up blood during the playoff victory against Minnesota just six days prior.
The 2,105-yard rusher slowed close to the goal zone and looked back to clown the lagging Jalen Verse before Barkley scored on a 62-yard run to take a 13–7 lead. Barkley was the first player to record three touchdown runs of 60 yards or more against a single team since Baltimore’s Jamal Lewis did so against the Browns in 2003. It was his fifth touchdown run of 50 yards or more this season.
Barkley made fun of Verse after the Rams rookie linebacker, who is from Pennsylvania, claimed to despise Eagles supporters. Approximately 100 miles northwest of Philadelphia, in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, the first-round draft pick completed high school.
Verse enjoyed the jeers that pelted him in the light snow and encouraged the crowd during pregame warmups. When the Eagles displayed Verse on the bench on the big screen as the game began, the crowd booed once more.
Verse added his name to the roster of Philadelphia sports villains by giving the camera a wink.
In the first half, Joshua Karty gave the Rams two field goals.
Elliott gave the team a 16–13 lead in the third quarter with a 44-yard field goal that drifted through the uprights, making up for a missed extra point.
Injuries
Rams: DE Braden Fiske sustained damage to his knee.
Eagles: Quinyon Mitchell, the cornerback, sustained a shoulder injury.
Up next
To earn a spot in the Super Bowl, the Eagles host the Commanders.
— AP Sports Writer Dan Gelston
