Eagles score on first seven drives to cruise past Jets
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Gardner Minshew stepped into the huddle for Philadelphia, kept things light — as he always does — and led the clock-eating Eagles on seven straight scoring drives.
No, there’s no quarterback controversy. But Minshew Mania was back for a day, and the goofy-mustached backup might have helped save the Eagles’ season.
Minshew was 20 of 25 for 242 yards and two touchdowns to Dallas Goedert while starting in place of an injured Jalen Hurts in a 33-18 victory over the New York Jets on Sunday.
“It felt so good, man,” said Minshew, who made his first start since Week 14 last season with Jacksonville. “It’s the best time I’ve had since we won last year. There’s nothing like that feeling. Glad to do it with this group of guys. They made it easy for me.”
Kenneth Gainwell ran for a score, Jake Elliott kicked four field goals and the Eagles (6-7) stayed in the NFC playoff mix by improving to 12-0 all-time against the Jets (3-9).
Hurts insisted during the week he would play despite an ankle injury. But coach Nick Sirianni said Hurts simply wasn’t healthy enough and instead opted to start Minshew.
“I don’t think there was ever a definitive point where I said, ‘I’m going,’ ” Minshew said. “I looked around before that first drive and Jalen didn’t dress and I said, ‘OK, this is it.’ ”
And he kept going, helping Philadelphia bounce back from a 13-7 loss to the Giants last weekend at MetLife Stadium by slicing through the Jets’ defense drive after drive. The only possession on which the Eagles didn’t score was their last.
“Very proud of him the way he stepped in confidently,” Goedert said of Minshew. “It was everything I expected from him.”
But the win might have come at a cost as Miles Sanders left in the fourth quarter with an ankle injury after running for 120 yards on 24 carries. Center Jason Kelce also limped off the field at the 2-minute warning. The Eagles have a bye-week break coming up, though.
Zach Wilson finished 23 of 38 for 226 yards and two touchdowns for the Jets, and also ran for a score. He was intercepted by Marcus Epps in the fourth quarter — and the Eagles scored on their seventh straight drive with Elliott’s 46-yarder.
It appeared the Jets and Eagles would be in for a slugfest as they both scored touchdowns on their first three possessions. It was the first game since the Elias Sports Bureau began tracking in 1978 that each team scored TDs on their first three drives.
Things slowed considerably after halftime as the Jets held the ball for only 70 seconds in the third quarter — just three plays for 3 yards. Meanwhile, the Eagles had 24 plays for 81 yards over 13:50 in the period. Philadelphia held the overall edge in time of possession: 35:36 to 24:24.