Saquon Barkley ran for 255 yards and two long touchdowns on 26 carries as the Philadelphia Eagles increased their NFC East lead with a 37-20 win over the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday night in Inglewood, Calif.
Barkley finished the game with 302 yards from scrimmage, as he added four receptions for 47 yards. Quarterback Jalen Hurts completed 15 of 22 passes for 179 yards and a score as the Eagles improved to 9-2 to continue pulling away from the second-place Washington Commanders (7-5) in the division.
Matthew Stafford hit on 24 of 36 throws for 243 yards and two touchdowns for Los Angeles (5-6), which dropped a game behind NFC West co-leaders Seattle (6-5) and Arizona (6-5). Stafford operated under continuous pressure and was sacked five times.
Philadelphia owned a six-point lead when the third quarter started, but Barkley expanded the advantage on the first play of the frame, ripping off a 70-yard scoring jaunt for a 20-7 cushion. Stafford responded with a 2-yard touchdown toss to Demarcus Robinson to slice the Eagles’ lead back to six.
But the game’s remainder belonged to the Eagles. Kenneth Gainwell made it 27-14 at the 6:17 mark of the third quarter with a 13-yard scoring run, and Jake Elliott connected on a 26-yard field goal with 10:30 left in the game.
Barkley capped the victory in style by busting a 72-yard touchdown run off the left side with 2:44 left, blazing through a hole between the guard and tackle and going untouched to the end zone.
Stafford added a meaningless score with 1:07 on the clock, connecting with Cooper Kupp for a 27-yard TD.
Elliott gave Philadelphia a 3-0 lead with a 21-yard field goal at the 5:13 mark of the first quarter, capping a drive that lasted nearly 7 1/2 minutes. However, the Rams took their only lead of the game via a 1-yard touchdown run by Kyren Williams with 1:02 remaining in the first.
Elliott made a 31-yard field goal with 6:17 left in the second quarter, followed by Hurts’ 6-yard scoring strike to A.J. Brown 1:27 before halftime. That enabled the Eagles to take a 13-7 edge into intermission.