PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Saquon Barkley rushed for 124 yards to break the Eagles season record, Jalen Hurts threw two touchdown passes and ran for a score, and Philadelphia won its ninth straight game, 22-16 over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.
The Eagles (11-2) maintained their position as the No. 2 team in the NFC, behind Detroit (12-1), after a mostly lethargic effort against the Panthers (3-10).
Barkley added another milestone in his MVP push when he used a 9-yard run in the fourth quarter to surpass LeSean McCoy’s Eagles record of 1,607 yards, set in 2013. Barkley now has 1,623 yards with four games left.
Hurts’ passing numbers were a pedestrian 14 of 21 for 108 yards. He hit Grant Calcaterra with a 4-yard TD pass and Barkley ran in the 2-point conversion for a 22-16 lead early in the fourth.
Bryce Young gamely moved the Panthers into Eagles territory on the final drive. He completed a 13-yard pass on fourth down that moved the ball to the 38, and a second-down pass to Xavier Legette gave the Eagles a brief scare when the receiver seemed to have the ball in the end zone.
He didn’t. Young eluded a pass rush on fourth down but his final attempt was incomplete. He finished 19 of 34 for 191 yards.
A 12 1/2-point underdog according to BetMGM Sportsbook, the Panthers played more like a team with playoff seeding at stake.
Chuba Hubbard, who topped 1,000 yards rushing on the season, made it 16-14 on a 1-yard run in the third quarter. Eddy Pineiro, who kicked a 38-yard field goal in the first quarter, missed the extra point.
Eagles safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who was examined earlier for a concussion, changed the game late in the second quarter when he picked off Young’s deep pass at Philadelphia’s 41. Hurts scrambled 15 yards on the next drive and finished it with a 4-yard TD pass to DeVonta Smith for a 14-10 lead.
Gardner-Johnson’s pick bailed out an uneven effort by the Eagles.
They failed to score on their opening drive for the 13th time this season, but the offensive bursts that usually follow never came. Hurts scored on tush push early in the second quarter, his 13th rushing score of the season, for a 7-3 lead.
With nothing to lose, the Panthers went for it on fourth-and-3, and Young hit Tommy Tremble for a 3-yard TD and a 10-7 advantage.
Injuries
Panthers kickoff and punt returner Raheem Blackshear suffered a chest injury. … RB Jonathon Brooks left with a right knee injury — the same knee in which he tore the ACL last year with Texas. The Panthers had been very cautious bringing the second-round pick along. … CB Jaycee Horn hurt his groin.
Up next
Panthers: Host Dallas next Sunday.
Eagles: Host Pittsburgh next Sunday.
