Boston Scott, hobbled Eagles overpower Giants to secure NFC East over Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys kept on the gas with the NFC East at stake on Sunday afternoon.
It didn’t matter.
No matter how many points Dallas scored against Washington, all the Philadelphia Eagles had to do to win the division was beat the New York Giants.
And that’s exactly what they did, securing a 34-17 win to clinch the NFC East and its lone playoff berth, despite a slew of injuries and a game Giants team that kept things close through three quarters at MetLife Stadium.
Boston Scott takes over
Boston Scott took over for injured running back Miles Sanders (ankle) and ran behind a line that lost starting guard Brandon Brooks to a shoulder injury to tally three touchdowns and deliver a fourth-quarter dagger that allowed the Philadelphia faithful to start celebrating with more than five minutes remaining.
Close through 3 quarters
The outcome remained in doubt when Giants running back Saquon Barkley burst through the Eagles secondary for a 68-yard touchdown to tie the game at 17-17 late in the third quarter.
The Eagles responded with a Jake Elliott field goal to take a 20-17 lead.
Two plays later, Giants quarterback Daniel Jones fumbled for the 18th time this season. Fletcher Cox’s recovery at the 2-yard line set up Scott for a 2-yard score to extend the lead to 27-17, his second touchdown of the game.
Scott’s 39-yard catch-and-run on a third-and-13 screen pass from Carson Wentz two possessions later set up his third score of the day, another 2-yard blast that put the game out of sight for the Giants and the division out of mind for the Cowboys. He finished with 54 rushing yards and 84 receiving yards.
As Philadelphia celebrated victory, Dallas wrapped a 47-16 win to improve to 8-8 and fall one game shy of the 9-7 Eagles.
With the win, the Eagles will host a wild-card game next week against the loser of Sunday night’s 49ers-Seahawks matchup.
More from Yahoo Sports:
