Eagles Reach Cusp of Playoffs on the Back of Boston Scott

The Eagles' third-string RB is no average next man up, and Jalen Hurts called him a warrior and told a story on Scott's desire to get better

LANDOVER, MD - The numbers weren’t great Sunday but Boston Scott stepping up when the Eagles need him is quickly becoming a default setting of this team.

Scott was the team’s leading rusher in a 20-16 win over the Washington Football, a comeback that inched Philadelphia ever closer to what seemed laughable when the team was 2-5: a postseason berth.

Those numbers – 14 carries for 47 yards and two touchdowns to be exact – are not exactly what has become commonplace for the NFL’s No. 1 ranked run offense but without Miles Sanders and with a less-than-optimal Jordan Howard (stinger) and Jalen Hurts (ankle) hampered by nagging injuries, the Eagles needed to break the Scott in-case-of-emergency glass.

“I think somebody sent me something the other day of you could wake up Boston Scott in the middle of the night, lead him to the stadium, and there would be a game going on and he would be ready to go,” head coach Nick Sirianni said last week when discussing Scott. “I love that about players. I absolutely love that about our players, and Boston Scott in particular.”

Boston Scott scores a fourth-and-goal TD in the second quarter of Week 17 / USA Today

Scott’s two TDs against the WFT were the only two Philadelphia scored and they both came on the goal line in fourth-down situations.

So when Sirianni talks about the next-man-up mentality, he means it because that’s his third-string RB getting the football in the highest of leverage situations.

"I don't want to say, again, the next-man-up mentality. Well, you can only do the next-man-up mentality if -- and we always will live that way -- but you got to have players behind them that are ready to go and are talented, and that's what we have,” Sirianni noted.

Quarterback Jalen Hurts also noted what luxury players like Scott are.

“He’s stayed diligent, knowing his role has changed throughout the season from years prior, and he stuck with it,” said Hurts. “He’s been the ultimate team player, playing his butt off on special teams and doing the things you need to do for the team.”

Hurts even noted that Scott, a Louisiana native, would often drive the four to five hours in the offseason to work with his presumptive quarterback.

“He’s so hungry … The Boston Scott I know is he just got into town and I told him, ‘I work out at 5 in the morning. If you want to do it, we’re going to throw on the field at 5.’ And he’s there, early, and ready to go,” Hurts said. “The desire, the want-to, and obviously for him to step up in a big-time way as he did today is big. A lot of respect for him and I’m happy for him.”

The desire is what gets a 5-foot-6, 203-pound Scott touches at the goal line because it's usually the 225-pound thumper around the NFL.

“He is compact, he hits the hole hard, he can move laterally and he sees the hole,” tight end Dallas Goedert said when talking about Scott’s ability in short-yardage situations.

“Anytime you have a big offensive line like ours and Boston is back there, it is hard for the defense to see what hole he is hitting. He is just a good all-around back and he had a big game today and came through for us twice in the red zone and a couple other big runs.

“Any time he gets the ball in his hands, he is a dangerous runner."

As for the future, maybe Sanders can get back quickly from his broken hand or Howard starts feeling like himself again, but, if not, the Eagles are fine with the next man up in their backfield.

“Boston’s been a warrior all year,” Hurts said.

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Eagles win 🦅

— DIG B0ston. (@BostonScott2) January 2, 2022

-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on both PhillyVoice.com and YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Eagle Maven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglemaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.