Huh, I guess Miles Sanders fits the Philadelphia Eagles’ offense after all

Welp, it’s official: Ya boy (Miles Sanders) is back!!

Okay, technically, the third-year tailback out of Penn State has been back for a while now, as he made his return from IR in Week 11 versus the New Orleans Saints, but since then, the Philadelphia Eagles‘ lead back has been running wild for the best ground game in the biz.

Huh, I thought Sanders was a poor fit in Nick Sirianni‘s offense, and the Eagles were going to draft a running back like Breece Hall to replace him? Weird.

So, with Miles Sanders close to full strength and the Philadelphia Eagles’ offensive line among the best individual units in the NFL, what should fans expect both now and moving forward? A lot more runs and – hopefully – a lot more wins.

Miles Sanders can drive the Philadelphia Eagles’ offense into the playoffs.

Since fully committing to running the ball and dominating the time of possession game, the Philadelphia Eagles offense has been very good.

Despite some initial issues and very uneven run-pass ratios, the Eagles currently lead the NFL in rushing yards per game at a very dominant 165.6 yards per game and have jumped that average to 210.3 over their last two contests. They’re averaging more rushing yards than Lamar Jackson’s Baltimore Ravens, the Tennessee Titans, and even Carson Wentz‘s Indianapolis Colts, who are riding an MVP-caliber season from Jonathan Taylor to an 8-6 record.

Things have been going well, runs are setting up the pass, and Dallas Goedert specifically has broken out in a way that even Howie Roseman may not have envisioned when he gave the fourth-year ex-second round pick a massive extension worth $59 million over four years.

Sidebar: If Miles Sanders continues to rack up 100-yard rushing games, his own contract extension status will be incredibly interesting to watch.

What makes Sanders great – and occasionally frustrating- is that no run is ever just what the defense gives him. Numerous times versus Washington, a play looked either dead on arrival or destined for a minor gain, and Sanders would inexplicably bounce off a would-be tackler and turn nothing into something.

Granted, occasionally Sanders’ ambitions would far exceed his reality, like on the two-running back screen pass that was snuffed out by multiple Football Team defenders before he passed the line of scrimmage but hey, when you employ a rusher with big-play ability, sometimes no-gain runs happen; as long as Sanders doesn’t run out of bounds in clock-management situations or consistently fumble the ball, I’m good.

With Jordan Howard in place to serve as a short-yardage power rushing option – assuming he doesn’t have a concussion from a brutal Week 15 hit – the Eagles now have two incredibly complementary backs with Kenneth Gainwell an intriguing option in the passing game, and Boston Scott still around for games against the New York Giants. Between that quartet, with a now-healthy Jason Huntley on the practice squad waiting for his chance to shine, the Eagles’ ground dominance should continue over the next three weeks plus the playoffs.

Playoffs? Are we really talking playoffs?

There’s no doubt about it; what the Philadelphia Eagles were able to do in Week 15 was incredibly impressive. With Landon Dickerson out and some incredibly bad luck early on, Jalen Hurts, Dallas Goedert and company turned in a fantastic showing headlined by a dominant rushing effort by Miles Sanders. If he remains healthy and Nick Sirianni continues to run an offense predicated on highlighting the strengths of his players, the 2021 season might just end with a roar, not a whimper.