After Jalen Hurts led another clutch Eagles victory, one teammate compared him to Tom Brady
Jalen Hurts was torn.
The Philadelphia Eagles quarterback was fresh off his eighth career game-winning drive.
He’d marched his team downfield in overtime against the Buffalo Bills, capping off the pursuit with a 12-yard rushing touchdown in which he barreled up the middle of the field to notch his team’s 10th win of the season with a 37-34 victory.
The touchdown was Hurts’ fifth of the day (three passing, two rushing). His all-purpose yardage: 265.
Still, the winning quarterback was conflicted.
“I shake my head and I don’t really know how to feel sometimes, because I just want to lead and play to the standard at all times,” Hurts said afterward. “That’s why it’s weird for me.”
Hurts felt weird, he explained, because he knew a team win was a source of joy but wasn’t sure his individual play warranted such levity. Hurts felt weird because he understands that in a league of parity like the NFL, the margin for error is so small. And while he continues to guide his team to the right side of that margin, he’s acutely aware of how close the threshold is.
“Winning is the only thing that matters, but the standard is pretty darn important, too,” Hurts said. “There were opportunities to do that all throughout the game and we did not. But we did it when it mattered the most and what I take away from that is: Just learn from it and grow from it.
“There’s nothing to be satisfied about.”
Hurts’ tone diverged from that of his colleagues. Sure, everyone on the Eagles values improvement and growth. But they also recognize that what they’re doing, and what Hurts in particular is doing with his continued big plays in big moments, is special.
Hurts became just the second NFL quarterback since 1950 to start 10-1 or better through 11 games in consecutive seasons, per Elias Sports (Peyton Manning was the first in 2005-06). He’s the first quarterback since 1950 to win 14 straight games against opponents with winning records, per ESPN Stats and Info.
Hurts’ late-game magic has helped lift the Eagles from a good team to a great one. That prompted Eagles veteran defensive end Brandon Graham to compare Hurts to Tom Brady, who led 58 game-winning drives in his 23-year career.
“They always talk about Tom Brady with the drives at the end — I’m hoping Jalen starts getting that name,” Graham said. “I’m happy that he went out there and finished the deal [with] a game-winning drive. Keep them coming.
“We love putting it in his hands at the end to give us a chance.”
Tale of 2 halves for Hurts, Eagles
Hurts is undoubtedly hard on himself.
He also, statistically, fared poorly in the first half. Hurts completed just 4 of 11 pass attempts for 33 yards through two quarters, the Eagles going 0-for-4 on third-down attempts.
Hurts threw one early second-quarter pass into the path of Bills pass rusher Leonard Floyd’s outstretched hand, Floyd’s tip setting up an interception by linebacker Terrel Bernard that then positioned the Bills for their first go-ahead drive of the day.
Later that same quarter, Hurts and running back Kenneth Gainwell fumbled a handoff. Again, the Bills recovered and powered the turnover-gifted possession to a touchdown.
“It couldn’t have been much worse of a first half,” Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said.
But Philadelphia had entered the last three games trailing at halftime, rebounding to win each. Why not extend the streak to four?
Momentum began to swing with 10:36 to play in the third quarter, when Bills kicker Tyler Bass’ 48-yard field-goal attempt hooked wide right on a rainy afternoon. The next drive, Eagles running back D’Andre Swift scurried past Bills defenders for a field-flipping 36-yard gain. Five plays later, Hurts completed an off-platform, 3-yard touchdown pass to receiver A.J. Brown.
Philadelphia would continue to respond to both the weather and the absence of four-time Pro Bowl right tackle Lane Johnson by leaning heavily on the run game. But when Hurts did pass, he passed to the end zone. Three of four passes in a second-half stretch went for touchdowns.
DeVonta Smith caught a 15-yard arc in traffic with 13:42 to play in the fourth. Then Eagles cornerback James Bradberry jumped a route to Stefon Diggs for an interception to gift his offense a sooner-than-expected possession. Facing third-and-15 with 11:18 to play in regulation, Hurts rolled to his left, pointed downfield, planted his leg and hurled a pass to the back left quadrant of the end zone.
Eagles receiver Olamide Zaccheaus, who’d slipped behind Bills safety Micah Hyde when Hyde glanced back at Hurts and tempted the quarterback to release, had separated enough to haul in the 29-yard touchdown that would leave Sirianni saying “my goodness.”
That score gave the Eagles their first lead in nearly two quarters, at 28-24. They’d lose it again with 1:52 left in regulation, tie the Bills on a 59-yard Jake Elliott field goal with 20 seconds left and then head to overtime.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen, who accounted for 420 yards and four touchdowns from scrimmage on a monster day, converted a third down each with his legs and arms.
But facing third-and-6 from the 22, Allen and receiver Gabe Davis interpreted an option route differently and failed to connect on a would-be winning touchdown. Davis slammed his helmet in frustration, Allen grabbing his head and jumped up and down in shock at the miscommunication on which Allen would later say he “guessed wrong” (Davis said they both erred by not reading it the same).
“We know we’re a good team — we showed it out there tonight,” Davis said. “We was going at it with the top dogs. I feel like there is no confidence lost, just we’ve got to make the plays when the plays are supposed to be made.”
The Eagles, yet again, did.
Thriving amid gauntlet, Eagles face still another big test with 49ers visit
By no means has Hurts’ and the Eagles’ historic stretch arrived only because of their quarterback. Sirianni highlighted that point in pregame meetings on Saturday when rolling footage of 25 different players, including Elliott, each contributing to victories this season.
His point: Every player on those cutups needed to contribute for Philadelphia to win. Bradberry’s interception, Elliott’s field goal and more proved Sirianni’s point.
Still, Hurts tops the contributor list.
“Just clutch in clutch moments,” Sirianni said. “I don’t think it’s anything [new] you learn about him because he’s been clutch for us, clutch for this city and clutch for this team for the past three years now.
“He just kept going and put his head down and worked [to] make some big-time plays at the end.”
The Eagles’ next opponent will help gauge further how sustainable Philadelphia’s late-game heroics are.
The 8-3 49ers visit Philadelphia next week for an NFC championship game rematch between two teams that again top the conference’s playoff picture.
The Eagles won in a 31-7 blowout last January that advanced them to the Super Bowl. But an asterisk lingers of what was and what could have been against a 49ers team that lost starting quarterback Brock Purdy (UCL tear) and second-string quarterback Josh Johnson (concussion) during the game.
A postseason rematch this January is more than plausible.
All of which brings Hurts back to his weird feeling and his standard and his measured celebration of a game that was an important win for the Eagles but also the precursor to another statement opportunity just one week away.
Will the 49ers be the next opponent to echo the Cowboys’, Chiefs’ and Bills’ sentiment that they lose no confidence from a close loss against an opponent as vaunted as the Eagles?
“When you find different ways to win together, nobody flinches,” Sirianni said. “Part of that’s a product of what we’ve done the last couple years. Part of that’s a product of we’ve got some guys still from the 2017 Super Bowl team. Part of that is we’ve got a lot of guys from Georgia who have won a lot, a lot of guys from Alabama who have won a lot. And the most important thing is we’ve done it together.
“Our guys know how to win.”
