Eagles fail to meet 'the standard' in sloppy 4-turnover loss to Jets. So what is Jalen Hurts' blueprint as schedule gets rougher?
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The loss was mere minutes old, but Jalen Hurts had already located his context.
“I’m not gonna sit here and say we’ve been here before or anything like that,” the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback said after his team’s 20-14 loss to the New York Jets. “But we have.”
The Eagles had coughed up four turnovers, lost a game and responded decisively in the weeks that followed during a 2022 period en route to last season's Super Bowl appearance.
Hurts pointed to the last regular-season loss he’d played in — perhaps an unintentional humble brag, reminding fans the Eagles had won 11 straight regular-season games with him at the helm — and compared.
On Nov. 14, 2022, the Eagles snapped their unbeaten streak with a 32-21 loss to the Washington Commanders. Hurts threw one interception that day; two of his receivers and tight end Dallas Goedert each lost a fumble.
Four turnovers. One of them was more of Hurts’ responsibility than the other three. An upset loss to snap the perfect record.
Does this sound familiar?
So when Hurts looks at the four turnovers his squad surrendered to the Jets on Sunday, he’s not taking them lightly or eschewing accountability. But he revisits the playbook that worked very well last year, looks around at a locker room with a meaningful number of teammates who spearheaded that turnaround, and he says what he believes: “These things, they build character.”
The Eagles know what they need to do next.
“It’s OK to [be] a little frustrated because sometimes you need that, to light a fire under everybody’s ass,” said wide receiver. A.J. Brown, who posted 131 receiving yards but declined to celebrate it. “I think everybody’s got this laser focus now. And you be needing that.”
4 turnovers too many for Eagles to overcome
The Eagles’ problems began in earnest in the second quarter.
Hurts targeted Goedert on an intermediate pass on third-and-8 and Jets linebacker Jermaine Johnson lunged for Goedert as he began to secure the ball, which instead launched free. Defensive tackle Quinnen Williams grasped it — “The ball bounces in weird ways,” Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni would say — and returned the interception seven yards.
But the Eagles' defense hunkered down, denying a first down. After a fourth-and-5 completion fell short of the chains, Philadelphia was back on the offensive in a drive headed for a touchdown. The 11-point lead was comfortable relative to their first five games.
But when running back D’Andre Swift caught a checkdown and tried to juke a defender with 1:53 to play in the half, Philadelphia was less lucky. Jets linebacker C.J. Mosley punched the ball loose, while linebacker Quincy Williams, Quinnen’s brother, recovered it to set up a Jets field goal. The Eagles’ 5-point halftime lead was tenuous.
“I got to be better,” Swift said later at his locker.
Here’s Jets LB C.J. Mosley punching the ball out from Eagles RB D’Andre Swiftpic.twitter.com/hwoYmrQLEJ
— Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) October 15, 2023
Philadelphia wouldn’t score again all day.
Sure, they’d track another 155 yards on 34 plays. But when Johnson hit Hurts’ arm as he released a throw on first-and-10 with 13:42 to play in the fourth quarter, the ball wobbled midair and Jets cornerback Bryce Hall rather than Eagles receiver DeVonta Smith grabbed it.
Again, the Jets failed to capitalize as the Eagles' defense held them to minus-5 yards and a three-and-out.
But Philadelphia kicker Jake Elliott would miss a field goal on the Eagles’ next drive. Then with 1:50 left, facing third-and-9, Philadelphia dialed up a play they had success on. Hurts targeted Goedert.
“I don’t think I made the correct read,” Hurts said afterward. “I didn’t do my job on the play.”
Jets safety Tony Adams more than did his, returning the interception 45 yards to the Philadelphia 9. One play later, the Jets scored the game-winning touchdown.
Hurts didn’t think he deserved to win. Sirianni said “that was pretty much the only turnover that was on” Hurts.
“You have so many missed opportunities and really so many mistakes as if you’re kind of giving it away,” Hurts said. “You turn the ball over four times, you shouldn’t expect to win.”
As Eagles prepare for gauntlet, Hurts reminds ‘Rome wasn’t built overnight’
As the Eagles flocked back into the visiting locker room at MetLife Stadium, Sirianni didn’t address his players. He instead allowed his players to speak to their teammates.
Sirianni said he would keep that message inside the locker room, where he believed it belonged.
The unusual uniformity of postgame language from players made clear the Eagles’ mindset.
At least three players harped on the team’s “standard” and how they fell short of it Sunday. Sirianni, center Jason Kelce and Swift were among those to announce that the team didn’t “execute” sufficiently. Kelce and Hurts preached the need for more discipline, Hurts adding that “I don’t think we played with great fundamentals today.”
Each player, in sending this message, included himself as a responsible party.
And that, as much as 2022’s turnaround, fuels Hurts’ belief that the Eagles can rebound. Their Oct. 15 output shouldn’t be their peak.
“Rome wasn’t built overnight,” Hurts said. “This is an opportunity. To make myself clear: This is an opportunity for us to grow.”
That growth won’t come easily. The Eagles’ schedule is daunting.
They’re poised next to face the Miami Dolphins, Commanders, Dallas Cowboys, Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers in order. None of the Eagles’ next eight opponents currently holds a losing record, and the only .500 team — the Commanders — took the Eagles to overtime in Philadelphia earlier this season, while they will next time enjoy home-field advantage.
The Dolphins, Chiefs and Niners each currently match Philadelphia’s 5-1 record.
But Hurts’ response to a four-turnover day translates to the gauntlet that awaits.
“You look at the situation and you say, well, yeah of course it’s frustrating being on this tip of it,” he said. “But the great ones turn negative situations into positive situations.
“Great teams do that as well.”
And that standard that the Eagles didn’t meet as they coughed up promising drives in what Kelce said is better described as a “mistake” than a “turnover” to more precisely explain that offensive line deficiencies, receiver play and quarterback decision-making all factored into the sinking ship? Well, Hurts knows he’s among those who needs to play better to lead the Eagles where they want to go. His teammates don’t view this as a quarterback problem, even temporarily, on a day when Hurts was pressured more than he had been in his past 36 games including playoffs, per ESPN Stats and Info.
“We hate when he’s running around because we just want him to get through his reads,” Eagles left tackle Jordan Mailata said, after a game where Philadelphia lost four-time Pro Bowl right tackle Lane Johnson. “Sometimes he saves us, and I love him for that. He saves us from giving up sacks and it’s a sticky situation.
“We’ve got to do a better job up front.”
Don’t expect Hurts to relieve himself of responsibility on that account, in Sunday’s loss to the Jets nor in any of the competitive matchups that await. Just as he remembers last year’s Washington loss acutely, Hurts too will remember this loss and the mistakes that contributed.
They’ll fuel his practice and his film study and his team leadership, Hurts unwilling to say that maybe, just maybe, he played at a fine caliber against the Jets while a host of other disappointments unfolded.
That’s not how he views the standard.
“The object is to play to our standard at all times and demand excellence of ourselves. We were not today,” Hurts said. “The standard is the standard.
“It only rises.”
