Jalen Hurts Throws Two Red-Zone Picks, Allowing Giants to Take 3-0 Lead
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – All the good feelings about this Eagles offense the past month evaporated into the gray, overcast afternoon at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.
They were flat, listless, and looked lost against the New York Giants.
They lost center Jason Kelce to a knee injury and reserve Nate Herbig was called for a holding penalty that negated a 23-yard run from Jalen Hurts then Herbig was caught holding again to negate a 21-yard touchdown run from Boston Scott.
Jalen Hurts threw two red-zone interceptions after not having a single one of those the entire season.
The floundering effort did not extend to the defense, which held the Giants to just a 35-yard field goal from Graham Gano allowing New York to take a 3-0 lead at halftime.
Hurts played one of his worst halves of the season.
His second interception came after Jalen Reagor had made a nice leaping catch at the 2-yard line for a 21-yard gain to set the Eagles up for a first-and-goal with 15 seconds to go in the first half.
The drive began at their own 7 and had to overcome both Herbig holding penalties.
But on the 15th play of the march, Hurts scrambled right and threw one up for grabs that Jamison Crowder easily swiped.
The running game, so devastating the past month, had 87 yards on 16 rushes, but it was Hurts who led the way once again.
Jordan Howard, arguably their best running back, was ruled out on Friday with a knee injury, so Hurts took it upon himself. He ran five times for 39 yards. Miles Sanders contributed 28 yards on six runs, but there weren’t any real big plays from either player.
Scott had 17 yards on four runs. Kenny Gainwell was a no-show.
Hurts ended the half with a 27.2 passer rating. He was 8-fof-15 for just 73 yards.
The QB’s first interception came after the Eagles had reached the 20-yard line. Darnay Holmes picked him off as Hurts was going to Quez Watkins. Hurts appeared to have Scott wide open to his left but never look in that direction.
The Eagles also struggled on third down. They came into the game ranked fourth in the NFL in converting on that money down but made just two of their six tries in the first half.
Tight end Dallas Goedert had only one catch that went for zero yards. DeVonta Smith made one catch for 14 yards. Watkins was targeted a team-high four times and had two catches for 23 yards.
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.
