Philadelphia Eagles Jalen Hurts 'Born In' Pressure, Leads Clutch Win vs. Commanders

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was one of several players to play a hero role in the team's 34-31 overtime win over the Washington Commanders.
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PHILADELPHIA – And then there were two, as in two undefeated teams left in the NFL.

The Philadelphia Eagles had to work overtime on Sunday to be one of those teams, having to beat the Washington Commanders not once but twice, to capture a 34-31 win on Jake Elliott’s 54-yard field goal with 3:58 to play in overtime to move to 4-0.

The San Francisco 49ers are also 4-0 after beating the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.

“We won in a different way than we’ve had to win so this year,” said head coach Nick Sirianni. “I think that builds character, I think that builds a tighter team, I think that builds trust.”

Emboldened by coming to Philadelphia to hand the Eagles their first loss last November, spoiling an 8-0 start, the Commanders gave Philadelphia all it could handle in front of their home crowd at Lincoln Financial Field. Washington probably can’t play any better and still lost.

The Eagles, meanwhile, are still searching for their best game. They’ve won in a variety of ways through the first quarter of the season.

On Sunday, they had to overcome a 17-7 deficit late in the first half.

“It’s been an ugly 4-0 start to be honest,” said cornerback Darius Slay, who had 11 tackles. “We probably played our best complete game last week (against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers), as a team. It’s an ugly 4-0. And we aren’t playing our best ball.

“We’re showing that we need to be more dialed in, more locked in. But I’m always happy with a win because that’s what it’s all about. But for sure, we gotta be better.”

There were plenty of heroes in this one, Slay included.

Eagles kicker Jake Elliott has been phenomenal to start the season, and his right foot delivered the game-winner from 54 yards away with 3:58 to play in overtime.

Linebacker Nicholas Morrow had three sacks and 11 tackles. He spent his first game with the Eagles on the practice squad and had just four sacks in his six-year career spanning 81 games.

“I’m happy, but every day I step on the field, it’s the same,” said Morrow. “Nothing’s changed. I approach the game the same way, always prepare. Obviously, you’re going to have success, and that’s always fun. But the biggest thing is staying through the process and committing to that and coming out every day.”

Fellow linebacker Zach Cunningham made a season-high 13 tackles.

Safety Reed Blankenship managed to force an incompletion on a third-down throw in overtime when, somehow, his wrist was stepped on by Terry McLaurin, not allowing the Washington receiver to get both feet in bounds. The play was called incomplete on the field and survived a lengthy review.

Jalen Hurts
Jalen Hurts played perhaps his best game of the season in beating the Washington Commanders, 34-31, in overtime in Week 4 / © Bill Streicher, USA TODAY

Then there was Jalen Hurts. It was maybe one of the quarterback’s best game of the season, according to Sirianni, and not just from a number’s perspective, but his teammates talked about the “fire” that he showed.

“He had that fire,” said A.J. Brown, who had two touchdown catches and 175 yards receiving, just six away from tying his career high. “He kind of woke up a little bit. It gave everybody a boost, because most of the time Jalen just, if the game’s on the line, he throws a great ball, he’s going to be mellow, but that fire showed that desire.”

Asked about that fire, Hurts said that was nothing new throughout his career.

“My whole career has kind of been a rollercoaster in terms of being in different and unique and unprecedented moments, which you may call pressure and stormy and that fire, but that’s what I was born in,” he said.

“I feel like it’s a unique feeling being in those situations because you work so hard and you prepare so hard, and you go through so much to put yourself in a position where you’re comfortable in those moments.”

Hurts completed 25-of-37 passes for a season-high 319 yards with touchdowns covering 59 and 28 yards to Brown while running nine times for 34 yards. In addition, he had six completions of more than 20 yards.

He also avenged the only loss he’s had over his previous 22 starts, making him 21-1 over his last 22 starts. The only defeat in that stretch was last November to Washington at home.

“I thought he was clutch,” said Sirianni. “And sometimes in quarterback stats and all these different things you can override anything that’s going on with a quarterback when they make plays when the play’s needed, right?

“I thought that’s what he did. We needed a completion on that third and forever, and he got a completion. We needed a touchdown at the end of the game, and he got the touchdown. So just clutch. That’s where I really felt. I have to watch the game to give you a sure answer, but I do think that was one of his better games to date.”


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Ed Kracz
ED KRACZ

Ed Kracz has been covering the Eagles full-time for over a decade and has written about Philadelphia sports since 1996. He wrote about the Phillies in the 2008 and 2009 World Series, the Flyers in their 2010 Stanely Cup playoff run to the finals, and was in Minnesota when the Eagles secured their first-ever Super Bowl win in 2017. Ed has received multiple writing awards as a sports journalist, including several top-five finishes in the Associated Press Sports Editors awards.