Jalen Hurts Reminds Everyone How He Is Built In Beating Raiders

PHILADELPHIA – Maybe you were one of the ones who wanted Tanner McKee. Well, you got him, but not until the fourth quarter. After Jalen Hurts had taken care of business, after the Eagles quarterback had responded with a brilliant performance coming off two games in which he had turned the football over seven times in the last two games and had to listen to some irrational calls for his benching.

Hurts was brilliant. On another wind-swept and bitterly cold afternoon in South Philly, he completed 80 percent of his 15 passes. That would be 12 completions, three of which went for touchdowns, 175 yards.

His passer rating was near perfect at 154.9. He took the fourth quarter off after one play, the one on which he threw a strike to A.J. Brown for a 27-yard touchdown and 31-0 lead, which turned out to be the final score in getting the Eagles to 9-5.

It sure feels like Hurts is back. He even got his legs involved, running seven times for 39 yards and picking up three first downs, including one on third-and-12 when he gained 13.

Never mind that the Raiders have two wins this season. Hurts and the offense piled up 387 yards and didn’t win this game on a last-minute field goal. They won it from start to finish, and Hurts should receive as much praise for this win as he did the blame for the three-game losing streak.

“It’s heavy to wear that crown,” said Brandon Graham about the QB position. “A lot of people think they want that crown, until they see how heavy that is. …I think he’s been handling it the right way because it ain’t always easy. You’re the guy that’s going to get the blame for every little thing, just like Nick Sirianni.

“The biggest thing is when you don’t listen to the noise, you can really focus. That’s just a distraction. I think he does a great job not worrying about that part. I think sometimes it’s more yourself, you’re more of a critic than everybody else. He’s trying to have a good balance.”

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Hurts was so pumped after that seed that he turned toward the sideline and gave an outward show of emotion, pumping his fist a couple of times in celebration.

“It was just a natural reaction,” he said.

That short, crisp answer was like so many of his responses to reporters’ questions afterward. There were none of the phrasings he likes to use, such as “keeping the main thing, the main thing.”

His best answer may have been to a question about whether he is aware that everyone in the locker room is watching him to see how he responded to the slump he had been in recently.

“Everybody's watching,” he said, with the implication being not just his teammates but the coaches and fans. “It just comes with it, and it hasn't changed. I think everybody needs to remember where I come from and how I'm built. I just want to lead in the right way, set the right example. I've done the same thing since I went to University of Alabama and everything that has been in front of me, so it's no different now.”

What’s in front of the Eagles now is the NFC East title. The Cowboys’ home loss to the Vikings on Sunday night means that the Eagles can become the first team in 21 years to win back-to-back division championships. The last team to do was Andy Reid’s Eagles from 2001-04.

It’s a rather incredible stat, that, thanks to Hurts and a great display of defense, the Eagles are on the brink of doing something that their East mates – the Cowboys, Commanders, and Giants – haven’t been able to do this century, and that is win two straight division titles.

“I wouldn’t want another quarterback, to be honest,” said Eagles linebacker Nakobe Dean. “He can’t do no wrong in my eyes.”

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