The Eagles have been waiting a long time for this Jalen Hurts to show up. originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Eagles have been waiting a long time for Jalen Hurts to appear.
Efficient pull. Pull aggressively. Jalen precise. Pull without errors. Yes, 2022 Jalen.
Hurts turned in his best performance in quite some time on Sunday as the Eagles won their third straight game to improve to 5-2.
Hurts was successful on 80 percent of his passes, 16 of 20 for 236 yards with a long touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith and once again no turnovers.
This was the first game of his career in which he completed 80 percent of his passes with at least one touchdown pass and no interceptions.
In three wins since the bye week, Hurts has completed 71 percent of his passes (42 of 59) for 614 yards with four touchdowns, no interceptions and a passer rating of 127.4. And five rushing touchdowns.
Before the bye week, Hurts only had five career games with a passer rating of 127 or higher. Now he is averaged that in a span of three games.
He joins Randall Cunningham in 1992 and Carson Wentz in 2018 as the third Eagles quarterback with a passer rating of at least 115 in three consecutive games.
Hurts’ passer rating for the season rises to 98.6 – 9th-highest in the league – and his 69 percent completion percentage is 6th-higher.
He is just the second QB in NFL history to rush for at least four touchdowns, pass for at least four touchdowns and complete 70 percent of his passes without an interception over a three-game span. Lamar Jackson did it last year.
After throwing at least one interception in seven consecutive games, he has now gone four straight without an interception, on 2North Dakota-Longest in franchise history, behind Nick Foles’ seven-game streak in 2013.
Thanks to Saquon Barkley and what has become an impressive running game, Hurts hasn’t had to throw much: just 60 passes during the three-game winning streak.
But he has only had 17 incomplete passes in these three games and no turnovers.
He’s not forcing anything. He is playing within himself. He’s letting the game come to him. And that is a winning formula.
“Jalen works hard,” Nick Sirianni said. “That’s something that doesn’t get talked about enough: how much he loves football, how much time he puts into this game and that’s what you want from one of your leaders on this team.
“(During the bye week), we were able to look at some of the things we were inefficient at, things we’re good at. He just puts a lot of work into it. You are the product of how you practice. …There is no secret to success. “It’s your habits, it’s your work ethic.” The same things it takes to win this game are the same things it takes to win the next one. It takes whatever it takes.”
Since the bye week, the Eagles are averaging 28 points per game. Hurts said he knew during the early season ups and downs that this type of production was coming.
“I’ve seen it at training camp,” he said. “I have seen it with all the work and all the time we put in. It’s just a matter of going out and doing it.
“I’m excited and satisfied with how we played as a team, how we played as an offense. And I think Kellen (Moore) did a really good job today. “We’re all in this together, sticking together, communicating and going out there trying to play efficiently.”
During this three-week span, only Jared Goff and Lamar Jackson have a higher passer rating than Hurts. Only Goff and Sam Darnold have been more accurate. Only Goff has more yards per attempt. Only Jackson has more yards per completion.
When Hurts plays well, the Eagles win. They are 16-1 the last 17 times they haven’t turned the ball over.
“I don’t think we’re there yet,” Hurts said after the Eagles’ third straight win. “I think little by little we are finding it and trying to rebuild things.
“Ultimately it comes down to cadence, pace and the way we play. And then, in the end, optimize all the talent we have.”
The Eagles have run more Hurts under center than we’ve ever seen, and Hurts said he likes the change, which makes sense considering how great the running game has been.
“I think it’s been a long time,” he said. “I think we are capable of being the impostors. I think that says a lot about who you are offensively. There are multiple ways to impose. You can do it with a gun. You can do that in the passing game. You can do it in the run game, in the action game, whatever it is, as long as you have full control.
“So I think it’s more of a mindset that we’re trying to develop and push. It’s about what we do, not what others do. It’s easy to do when you go out and everyone is on the same page and has a similar vision.”
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