Jalen Hurts’ Historic Night Edges Eagles over Packers

The Eagles have officially surpassed their win total from last year as they moved to 10-1 with a 40-33 win over the Packers. After the offense struggling over the last few weeks, the Eagles’ offense needed a bounce-back week, and they were able to do just that tonight.

Jalen Hurts Sets a Franchise Record

If anyone was still questioning whether Hurts is going to be “the guy” for the Eagles going forward, those questions should be no more. Hurts set a franchise record with 157 rushing yards including 103 in the first quarter alone. The Packers’ defense had absolutely no answers to Hurts’ legs. While there were some designed runs for Hurts, the off-schedule run plays were the ones that were back-breaking for the Packers’ defense. His ability to get away from a sack or pressure and turn it into positive yardage is something only a few quarterbacks in the league can do. While Hurts was amazing tonight, the reality is you do not want your quarterback rushing the ball 17 times in a game. This game was obviously an anomaly by showing how many yards he gained on the ground, but he did take some big hits tonight.

While the passing stats might not show it, Hurts had a good game throwing the ball as well. He finished with 153 yards through the air and 2 touchdowns. One thing that really stood out with Hurts through the air tonight was his accuracy, which really showed on the back shoulder deep ball touchdown to Quez Watkins. While Watkins did a perfect job of timing it right, keeping his feet in bounds, and hauling in the pass, the pass was also perfect.

Miles Sanders

One of the underrated players on this Eagles offense this year has been Miles Sanders. In a contract year, he has really stepped his game up. Sanders rushed for 143 yards and 2 touchdowns. One of the biggest critiques of Sanders has been that he doesn’t “hit the hole” or run ” north and south”. While sometimes he has the tendency to bounce to the outside every once in a while, he has done a great job of being patient and hitting the hole when it’s there. Miles is set to become a free agent after this season, and at only 25 years old, I would hope the Eagles give him a contract. Currently, he is fifth in the NFL in rushing yards with 900. He has never eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark in his career, and it’s looking like he will finally achieve that feat.

The Defense Struggled?

While the defense will probably get a lot of criticism in the next few days, I actually do not think the score reflects how the unit played. The defense was constantly put in horrible situations with field positions because of the offense and special teams. Because of AJ Brown’s fumble and a failed 4th down conversion, the Packers were able to get the ball in plus territory with very few yards to go to score. It also seemed like every kickoff was returned farther than it should have been. When you’re constantly letting the opposing offense get the ball in plus territory, it’s tough for your defense to keep points off the board. The Eagles’ defense was also able to get 2 interceptions off Aaron Rodgers. Their ability to get takeaways from what seems like every game is going to be huge when the playoffs start.

By no means am I saying the Eagles’ defense was great, but sometimes the scoreboard can be misleading.