Eagles Bounce Back, Hang On To Beat Vikings Behind Sensational Passing Day From Jalen Hurts
Kiel Leggere / Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles are back in the win column.
The 2025 Philadelphia Eagles started on such a high note, beginning the year 4-0, for the second time in the past three seasons. However, they hit a roadblock, losing back-to-back to the Broncos and Giants, falling to 4-2 on the season. They needed a get-right game coming off 10 days of rest due to playing on Thursday Night last week, and with extra rest and practice time, the Eagles came out looking possibly the best they’ve looked all season on offense, at least in the air.
Jalen Hurts has been criticized mightily throughout the first six games of the season, as many have felt he hasn’t been able to get the passing game going. DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown have been essentially non-factors through the first third of the season, as Hurts has gone multiple games without hooking up with either of them.
However, today was different, as Hurts recorded his best passing game of his NFL career, finishing 19/23 for 326 yards and three touchdowns, finishing with a 158.3 perfect passer rating. Hurts found Smith and Brown all day, with both receivers recording over 120 yards and both scoring touchdowns, with Brown scoring two of them.
Minnesota won the toss and elected to defer, which meant the Eagles’ offense was on display right away. Right away, Kevin Patullo wanted to establish the run game, something they’ve struggled with all year, and they did just that. Saquon Barkley rushed on the first four plays of the game, getting right near midfield.
A Tank Bigsby 11-yard rush crossed midfield, but a few negative plays brought up 4th and 4. Stuck in no man’s land, the Eagles elected to go for it, and on that play, Hurts found Brown open down the field for a 37-yard opening drive touchdown, capping off a 12-play 75-yard drive, lasting eight minutes.
Former Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz took the field on his opening drive, and while he couldn’t answer with a touchdown, the Vikings put points on the board. Wentz found Adam Thielen open on a 10-yard pass for one first down, and found Jordan Addison deep downfield for 34 yards for another one.
After small gains, the Vikings were set up inside the red zone, but a pair of incompletions from Wentz and a snap over his head for a 22-yard loss forced a 59-yard field goal from Will Reichard to make it 7-3.
Philadelphia went three and out on their next drive, and Minnesota started their next drive on a good note, with Wentz hitting Justin Jefferson for an 18-yard catch. However, three plays later on 3rd and 5, Wentz dropped back and fired it into the hands of Jalyx Hunt for an interception. Hunt wasn’t done there as he ran the pick all the way to the endzone for a pick six, extending the Eagles’ lead to 11.
Back with the ball once again, Wentz was struggling to move the Vikings’ offense downfield, as a holding call pushed them back nine yards, a backward pass on the next pushed them back eight more, and on 2nd and 27, Wentz scrambled out of the pocket, fired one downfield to nobody, and was intercepted by Andrew Mukuba.
The Eagles did nothing with that interception as once again they went three and out, but the Vikings put up another field goal following an Eagles punt, thanks to a 26-yard catch from Josh Nailor and a 40-yard reception from Jefferson. With under four minutes to go in the first half, both Philadelphia and Minnesota traded punts and wasted enough clock to end the half, with the Eagles leading 14-6.
Out of the break, Minnesota got the ball first and went right down the field thanks to a big return near midfield.. Vikings running back Jordan Mason was quiet in the first half, but he got going on the first drive of the second half. He ran for gains of seven, 12, and 11, putting them inside the red zone, but an intentional grounding penalty from Wentz ended their chance for a touchdown. Reichard came on for a 28-yard field goal and drilled it to make it 14-9 Philadelphia.
After not getting anything going on offense since the first drive of the game, the Eagles finally found success and did so with a deep touchdown pass to Smith. Hurts stepped up in the pocket and fired a deep pass to Smith, who caught and ran into the endzone for a 79-yard touchdown, making it 21-9 Eagles.
However, after failing to find the endzone all game, the Vikings answered the Eagles’ touchdown with seven points of their own. Wentz hit T.J. Hockenson twice for 10-yard gains and found Nailor for 11 yards, getting them down inside the 20. After a nine-yard catch from Addison set them up with first and goal at the five, two plays later, Mason punched it in for the Vikings’ first touchdown of the day.
Back up only five points, the Eagles needed another score. Hurts got things going with a 28-yard pass to Smith, and on the next play, found Smith again for 19 yards. In field goal range, the Eagles failed to gain another first down after Barkley rushed for no yards on back-to-back plays. Jake Elliott came on out for a 42-yard field goal to extend the lead to eight, but his kick sailed wide right, keeping it a five-point game.
Wentz went back out needing a touchdown to take the lead. He hooked up with Addison on back-to-back plays, for 20 and 25 yards, putting them once again back in the red zone. However, once again, they failed to finish the drive, stalling out and settling for three once again to make it 21-19.
Needing to extend the lead, Hurts led the Eagles down the field for a huge touchdown. Hurts found Brown open for 13 yards on a crucial early third down, and then hooked up with Smith for 21 yards to get across midfield and down to the 26. On the play after the Smith catch, Hurts dropped back and found Brown open over the middle of the field for a 26-yard touchdown catch.
With just over six minutes to play, Minnesota trailed by nine and needed a touchdown and a field goal to win. Wentz started the Vikings’ next drive, finding Addison again for 14 yards, and extended the drive with a big play again, this time a 16-yard scramble on third down. Three plays later, Wentz once used his legs to extend the drive thanks to a 12-yard scramble, and once again found Addison open on back-to-back completions, to set up first and goal at the 10.
A big sack by the Eagles pushed the Vikings back, and small completions forced Minnesota to kick a field goal with just under two minutes left to play, making it 28-22.
With the Vikings having all three timeouts, the Eagles needed one first down to win the game. A no-gain run from Barkley and an incompletion from Hurts brought a third and long. On third and long, Hurts dropped back and fired downfield and found Brown open for a 45-yard catch to ice the game. The Eagles then kneed out the clock to end the game, winning 28-22 for their fifth win of the season.
Matt Brown
Matt has been a Philadelphia sports fan all his life and spent four years at Penn State University majoring in Broadcast Journalism and minoring in Sports Studies. He previously covered Penn State’s field hockey, men’s and women’s basketball, and baseball teams while writing for a Penn State blog called Onward State. He has now covered the Phillies, Eagles, and Sixers for Philly Sports Reports since October 2024 and wants to pursue a career in Sports Journalism.
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That was SO needed!!