‘You see the look in his eyes’: 5 takeaways from Eagles-Vikings a day later
Oct 19, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) waves to the fans after the game against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-Imagn Images
When superstars get in the zone, it is easy to tell.
Michael Jordan staring into your soul, Tom Brady hunched over on the bench, and Jalen Hurts when he gets “this look.”
Hurts was maginifcent on Sunday. You could see it in his eyes. He had an aura to him. He was locked in and had one of the best games he has ever had in an Eagles uniform, and it came at the perfect time. After losing back-to-back to the Broncos and Giants, this team seemed to be in shambles during the 10-day mini-bye.
Hurts put on his cape and turned into Superman, going 19-for-23 for 326 yards, three touchdowns, no turnovers, and a perfect 158.3 passer rating, leading the Eagles to a massive 28-22 win over the Vikings. For those who said Jalen could not beat you with his arm, well, he debunked that against the No. 1 pass defense in the NFL.
Here are my five takeaways a day after the win:
1. “You can tell when he really sees it. He gets this look,” DeVonta Smith said about Hurts postgame. “He sees it and he’s like, ‘Oh yeah. This the one right here….’ When we’re all on the same page, the sky’s the limit. We just have to continue to do that.”
The Eagles’ goal on Sunday was to establish the run, which they had success with early in the game. Against the 24th ranked run defense in the league, Saquon Barkley had 29 yards on his first six carries. After that, the run game vanished, again.
Hurts stepped up, big time, making clutch throw after clutch throw. He was just in the zone, and his teammates knew it.
“You see it everywhere,” Smith said. “Sometimes on the sideline when he’s walking up and down, sometimes in the huddle. Sometimes he’ll call a play and he’ll say a little slick remark. And it’s just like, ‘Ok, he sees it, he knows what’s coming right now.’”
Out of all of the important throws Hurts made, I think his game-sealing pass to A.J. Brown was the most remarkable.
With 1:45 to go in the fourth quarter, up six, on 3rd-and-9 from their own 44, Hurts, under pressure, quickly got the ball out to a streaking Brown, who cooked Isaiah Rodgers down the far sideline, and dropped a perfect pass into his hands to stick the dagger into the VIkings.
“He just got so much swag,” Jordan Mailata said on Hurts. “Just the swagness to him. When he’s in control, you see the look in his eyes. My favorite play was that 4-minute bomb to A.J. I turned around and [he was] locked in, like dialed in… There was a sharpness in his eye.”
2. Watching Smith and Brown Sunday was so much fun. Those two were flying all over the place and it was great to finally see them really back in action.
Brown had four receptions for 121 yards, along with two touchdowns. On the other hand, Smith was otherwordly. He had nine catches for a career-high 183 yards, the most by an Eagles receiver since Jeremy Maclin‘s 187 in 2014.
The two, who have had frustrations this year, combined for 304 yards.
Smith is 6′0, 170 lbs and plays like he is Calvin Johnson‘s size. He is so tough for such a frail receiver, and he makes big play after big play.
Smith was involved in the biggest play of the day, and maybe of the season. After a Vikings touchdown and a penalty on the kick-off return, Hurts launched a 79-yard bomb to Smith, which he walked into the endzone. It was the second-longest pass of Hurts’ career and the longest catch of Smith’s career.
At that point in the game, the Eagles were struggling to get even three yards, and they went for the bomb to ease the frustration. What a play call, and what great execution.
3. The Eagles still cannot run the ball. The Vikings have the eighth worst run defense in the NFL, and Barkley still had only 44 yards on 18 carries, even with him picking up 29 yards in his first six rushes.
This is a common theme. The run game starts out well, but never carries throughout the game. Last season, this offensive line wore defenses down, and opened up big gains for Barkley in crunch time. That has not happened yet this year. This certainly is partially due to injuries; Cam Jurgens left the game with a right knee injury in the second quarter and did not return, and the running game missed him.
However, Barkley is still too good to be such a non-factor. It was great to see the passing game flourish, but this needs to be resolved.
4. Seeing Jalen Carter blow Carson Wentz up on Jaylx Hunt’s pick-six was electric.
Carter said missing last week week against the Giants with a heel injury gave him the time he needed to finally get healthy with both his heel and his shoulder. We sure saw that it did.
As soon as the ball was snapped, Carter just shoved the Blake Brandel out of the way. Mind you, Brandel is 6′6, 315 lbs. Carter made him look like a child.
He got to Wentz, and he should have just taken the sack. However, we know how Wentz is. As Carter blasted him, Wentz just heaved the ball up for grabs, and Hunt turned garbage into gold.
It was prime Jalen Carter against classic Carson Wentz. It was awesome.
5. The Eagles’ defense was not great Sunday afternoon, but they came up big in significant moments. They allowed 387 yards, gave up 313 passing yards to Wentz, allowed 21 first downs, 47% on third down, and missed some influential tackles. However, they came through in the key moments to win the Eagles a ballgame.
The Vikings had drives down to the 17, the 16, the 11 and the 10 yards lines and settled for three each time. Bend do not break.
They gave up a lot of yards, they gave up long drives, they got shredded on third down, but came out with two early turnovers, got huge pass break ups in the endzone (particuallry Cooper DeJean against Justin Jefferson), and came up big in crunch time.
It was not pretty, but the defense got the job done.
Benjamin Goldstein
Benjamin has been covering Philly Sports for Philly Sports Reports since 2017. He is a podcaster, writer, and founder of Philly Sports Reports. Benjamin is also an intern at the WBCB Sports Network on 1490AM. Through Philly Sports Reports, Benjamin has gotten the opportunity to meet Phillies owner John Middleton in his suite and be honored as the Philadelphia sports fan of the week for KYW News Radio. He hopes to be reporting on Philly sports as a full-time job in the future.
Get New Articles Emailed Right To Your Inbox:
