What Changed for Jalen Hurts the Last Two Weeks, and Couldn’t Have Been Timed Better
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts passes during an NFL game against the Washington Commanders on Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland.(AP Photo/Terrance Williams)
A couple of weeks ago, there were many talking about their fears for the future of the Philadelphia Eagles, and I’m man enough to admit that I’ve spent most of this season yelling at my TV, as it owes me money, because the Eagles’ offense has looked like a group project where nobody read the assignment.
Kevin Patullo caught heat, Nick Sirianni even received strays, but over the last month, Jalen Hurts seized the most heat because that’s how the NFL works — the quarterback gets the most praise when the offense is humming, and when the offense looks stuck in the mud, the quarterback gets the lion’s share of the blame.
Then the last two weeks happened, and yeah, the Raiders are awful, looking to win the Fernando Mendoza sweepstakes, but Washington isn’t a cakewalk defense, and the Eagles didn’t just win, they finally played offense like a team that knows what it’s doing. They looked less like the 2023 Eagles team and more like last year’s Super Bowl championship team.
Against the Raiders, Hurts was nearly flawless, completing 12 of 15 passes for 175 yards and three touchdowns, which truly looked to deflate the Raiders early on, and the Eagles rode that all game. Then this week in Washington, Hurts followed that up by going 22 of 30, throwing two touchdowns, adding value with his legs, and running an offense that finally looked connected and on time. Over those two games, Hurts completed over 75 percent of his passes, threw five touchdowns without a single interception, and averaged right around eight yards per attempt.
That’s the clearest “this is different” signal for me, because it finally feels like the Eagles are leaning into what they actually have instead of fighting it. A.J. Brown is getting fed on slants, glance routes, and in-breakers where a simple five to ten-yard throw can turn into a problem for a defense in a hurry. DeVonta Smith is working across the field and separating underneath instead of living on isolation shots that need everything to be perfect. That allows for Dallas Goedert to get back in that sweet spot as the catch-and-run outlet who makes linebackers uncomfortable just by existing in the middle of the field. He’s also become reliable enough in the red zone that it’s just not a default to the tush push inside the 20.
When those well-timed throws show up early in a game, defenses can’t just load the box for the run and dare Hurts to beat them outside the numbers. Linebackers have to play back, safeties hesitate to cheat up, and the box lightens, allowing for Saquon Barkley to operate, and Patullo can call designed runs for Hurts, which was a huge part of the Eagles second half resurgence in Washington.
What’s different is how the ball is coming out. For most of the season, Hurts has looked like he was waiting for the perfect moment instead of trusting his receivers, and that half-beat of hesitation was killing drives. Over the last two weeks, the throws are on time, the reads are decisive, and the offense feels like it’s operating on schedule instead of constantly trying to recover from the poor drive before. Hurts looks considerably calmer in the pocket, and he isn’t rushing to escape the pocket. He’s taking what’s there, and the middle of the field is finally being used again.
Hurts’ progressions have been cleaner, too, and that might be the most important part of this entire stretch. Against Washington, he faced pressure on only slightly more than ten percent of his dropbacks, which tells you two things: the offensive line did its job, and Hurts didn’t manufacture pressure by holding the ball and trying to get outside the pocket before pressure was even truly there. He moved from read to read, trusted his outlets, and didn’t feel the need to force something that wasn’t there.
When the passing game works that way, it changes everything else. That’s why Barkley looked even more dangerous, ripping off big runs as the defense was forced to play honestly. In the last 2 games, Barkley has run the ball more like himself, totaling 210 rushing yards and two touchdowns in the last 2 games. He was finally able to run downhill, and that hasn’t really been the case this year.
The biggest takeaway for me is that the timing finally looks right again. For most of the season, Hurts and his receivers have felt a step out of sync, like everyone was seeing the same picture but reacting at different moments. Over the last two games, the trust is obvious because Hurts is throwing to spots. His receivers are breaking with confidence, knowing the ball was coming on time. The offense looks like it knows where it’s going before the snap instead of figuring it out mid-play.
Now comes the real test. The Eagles head to Buffalo on Sunday, and the Bills are one of the most complete teams in the AFC. They disguise coverage well, punish timing mistakes, and are one of the best teams at bringing pressure in the league. If Hurts is truly getting hot at the right time, this is where we will see a progression in the offense. If the rhythm holds, if the timing stays sharp, and if the Eagles keep leaning into what actually works, then this offense has a chance to be dangerous when the playoffs arrive. Even more so with Lane Johnson coming back to strengthen the offensive line.
It’s comforting to see how Hurts has responded over the last two weeks, because this is what leadership looks like when the pressure is real. LA wasn’t the beginning of the end; it was a game to shake the offense back to reality. But if this stretch means anything, it has to travel, and Buffalo is where we find out whether the Eagles offense is finally fixed or just temporarily found itself.
Steve Hamilton
Steve may have been born in California, but don’t let that fool you. After dating a local woman and clashing with her and her family over sports for decades, he has an affinity for Philly sports. Balancing love for Philly and Bay Area sports teams may seem impossible, we can all agree that the Cowboys are the true evil.
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