Jalen Hurts Made Eagles History In Thrilling Win Vs. Vikings
The Philadelphia Eagles passing offense has been criticized all season to this point, but it really showed what it can do on Sunday afternoon against a tough Minnesota Vikings defense.
The running game wasn't explosive. Saquon Barkley had 44 yards on 18 carries. Tank Bigsby chipped in 11 yards on one carry. The fact that the running game wasn't working didn't hurt the Eagles, though. Jalen Hurts, DeVonta Smith, and AJ Brown carried the load. Hurts went 19-of-23 passing for 326 yards and three touchdowns. Smith had nine receptions for 183 yards and a touchdown. Brown had four catches for 121 yards and two touchdowns.
Clearly, the passing offense was clicking and Hurts actually made a bit of Eagles history in the process.
"Jalen Hurts and DeVonta Smith have played together for five years in the NFL, but in Sunday's win over the Vikings, they each posted career games while making history along the way," Eagles team reporter Matt Ryan said. "Hurts became just the third Eagles quarterback ever to have a perfect passer rating, joining Donovan McNabb (2007) and Nick Foles (2013). Smith had the most receiving yards in a game by any NFL player this season, grabbing nine passes for a career-high 183 yards and a touchdown."
Jalen Hurts' numbers will surprise you
The Philadelphia Eagles passing offense has been criticized all season to this point, but it really showed what it can do on Sunday afternoon against a tough Minnesota Vikings defense.
The running game wasn't explosive. Saquon Barkley had 44 yards on 18 carries. Tank Bigsby chipped in 11 yards on one carry. The fact that the running game wasn't working didn't hurt the Eagles, though. Jalen Hurts, DeVonta Smith, and AJ Brown carried the load. Hurts went 19-of-23 passing for 326 yards and three touchdowns. Smith had nine receptions for 183 yards and a touchdown. Brown had four catches for 121 yards and two touchdowns.
Clearly, the passing offense was clicking and Hurts actually made a bit of Eagles history in the process.
"Jalen Hurts and DeVonta Smith have played together for five years in the NFL, but in Sunday's win over the Vikings, they each posted career games while making history along the way," Eagles team reporter Matt Ryan said. "Hurts became just the third Eagles quarterback ever to have a perfect passer rating, joining Donovan McNabb (2007) and Nick Foles (2013). Smith had the most receiving yards in a game by any NFL player this season, grabbing nine passes for a career-high 183 yards and a touchdown."
Jalen Hurts' numbers will surprise you
It's pretty insane to ever see a quarterback compile a perfect 158.3 passer rating in a game. Clearly, it's rare as just two other Eagles quarterbacks have reached the feat. Hurts specifically has gotten some flak for the passing offense, so this is a perfect response.
The Eagles are now 5-2 on the season and Hurts' numbers actually look pretty insane at this point, especially when you take into account all of the negative buzz. He has gone 136-for-195 passing (69.7 percent) for 1,498 yards, 11 touchdowns, and just one interception. His 69.7 percent completion percentage would be a new career-best if the season ended today. He also has improved from 193.5 passing yards per game last year, to 214 per game this year. Hurts has three straight games with at least 280 passing yards under his belt as well.
On top of all of this, he has been good in the running game as well with 185 yards and five rushing touchdowns.
If he can keep playing like this, the Eagles are going to win a lot of games and he will get some buzz for some hardware later on in the season.
Jonathan Greenard added to Vikings injury report; J.J. McCarthy limited in practice again
Vikings outside linebacker Jonathan Greenard, pictured on Sept. 21, leads the defense in snaps played this season. (Carlos Gonzalez/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Outside linebacker Jonathan Greenard became the third defensive starter on the Vikings injury report when he was listed as limited during Thursday’s practice because of a hamstring issue. Greenard, who leads the defensive line with 277 snaps played (89%), was not on Wednesday’s injury report.
Linebacker Blake Cashman again fully participated in his third practice this week. He’s attempting to return from a four-game absence due to a hamstring strain suffered in the Sept. 8 victory at Chicago. Outside linebacker
Left tackle
Quarterback participation, with Carson Wentz (left shoulder) a full go and J.J. McCarthy
Eagles starting cornerback Quinyon Mitchell, who left Philadelphia’s most recent loss because of a hamstring strain, was upgraded to a full participant on Thursday.
Hockenson blocking more
During a 14-yard run in the most recent victory against the Browns, running back Jordan Mason seemed to have perfect feel bouncing outside on a designed inside run threatened by Browns edge rusher
Hockenson, who blocked Garrett on the third-quarter play, said he told Mason on the sideline and during the huddle when the play was called to “bounce that,” knowing Garrett had played a similar run the same way earlier in the game. Hockenson emphatically pointed at Mason after the red-zone run, which eventually set up Mason’s 3-yard touchdown.
“There’s a lot of talking that goes on,” Hockenson said. “That was a pretty cool one.”
The Vikings’ passing production is down and Hockenson, who ranks second on the team with 19 catches and third with 153 receiving yards, is blocking more. His current 35% block rate would be his highest mark since 2022.
But the two-time Pro Bowl player said it’s all good.
“They’ve had me in a lot of different situations, and on the attack side and really just running the ball toward the tight ends, Josh [Oliver] included,” Hockenson said. “It’s been fun. Obviously, throughout my career you’ve seen me catch the ball and do things, but really I’ve prided myself on making an impact on the team.”
Jackson again in key spot vs. Eagles
Safety Theo Jackson still has the game ball and jersey from Week 2 in 2023, when he intercepted Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts during the Vikings’ 34-28 loss at Philadelphia. That was Jackson’s first NFL interception during his first extended action with the Vikings, replacing an injured
“It just taught me to always be prepared,” Jackson said, “because I didn’t know I was going to go in that early.”
Two years later, Jackson will again be in a prominent position as he’s started all five games so far. But the focus this week has been on stopping Eagles running back
“We’ve had some struggles,” Jackson said, “but we’ve definitely harped on that since us being back practicing. ... This whole week has just been about tackling and working on run fits for us, so it just has to come to life on Sunday.”
Scott ‘doesn’t look out of place’
Running back Zavier Scott needs to hold onto the ball and not fumble like he did in the fourth quarter against the Browns, but offensive coordinator
Scott, who first joined the Vikings practice squad 14 months ago, took five carries for 18 yards against Cleveland’s top-ranked run defense a week after catching six passes for 43 yards and a touchdown against the Steelers. Scott’s background as a former receiver for the University of Maine and the University of Connecticut shows through “natural hands” on a 221-pound runner.
“We ran him down the field some,” Phillips said, and “he doesn’t look out of place. What we’ve been impressed with is the toughness.”
