Sirianni is right: Football is the ultimate team game, and many members of the Eagles can share the blame for Philadelphia’s late-season struggles. That group includes Hurts, who was responsible for four interceptions and a fumble loss in Monday night’s 22-19 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. Statistically, it looks terrible, but as Eagles fans will attest, the display didn’t look much different from most of their performances over the past month.
Philadelphia’s offense is stuck in the mud. Their running game is inconsistent amid injury-related changes to the offensive line, and despite possessing pass-catching talent, the passing game isn’t much better.
Hurts has seemed hesitant to take risks in recent games, going well beyond the standard 2.5 seconds allotted by most quarterbacks. For much of his career, his long time to pitch has been a hallmark of his game. But of late, it’s become an albatross as Hurts has spent too much time searching for the perfect throw instead of trusting his instincts.
The difference can be seen when the Eagles go into desperation and/or urgency scenarios, as they did late in regulation on Monday night. When asked to move the ball quickly, Hurts becomes the instinctive, gifted quarterback who fires accurate passes with conviction, finding his stable of talented receivers — including AJ Brown, DeVonta Smith and tight end Dallas Goedert — for quick executions that turn into big gains.
On Monday night, Hurts capped a 34-yard drive with 1:17 left that ended with Jake Elliott’s tying field goal and forced overtime. A week earlier, an up-tempo approach saw Hurts lead a five-play, 77-yard drive that lasted just 1:54 and ended with a 33-yard touchdown pass to Brown to cut Chicago’s lead to one point.
The thing is, this is a unique finding, not the norm. And when a quarterback makes four interceptions with red ink next to his name in the box, people naturally come calling for his work.
In Hurt’s defense, his interception wasn’t a result of his mistake, but a great defensive play by Chargers cornerback Cam Hart and safety Tony Jefferson.
“When we have the ball in overtime and I have Jalen Hurts at quarterback, I have every confidence we’re going to win the football game,” Saquon Barkley said. “Sometimes it just doesn’t work”.
However, that recognition will not wipe the slate clean.