For this week at least, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts silenced his critics while letting them know he’d had enough.
Eagles QB Jalen Hurts. Photo: Webster Riddick
By Chris Murray
For the Philadelphia Sunday SUN
When Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts sat down with the media for his postgame press conference following the Birds’ convincing win over the AFC-North leading Pittsburgh Steelers, he quietly uttered the words: “Is that what ya’ll wanted to see?”
To me, that was a bit of passive-aggressive sarcasm aimed at the local press, who had been raking him over the coals for the past week for passing for just 108 yards in a win over the Carolina Panthers.
In a game where the running game was effective and Hurts made all the plays the Birds needed to win the game (their ninth in a row, by the way), he was subjected to some of the most idiotic criticism I have seen in my years in the media.
Hurts prepares a pass to Saquon Barkley. Photo: Webster Riddick
The big noise or “panic” from the local media was due to comments wide receiver A.J. Brown made about the team’s passing game and the problems he perceived that it had. Of course, there was widespread speculation that the criticism from Brown and Devonta Smith was going to lead to the kind of drama usually seen in soap operas, not football fields.
In fact, Brown and Smith told reporters after Sunday’s game that there were “uncomfortable” conversations had during the week, because it appeared that everyone involved in the passing game wasn’t on the same page.
In the win over the Steelers, Hurts and his receiving corps got on the same page and had a great game over one of the league’s most physical defenses. Hurts completed 25 of 32 passes for 290 yards and two touchdowns.
“We found a way to win the game.” Hurts said. “As we’ve said before, you’ll notice, [there are] multiple ways to win. That was kind of what we learned today. We were able to find ways to make plays, execute, finish in the end zone, and find a way to win. That was good complimentary football.”
Brown and Smith were targeted a collective 23 times. Brown had eight receptions for 110 yards and one touchdown. Smith had 11 receptions for 109 yards and one touchdown.
The team’s 10th straight win showed that all was right in the Eagles’ world.
Against the NFL’s fourth-ranked defense that gives up just 70 yards per game, the Eagles as a team rushed for 131 yards. Barkley, who is trying to chase down Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record, gained just 65 yards and wasn’t as dominant as he was during the first nine games of this win streak.
Hopefully, everyone, especially those of you who were in panic mode, has learned a valuable lesson from these last two games: It’s not going to always be 300 yards passing or 250 yards rushing game. In some weeks, it’s going to be one or the other. The defense or special teams might even win some games.
Photo: Webster Riddick
“I just think a little bit has been blown out of proportion because we’ve been running the ball so well,” Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said during his postgame press conference. “There’s only so many yards you’re going to get in a game. You can’t have all the yards rushing and have a passing game or have all the yards in the passing game [either].”
In a week-to-week league where opponents have thousands of hours of your team’s strengths and weaknesses on tape, it’s not always going to be pretty. Hurts, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson or any other quarterback is going to have 300-hundred-yard, three-TD passing games. They’re also going to have games when it looks like they’ve never thrown a football in their lives.
And Barkley or the Baltimore Ravens’ Derrick Henry is not going to rush for 150 yards in every game. Sometimes, they’re only going to rush for 65 yards, like Barkley did on Sunday.
Those things are important to know because the most important thing in the NFL is winning games. For the last 10 games, including the Carolina game, by the way, the Eagles have figured out a way to do that.
With the Eagles’ myriad weapons, they’ve proven that they can win in a variety of ways.
As long as they’re using the weapons that work that day, the Eagles will continue to win, whether they do it on style points or not.
It could be worse. You could be a Cincinnati Bengals fan. Their offensive statistics are mind-blowing, and quarterback Joe Burrow is having a monumental year.
There’s just one problem. The Bengals are currently 6-8 and will need a miracle to make the postseason.
I’d take a lackluster offensive performance in a win over that anytime.
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