Jalen Hurts took over in the second half and the Philadelphia Eagles (5-2) needed him to in order to beat the Minnesota Vikings (3-3) 28-22 on Sunday on the road to end a two-game skid.
Hurts and the offense sputtered for the majority of the first half outside of their impressive 12 play, 75-yard opening drive capped off by a 37-yard touchdown strike to A.J. Brown on a fourth down. However, Hurts and company found their rhythm in the second half when it mattered most. With the win, the Eagles improved to 5-2 remaining atop the NFC East division thanks to their first road win at Minnesota since 2007.
Here are the five biggest takeaways of the game:
For yet another game, the rushing attack never materialized. Saquon Barkely averaged just 2.4 yards per carry on 18 carries finishing with 44 yards in the win. There were not any designed runs for Hurts to speak of either. However, Hurts and the passing game shouldered the load in a big way. Hurts went 19-for-23 throwing for a season-high 326 yards with three touchdowns and a perfect passer rating of 158.3, joining Donavan McNabb and Nick Foles as the only other Philadelphia quarterbacks to post a flawless passer rating in a game.
Per NextGen Stats, Jalen Hurts completed all five of his deep passes of 20+ air yards for 215 yards and three touchdowns. His 215 deep passing yards are 63 more than he's had in any other career game and the second-most of any quarterback this season. Hurts completed 11 of 14 passes against the Vikings' blitz for 233 yards and two touchdowns. He averaged 14.2 yards per pass.
Hurts played the best game of his career on Sunday and it was the reason the Eagles won this game.
Brown started the scoring for the Eagles in the first quarter, but DeVonta Smith took over in the second half en route to a career day. Smith hauled in nine catches for a career-best 183 yards and a touchdown.
Hurts said that Smith was “chirping” on the sideline about the look that the Eagles took advantage of for the 79-yard touchdown that was the longest catch in Smith’s career.
Brown finished the game with four catches for 121 yards and two scores as the duo combined for 304 of the 326 passing yards Hurts had in the win. Sunday marked the first time this season Smith and Brown both had 100+ receiving yards in the same game. It's the fourth time overall it's happened and first since last season against the Steelers in Week 15
The Vikings made six trips to the red zone but were only able to score a touchdown on one of those ventures, which was a one-yard touchdown run from Jordan Mason which caused some controversy on if the ball crossed the end zone.
Here is how some notable red zone trips ended for the Vikings. On Minnesota's first trip they had a poor pass from Carson Wentz and then a botched snap which forced them to kick one of their five field goals. Minnesota had a 2nd and 1 on the Eagles’ six-yard line late in the second quarter and were unable to gain a yard, settling for another three points. In the third, the Vikings got down to the Eagles’ nine-yard line but an intentional grounding from Wentz deflated the momentum of the drive. Driving once again in the fourth quarter down 21-16, Wentz was sacked by Moro Ojomo, the lone sack of the game for Philadelphia’s defense, forcing yet another field goal. The Eagles defense was able to bend but not break.
The Eagles’ top cornerback returned to action after leaving last week’s game against the Giants in the first half with a hamstring injury. Mitchell held his own against future hall of famer Justin Jefferson allowing just one catch for 10 yards on three targets in 20 total snaps per NextGen Stats.
When not lined up against Mitchell, Jefferson had four catches for 69 yards. He almost had a touchdown if not for a great defensive play by Cooper DeJean who was lined up against him on the outside.
The return of Mitchell helped solidify the Eagles’ secondary which has been shaky at the opposite cornerback position with Adoree’ Jackson, who left the game Sunday with a concussion, and Kelee Ringo.
Another week and another key injury to the offensive line. Center Cam Jurgens exited the game with a knee injury forcing Brett Toth to play center. The backup struggled with blocking and snapping the ball when the Eagles were in shotgun, forcing the offense to operate under center more frequently than perhaps expected when passing. In Toth’s defense, he said he had three plays at center in walkthrough’s this week.
However, Toth will need to play at a much higher level in order to ensure the offense can build off the momentum they created in the second half of the victory.
In the meantime, the injury bug continues to bite the Eagles’ offensive line. Landon Dickerson and Lane Johnson all have missed time due to injuries and now, add Jurgens to the list who will need an MRI to see how much time he might miss with his knee.
If Jurgens misses time, the Eagles could give rookie Drew Kendall a look at possibly filling in. The fifth-round pick out of Boston College stands 6-foot-4, 300-plus pounds but has not seen any action so far this season.
The Eagles return to Lincoln Financial Field next Sunday after a two-game road swing to welcome in the New York Giants (2-5) who lost a heartbreaker of a game to Denver after leading 19-0 heading into the fourth quarter, but will look to go for the regular season sweep over the Eagles after their Week 6 win at MetLife Stadium over the Eagles.
