(Philadelphia) Quarterback Jalen Hurts can thank Saquon Barkley, Dallas Goedert, Reed Blankenship, Zach Baun and a few other timely, productive teammates for a win in New Orleans on Sunday.
Hurts made some late, pressure-filled passes to help the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Saints 15-12 and improve their season record to 2-1.
He also finished his day with 29 completions in 38 attempts for gains of 311 yards through the air, in addition to amassing 25 yards on the ground.
Still, he missed crucial plays — Hurts couldn’t complete a touchdown pass — and turnovers remained a negative for the Eagles’ playmaker.
Hurts and the Eagles continue to lose the turnover battle, something that has kept the team from reaching its peak since head coach Nick Sirianni took over.
PHOTO BUTCH DILL, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Nick Sirianni, head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles
In the first half Sunday, Hurts committed two turnovers, was intercepted by Tyrann Mathieu in the end zone, and lost possession of the ball when he was tackled behind his line of scrimmage by Carl Granderson.
In his last 20 games, he has conceded a whopping 26 turnovers.
“You have to understand there’s a lot that goes into an interception,” Sirianni said, defending his quarterback. “It goes beyond appearances.”
Maybe. But Hurts has a knack for throwing balls to areas of the field where coverage is intense. That was the case with Mathieu’s interception, when Hurts attempted a pass to a closely guarded DeVonta Smith. And there was no excuse for the fumble.
“We have to have two hands on the ball,” Sirianni acknowledged.
Hurts’ inability to consistently protect the ball has been a fatal flaw for the Eagles over the past two seasons. But few quarterbacks are as composed and confident in the face of as many mistakes as Hurts is.
It’s one of the reasons he’s able to fend off adversity and orchestrate late-game comebacks, like the one fueled in large part by Barkley against the Saints.
“It’s just something that when your quarterback has that much confidence when the stakes are high, he’s going to make the play,” Goedert said.
“He’s calm and that brings everyone back to reason. We can go out there and make the next move. And he’s a big part of that.”