JALEN HURTS MIGHT ACTUALLY BE A GOOD QUARTERBACK! For him to be down 16-0, he came out in the second, third, and fourth quarters and put on an absolute show against Kyler Murray and the Cardinals. Unfortunately, the Eagles dropped the game to the Cardinals, and now sit in last place in the NFC East. Crazy enough, the Eagles only need to win out, with help coming from Washington and New York losing out, for the Eagles to make the postseason once again.
Defense
No Darius Slay, no Avonte Maddox, and no Rodney McLeod was obvious in this game. DeAndre Hopkins had over 160 yards receiving and touchdown, plus 9 receptions in a game where Kyler Murray threw for over 400 yards. The run defense was exceptional again, but the pass defense really struggled, especially in the first half. Without basically any starters in the secondary other than Jalen Mills, I don’t see how the Eagles stand a chance covering anyone in the NFL.
Jalen Hurts
Jalen Hurts took over this game eventually. He did only complete 24 of his 44 passing attempts, but threw for over 350 yards AND had 400 total yards. He even scored 4 times for the Eagles, showing that true dual-threat capability he has. Hurts was still sacked 6 times, and him the run game did struggle at times. Miles Sanders had just 64 rushing yards on 17 carries, and the Cardinals were far better suited for defending the Hurts QB run game than the Saints the week before. Moving forward, the dynamic of the offense is going to be interesting to see, as well as the playcalling and personnel groups Doug Pederson decides to roll with.
Summary
Overall, I am extremely proud of how the Eagles fought in this one. The Cardinals are a playoff team, and the Eagles showed their own resiliency by playing right with them for 3 of the 4 quarters. After that first quarter shellacking by the Cardinals, the Eagles outscored Arizona by 2 scores, which is a good sign. Next time, they can’t get down like this again. They will travel to Dallas and play the Cowboys in “Jerry’s World” in a crucial NFC East game. We will get to see what magic Jalen Hurts can cook up against the worst defense in the NFL.
Photo Credit: Joe Camporeale / USA Today Sports
