Fiery Jalen Hurts finally erupts with Eagles playmakers A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, D’Andre Swift

Jalen’s back.

MVP Jalen ... $255 million Jalen ... Rip-your-heart-out, beat-you-every-which-way, All-I-Do-Is-Win-Win-Win-No-Matter-What Jalen.

Jalen Hurts is now 25-4 in his last 29 starts, including playoffs. No. 25, on Sunday, was a signature “W.”

After a slow start to the 2023 season, if 3-0 can be considered slow, Hurts on Sunday logged just the fifth game-winning drive of his short career. He did it in overtime ... though, but for a last-second touchdown by the Washington Commanders, he appeared to have done it in regulation, too.

Really, he did it twice.

As you might expect from one of the NFL’s brightest stars, the moments — end of the first half, end of regulation, end of the game — were brilliant.

“Just clutch,” said coach Nick Sirianni. “Whether it was the overtime drive, whether it was the drive when we scored with a minute-plus left. And we needed that end-of-half drive to get going. Clutch.”

Enjoy the pressure, Jalen? Ha. He’s been in Texas high school state playoff games, college playoff and championship games at Alabama and Oklahoma, NFL playoff games for the Eagles, and a little annual dustup called the Super Bowl.

Pressure?

“That’s what I was born in,” he replied.

It suits him.

Hurts gave the Eagles a late lead when he dropped a 28-yard dime into A.J. Brown’s bucket with 1 minute, 43 seconds to play in regulation. That broke a tie and, after an overtime field goal, it helped preserve the Eagles’ unbeaten record four games into a season in which they’re favored to return to the Super Bowl.

» READ MORE: Eagles grades: Jalen Hurts comes through with his best game in the overtime victory

The Eagles won, 34-31.

More than that: Hurts took another step toward commanding the club.

After the TD to Brown, the receiver taunted cornerback Emmanuel Forbes, which cost the Eagles 15 yards of precious field position on the kickoff and helped the Commanders force overtime as time expired.

Hurts found Brown on the sideline, where they’d had a confrontation about Brown’s inclusion weeks earlier. This time, there was no debate.

“He said, ‘You can’t do that,’ ” Brown said.

Brown bowed his head and agreed.

Hurts is all about accountability from his teammates, but even more so from himself.

The Eagles’ 3-0 record entering Sunday fooled no one, not the least Hurts himself. They’d beaten three duds, and Hurts hadn’t been anything close to the quarterback who finished as runner-up in MVP voting last season, and the runner-up in Super Bowl LVII.

» READ MORE: Yes, the Eagles are 4-0, but they can be better. And they’ll have to be.

He’d looked slow. He’d looked indecisive. He looked ... average.

Against an astonishingly stout Commanders club, he looked like none of those things Sunday. He looked like a top-five QB. Like a $255 million franchise QB.

Like a playmaker. Plays, made.

“Whether a 300-yard passing game, a 300-yard rushing game, a 150-yard rushing game by D’Andre Swift, or a DeVonta Smith day, a Dallas Goedert day, A.J. Brown day — that doesn’t really matter to me,” Hurts said.

Hurts finished 25-for-37 with two touchdowns and no interceptions. The 319 passing yards gave him his first 300-yard game of the season. The performance should lessen the doubts of whether his breakout 2022 campaign was a mirage.

What did Brown see from Hurts on Sunday? “Fire,” the wide receiver said. “He kind of woke up a little bit. That gave everybody a boost. That fire showed up today.”

His spirit showed. It was infectious.

“A win like this does so much for the spirit of the team,” Hurts said.

Sirianni said it was Hurts’ best game this season. Hurts seemed most pleased that he didn’t commit a turnover for the first time this season.

“It’s always good to protect the ball,” he said.

Hurts wasn’t perfect — he missed a few targets, misdiagnosed a few pressures, and wasn’t particularly frisky — but perfect is never necessary of any quarterback. His first job is to secure the ball; done. His second job is to give his playmakers chances to make the plays they can make; done, and done, and done.

The Eagles had been a ground-and-pound club while Hurts warmed to the campaign.

“Today, the run game wasn’t there the way it has been the last two weeks,” said center Jason Kelce. “Jalen, A.J., and those guys carried the bulk of the load today.”

He lofted a bomb to Smith, and Smith came down with a 37-yard, double-teamed prayer with 44 seconds to play in the first half that led to a field goal that cut the Washington lead to 17-10.

Playmaker. Play, made.

In the third, Hurts pumped to Goedert in the flat, reset, and floated a butterfly that traveled 36 yards in that air to Brown. Brown had outrun Forbes, he immediately eluded Darrick Forrest, followed Smith’s block on Benjamin St-Juste, then cut back to set up Olamide Zaccheaus’ block of Forbes, both of whom had streaked down the field to better witness Brown’s greatness.

Playmaker. Play, made.

» READ MORE: ‘When it rains, it pours’: A.J. Brown was at his absolute best against Washington

From near midfield, late in the third, Hurts fired to Goedert over the middle. Kamren Curl first illegally contacted Goedert, for which he was penalized, then got a hand on the pass. No worries. Goedert caught it anyway. Playmaker. Play, made.

Again from midfield, midway through overtime, on second-and-11, Hurts found Swift, his running back, in the flat. Swift made two moves, ran through a tackle, and gained just enough yardage for a first down.

Playmaker. Play, made.

That play helped set up Jake Elliott’s game-winning, 54-yard field goal. Biggest play made.

There was some classic Jalen, too.

With the score tied late, Commanders left defensive end James Smith-Williams charged into the backfield, unblocked by Swift. Hurts sensed danger, stepped up and to his left, and all Smith-Williams got was a handful of towel. Hurts was off for a 24-yard scamper, by far the longest of his season. Maybe that will awaken the Hurts who averaged 772 rushing yards in his first two seasons as a starter.

Maybe this will bury the passive, deferential Hurts. Maybe Fiery Jalen is what the Birds need right now.

“We’re headed in the right direction,” Brown said. “And he’s leading us.”