Eagles-Dolphins analysis: Jalen Hurts and the defense power past Miami in a 31-17 bounce-back win

With the bright lights shining on a vintage logo, the Eagles delivered their most impressive performance of the season.

Donning the throwback kelly green jerseys for the first time in over a decade, Jalen Hurts and the Eagles defense showed some resilience in a 31-17 bounce-back win over the Miami Dolphins on Sunday night at Lincoln Financial Field.

The victory moves them to 6-1 this season and serves as a statement win to start a daunting stretch of games against talented teams.

Here’s our instant analysis:

The Jalen Hurts experience was in full effect Sunday.

The Eagles quarterback had moments of brilliance, tension, and resilience in the prime-time matchup against the Dolphins.

He finished 23-for-31 with 279 yards, three total touchdowns, and an interception. That being said, the final numbers don’t speak to the full story. Hurts’ toughness was on display for most of the game after he slowed up on a first-quarter run with a hitch in his gait. He favored his left leg for a few plays, but it didn’t stop him from rolling to his right and finding A.J. Brown for a 32-yard completion down to the goal line later in the series. Hurts finished the first half 12-for-15 for 143 yards.

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Coming out after halftime, Hurts jogged out of the locker room with a soft brace on his left knee. He didn’t miss any time, though, and even managed a few timely scrambles when the Eagles needed him to.

“He played the rest of the game and he played at a very high level,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “You’d have to ask Jalen, but I think he played really outstanding. ... He’s tough. Y’all saw he was going through something, [but] he’s tough.”

Hurts said he was “fine” after the game but conceded that he put on the brace at halftime. Hurts said it wasn’t something that he suffered during the game. When asked if it was something that could linger, Hurts answered, “I hope not.”

Several of Hurts’ teammates said they noticed he was dealing with some discomfort, but commended him for his gutsy performance.

“I don’t want to put his business out there,” Brown said. “But he’s a tough individual.”

It wasn’t all pretty. Hurts had an untimely fumble in the first quarter, stepping up in the pocket with poor ball security deep in Eagles territory. The defense responded by holding Miami to a field goal, but Hurts’ turnover problems persisted in the second half. He tried to throw around Miami cornerback Kader Kohou but had his pass deflected directly to linebacker Jerome Baker for a pick-6, pushing his season interception total to eight through seven games and one shy of his career high.

“I had some negative plays obviously with the fumble by me, can’t have that. I must be living bad with the other one, the tipped ball,” Hurts said jokingly. “But I’m just happy with how we played together, happy with how we persevered and found ways to respond.”

All that said, Hurts was more than good enough to deliver the Eagles a statement win in prime time. Consider it a bounce-back game after the four-turnover performance at MetLife Stadium.

After some early-game struggles, Darius Slay discovered his sea legs just in time to change the game.

The Eagles cornerback, who missed last week’s loss to the New York Jets with a knee injury, gave up a few completions early but made a fourth-quarter interception to thwart a Miami drive.

Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa targeted Miami running back Raheem Mostert, who had a step on Eagles linebacker Zach Cunningham, but Slay peeled off Jaylen Waddle to break on the ball and make the interception. Slay’s pick not only stalled an eight-play drive creeping into the red zone, but may have bailed out Cunningham, who grabbed Mostert just as Slay secured the interception.

Slay’s big play capped an impressive showing from the Eagles defense against a Miami offense that ranked No. 1 in multiple categories coming into the game. With Eli Ricks serving as the primary slot cornerback and Sydney Brown filling in for Reed Blankenship at safety, the Eagles secondary performed admirably against Miami’s vaunted receiving duo of Tyreek Hill and Waddle. Tagovailoa finished with 216 yards on 23-of-32 passing with a touchdown and the interception.

Miami came into the night averaging 37.2 points per game but managed just 10 against the Eagles defense (Hurts’ pick-6 was one of the scores.)

“We made them one-dimensional,” Sirianni said. “... It starts with our defensive line and being able to apply pressure, which I thought we did, and the DBs did a good job of making him hold the ball a tick when we were able to get home. But it started with making them one-dimensional.”

As well as the Eagles defense performed against Miami, there were a few fortunate breaks that influenced the final result.

Slay’s early-game struggles included a conceded touchdown to Hill that was negated by a holding penalty. It was the first of the somewhat fortunate breaks the Eagles defense received in the evening, although the holding penalty against Lester Cotton was a result of an impressive stunt from Jalen Carter and Josh Sweat, who drew the penalty.

There’s no shame in losing a rep to Hill, who caught a touchdown pass after getting over the top of cornerback James Bradberry in press coverage (understandable) and dusting safety Terrell Edmunds over the top (less understandable) for a 27-yard score.

The second, more fortuitous break for the Eagles defense came early in the third quarter, when Bradberry got a piece of Cedrick Wilson’s face mask to force an incompletion on a pivotal fourth-and-3 from the Eagles’ 21. If called, the Dolphins would have received the ball around the Eagles’ 5-yard line.

The Eagles weren’t penalized at all on Sunday — they had two offsetting penalties negated — even though there were some close calls.

The Eagles’ passing attack was more balanced than it has been all season.

A.J. Brown continued his dominant stretch, logging 10 catches for 137 yards and a touchdown, but Dallas Goedert and DeVonta Smith were along for the ride as well. Goedert was the catalyst for the offense early and finished with five catches for 77 yards and a touchdown, including 56 yards after the catch. After getting off to a slow start to the season, Goedert has slowly become more of a factor running after the catch the last few games.

That shifted even more Sunday, with Goedert’s touchdown coming on a tight end screen sprung by an open-field block from Jordan Mailata. In the first half alone, Goedert logged 50 yards after the catch according to Next Gen Stats.

Smith had four catches for 49 yards as well, marking the first time all three of the Eagles’ top passing targets surpassed 45 yards in the same game this season.

In A.J. Brown’s case, he’s now tied with Calvin Johnson for the most consecutive games with 125-plus receiving yards.

“This week at practice, A.J. was having an unbelievable practice and I went up to [Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie] and I go ‘There’s no way I ever thought this would have come out of my mouth: Thanks for the $100 million to pay A.J. Brown.’”