Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown, and Kellen Moore need to be better if the Eagles are to beat the Commanders
Hurts isn’t supposed to be a $50 million game manager, and even though the Eagles are in the NFC championship game, an injury could hamper his mobility after the quarterback was sacked seven times.
Jalen Hurts walked to the podium in a multicolored two-piece outfit. His ensemble, with various shades of tan and a dash of red at the collar, might have been something plucked from the closet of the Fresh Prince. But Hurts otherwise appeared his normal self despite the obvious leg injury he suffered earlier.
The quarterback didn’t wallow in the seven sacks he took, the two dropped passes from his favorite receiver, nor the sometimes questionable play-calling of his offensive coordinator. Hurts was headed back to the NFC championship after the Eagles survived the plucky Rams, snowy conditions, and yet another shaky outing from the passing game.
“Enough is never enough,” Hurts said after the 28-22 divisional playoff victory. “Our performance today was enough to win, but enough is never enough in terms of the standards we have for ourselves and what we want to do. There’s always a hunger. There’s always a drive for more and this urge to continue to improve, and that’s how it will continue to be.
“At this point in the season, the No. 1 thing is about improving.”
But the Eagles offense is running out of time. But will it matter with Saquon Barkley gobbling up yards and bolting for long touchdowns on the ground and the defense forcing turnovers and sacking quarterbacks in multitudes on a weekly basis?
» READ MORE: Jalen Carter and a talented roster save the Eagles against the Rams, give them a shot at the Super Bowl
The Eagles netted just 65 yards through the air — a season low — and yet, it didn’t deny them from advancing in the postseason to face the Commanders next week. For months, doubts have been raised about whether the air attack will be able to deliver when it counted the most. Certain Eagles, themselves, have asked those questions on occasion.
But wide receiver A.J. Brown, who failed to pull in two passes he usually secures vs. the Rams, said Sunday wasn’t the time.
“You got to give this game a pass,” he said. “It was just tough. The conditions were tough.”
Hurts gave a similar response when asked about the snow that initially fell lightly only to increase in intensity and cover the grass at Lincoln Financial Field in the second half.
“It was a new experience,” he said. “Definitely, next time that happens, I’ll be able to look back and pull from this game and be better from it.”
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford and his offense had issues, as well. He was sacked five times and fumbled in the fourth quarter. Running back Kyren Williams lost the ball, too, in the final frame when Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter punched it out of his hands.
Stafford was still able to throw for 324 yards, with many of them coming late with the air filled with falling flakes. But he had no choice but to drop and throw as Vic Fangio’s coverage calls gave the Rams far too much grace space.
Carter, ultimately, came through with a sack after Stafford had the Rams at the Eagles 13 with just over a minute remaining. The Eagles came that close to having all that went wrong — Hurts’ indecision, Kellen Moore’s play-calling, and kicker Jake Elliott’s missed extra points — be second-guessed for months.
And quite possibly, close to having the quarterback’s long-term future in Philadelphia bein doubt.
Hurts avoided turnovers — again. He was efficient when he did throw, completing 15 of 20 passes for 128 yards, despite Brown’s drops. And he produced with his legs, running for 70 yards on seven carries, and scoring the game’s first touchdown with a 44-yard scoot off a zone-read counter play.
“Saquon needed a break, so I told him I’d do it first,” Hurts joked. “Get me a piece.”
But Barkley, much as he has for most of the season, shouldered the offensive load. He broke off a 62-yard touchdown run two drives after Hurts’ visit into the end zone. He sealed the deal with a 78-yard bolt in the fourth quarter. And in between he added to his franchise-record 205 yards rushing despite the Rams often clogging the box.
The Eagles gained 185 of their 350 net yards on three run plays. On the other 58 plays, they averaged just 2.8 yards. Hurts’ seven sacks negated 63 yards from the total. He wasn’t solely at fault, of course. But his inability to finish pass plays has been a season-long problem. He has now been sacked on 11.7 percent of his attempts.
“I’ll need to watch the film to be able to assess it better, but rhythm is everything,” Hurts said. “We just have to be able to find our rhythm in what we do. And rhythm doesn’t mean quick passes, long passes, or whatever. It’s just finding our niche in what we do.”
The Eagles bungled their possession before the half. They faced second-and-8 at the Rams 32 with 30 seconds left. But Kenneth Gainwell failed to pick up a blitz and Hurts was sacked. The ball came out and Gainwell, luckily, fell on it.
But the Eagles were no longer in field-goal range and Nick Sirianni used his final timeout with just three ticks on the clock. Hurts dropped again, held the ball, and defensive end Jared Verse dragged him down for his second sack.
Hurts got up slowly, and after halftime was the last to come out of the tunnel. But the third quarter brought more of the same until tight end Dallas Goedert broke free downfield for a 31-yard catch.
» READ MORE: Grading the Eagles: Saquon Barkley, Jalen Carter, and the O-line deliver against the Rams
Several plays later, Hurts was dropped in the backfield again, and this time his left leg got caught underneath him as two Rams dragged him down from behind. He got up slowly, handed off to Barkley on third-and-long, and hobbled off the field and into the medical tent.
“I personally think, especially on that drive alone, there were little cheap shots going on,” Barkley said when asked about Hurts’ injury. “They were tackling a certain way. But when you have two times you play us and each time we put up 250-plus, you expect that.”
Hurts didn’t emerge from the tent until just before the Eagles regained possession. But he didn’t miss a snap.
“I was able to finish the game,” Hurts said when asked about his health, “and we’ll see how the week goes.”
He later clarified that he expected to play in the NFC title game, but even if cleared, how mobile will he be? When he left last month’s game vs. the Commanders with a concussion, Barkley suffered without Hurts as a plus-one factor in the run game.
If he can’t contribute as a runner, he needs to be more productive as a passer. But the ball may need to come out quicker, whether that’s on him or on Moore. Hurts can’t get sacked for a safety as he did after his return from injury. Center Cam Jurgens got beat, but Hurts also had Goedert open over the middle on a check down.
But did it make sense to have him take a five-step drop into the end zone? And after the Eagles just needed a few first downs to close out of the game, was it wise to roll Hurts out on a naked bootleg in which he took a seventh and final sack?
“We did what we thought we needed to do in that particular case,” Sirianni said. “Again, we’ll always look at play calls. It’s everything. It’s going to be play calls. It’s going to be that the defense made a play. There are a lot of things to attribute to that.”
Asked about the calls whenever the Eagles were backed up, Hurts said, “That might be a Kellen or Nick question.”
He should have just thrown the ball away on the last sack since he was out of the pocket. But it has been drilled into him not to put it in harm’s way after last year’s 20 turnovers and six in the first four games this season. He has given the ball away only three times in the last 13 games and there’s something to be said for that.
But who would have thought the Eagles would be one step from returning to the Super Bowl with Brown having only three catches for 24 yards in the first two rounds of the playoffs? DeVonta Smith is only slightly better with eight catches for 83 yards.
“That’s the thing with playoff football, you never know when you’re gonna make your play, and you don’t know how it’s gonna look, but you’re just trying to get the win, most important,” Brown said. “The stats wasn’t there, but I made some huge blocks — two touchdown blocks.”
Indeed, Brown and Smith had key blocks on the Eagles’ long touchdown runs, among others. But they aren’t two of the NFL’s highest-paid receivers because of their blocking abilities. And Hurts isn’t supposed to be a $50 million game manager.
Brown did convert third and fourth downs on two slant routes, and Hurts did finally throw deep to both his receivers for seemingly the first time in weeks.
“We just didn’t connect this time around,” Hurts said.
They may need to against the surging Commanders and a quarterback in Jayden Daniels who is a bona fide dual threat. Hurts never got the chance to capitalize on his best passing performance against the Steelers last month because he was knocked from the game at Washington the next week.
Does that offer additional motivation ahead of Sunday’s rematch at the Linc?
“I’m just excited for the next opportunity,” he said.
There are only so many remaining.