Roob’s Obs after Jalen Hurts’ spectacular outing against Vikings – NBC Sports Philadelphia

If the Eagles ever needed Jalen Hurts to have the best game of his life it was Sunday.

The Eagles blew a 14-point 4th-quarter lead two weeks ago at home to the Broncos and then got obliterated by the lowly Giants last week, and this was clearly a team at a crossroads going into Minneapolis to face a pretty good Vikings team.

Hurts: 19-for-23 for 326 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions and a perfect 158.3 passer rating.

Spectacular.

The Eagles ended their two-game losing streak and improved to 5-2 Sunday in the stadium they won their first Super Bowl eight years ago. Here’s our 10 Instant Observations on the Eagles’ 28-22 win over the Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium.

1. Hurts could not have played any better, and on a day when the running game was again a non-factor – 15-for-46 for Saquon Barkley – Hurts made clutch throw after clutch throw, taking advantage of mismatches down the field with both DeVonta Smith (9-for-183, TD) and A.J. Brown (4-for-121, two TDs). That’s 304 yards for the two Eagles’ wide outs, who’ve both had their share of frustration this year. Hurts’ 158.3 passer rating is the third perfect rating in Eagles history, along with Donovan McNabb’s in a 56-21 win over the Lions at the Linc early in 2007 and Nick Foles’ in his seven-TD game against the Raiders in 2013, a 49-20 win at Oakland-Alamada Stadium. Get this: In the second half, Hurts was 10-for-12 for 240 yards and two TDs. Kind of cool that Carson Wentz had a front-row seat to see his one-time backup put on a performance like this.

2. I don’t know if one play can turn around a season, but maybe that 79-yard touchdown pass from Hurts to DeVonta Smith can. The Eagles had finished the first half with four drives that netted 27 yards and no points. Their 14-3 lead had dwindled to 14-9 and they were starting their first drive after halftime at their own 16, thanks to a penalty on Cooper DeJean. Only some terrific play by the defense kept the Eagles in the game. And then the bomb. The 2nd-longest pass of Hurts’ career – he had an 81-yarder to DeSean Jackson in Dallas as a rookie in his third career start – and the longest catch of DeVonta Smith’s career. And the longest offensive play of the Nick Sirianni Era. That single snap seemed to erase a world of frustration. The Eagles had been scuffling just to get two or three yards, so to pick up 79 on their second play of the second half and extended the lead out to 12 points at 21-9, that was massive. The o-line – with Brett Toth in at center for Cam Jurgens – blocked spectacularly on the play, giving Smith all the time he needed to get down the field. He caught the ball at the 28 and former teammate Isaiah Rodgers grabbed at his jersey and then his leg but couldn’t get him down. An astonishing play.

3. What a spectacular performance by DeVonta Smith, who made big play after big play and finished with nine catches for a career-high 183 yards, including 152 yards in the second half. That’s the most yards by any Eagles receiver since Jeremy Maclin had 187 in Arizona in a game the Eagles lost in 2014. In the last 30 years only DeSean Jackson (three times) and Kevin Curtis (once) have also had more. His toughness for a guy his size never ceases to amaze me. He’s what, 6-0, 165 or 170? And he takes these huge hits and pops back up every time with a smile on his face and very rarely leaves the field. Smith has quietly been very good this year when he’s gotten opportunities. On Sunday, he had the game of his life when the Eagles needed it the most.

4. It wasn’t a perfect effort by the defense. They allowed 387 yards, gave up 313 passing yards to Wentz, allowed 21 first downs and 47 percent on third down. But they were so good at key moments and in particular in the red zone, and that gave the offense the opportunity to win the game. That’s complimentary football, and that’s something we haven’t seen around here lately. Even when the Eagles were winning early in the season. The Vikings had drives down to the 17, the 16, the 11 and the 10 and settled for field goals each time. That was huge. This was classic bend-but-don’t-break. They gave up a lot of yards, they gave up long drives, they got shredded on third down. But at crunch time, they they came up huge drive after drive. And factor in two early takeaways – a pick-6 by Jalyx Hunt and an interception by Drew Mukuba – and sacks by Josh Uche and Moro Ojomo – and it was a defensive masterpiece.

5. Did you see Jalen Carter just manhandle center Blake Brandel on the Jalyx Hunt pick-6? My goodness. Carter said the week off last week when he missed the Giants game with a heel injury gave him the time he needed to finally get healthy – with both his heel and his shoulder, and wow, that’s the kind of play we came to expect last year from Carter. As the ball was snapped, he just shoved the 315-pound Brandel out of the way like he was a 160-pound kicker and found himself with a clear path to the quarterback. He got to Wentz in a split second, and Wentz should have just taken the sack, but this is Carson Wentz and he still thinks he’s Superman and he’s always going to try to make an impossible play. As Carter buried him, Wentz just heaved the ball up for grabs, and Hunt took care of the rest. This was vintage 2024 Jalen Carter and it was vintage 2020 Carson Wentz as well. If Carter is back healthy and in 2024 shape – and it sure looked like it Sunday – that’ll be huge for this defense.

6. And how great was it to see Nakobe Dean back out there on defense for the first time since the Packers playoff game last January? He played a few snaps on special teams against the Giants, but this was really his return to playing NFL linebacker and he looked a little rusty early but then he just looked like his old self, running around and making plays. He finished with six tackles and a tackle for loss as Jihaad Campbell spent a good deal of time lining up as an edge to try to inject some pass rush life into the defense. Don’t forget Dean was playing at a Pro Bowl level last year and if you want to get your 11 best players on the field, Dean is one of them.

7. Another weird day for the running game. Saquon Barkley was 5-for-25 on the first drive and then 13-for-19 the rest of the game. Which mirrors other recent games. Good start, inefficient finish. Denver game, Barkley was  2-for-20 in the first quarter, then 4-for-10 the rest of the game. Giants game, Bartkley was 2-for-31 on the first drive, then 10-for-27 the rest of the game. Barkley is now averaging 5.1 yards per carry in the first quarter, 3.8 in the second quarter, 3.6 in the third quarter and 1.4 in the fourth quarter. That’s just bizarre. Why does his production decrease with each passing quarter? It was great to see the passing game make plays up and down the field Sunday, but Barkley is too good to be a non-factor later in games. He’s getting the carries – he has more carries in the fourth quarter than any other quarter – but the production isn’t there. O-line injuries certainly have something to do with that. Cam Jurgens left the game in the second quarter and didn’t return, and the running game sure missed him. But this has been all year. That’s the next challenge for the offensive coaches. Getting Barkley going.

8. I’ve always believed one of Nick Sirianni’s biggest strength – probably his biggest – is his ability to navigate this team through adversity whenever it strikes. That was a big theme in the locker room this week. You’re going to face adversity. It’s guaranteed. How do you handle it? You look at the 2-5 start in 2021. You look at the 2023 collapse. You look at the 2-2 start last year. And now you look at an ugly two-game losing streak. Every time, Sirianni has gotten his team to rebound and come back even stronger. This has been an ugly stretch for this team. Players were frustrated and understandably so. That’s what makes this win so important. You’re going into a difficult stadium to face a very good and well-coached team with an elite defense desperate for a win to avoid a three-game losing streak and considering everything this team has been through, 5-2 is not a bad place to be.

9. For the first time this year, the Eagles held a team under 100 rushing yards, and considering that the Vikings came out really wanting to establish the run with Jordan Mason, that was big. The Vikings averaged 3.9 yards per carry – the lowest average against the Eagles this year and more than half a yard under their average of 4.5 coming into the game. Teams have really been gashing the Eagles on the ground to the tune of 4.7 yards per carry and 134 yards per game. So 3.9 and 89 are a big improvement. The Eagles made the Vikings one-dimensional, and Carson Wentz made a few plays but when you make him throw 42 times that’s a pretty good recipe for success. Wentz is 4-23-1 in his career when he throws 42 or more times, and he’s had at least one interception in 22 of those 28 games. Stopping the run forced the Vikings to have to throw and that played right into the defense’s hands.

10. Here’s a list of every quarterback in the Eagles’ 93-year history to complete 82 percent of his passes, throw for 325 yards and throw three touchdowns and no interceptions in a game: Jalen Sunday.

Roob’s Observations are sponsored by Bradford White Water Heaters.