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Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) passes the ball during the second half of an NFL football game against the Tennessee Titans in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (AP Photo\/Stew Milne)<\/p>\nThis Aug. 15, 1970, file photo shows Baltimore Colts quarterback Johnny Unitas (19) getting off a pass as left tackle Bob Vogel (72) keeps Kansas City\u2019s Aaron Brown away in the exhibition game at Kansas City. (AP Photo\/William Straeter, File)<\/p>\n
While most folks might be comparing Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts to more modern quarterbacks, his performance in their game against the Tennessee Titans on September 20 brought back memories of my youth in Baltimore.<\/p>\n
By Chris Murray<\/p>\n
For the Philadelphia Sunday SUN<\/p>\n
For the last six years of watching Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts\u2019s stoic demeanor on the field, there has been a hesitation on my part to compare him to a certain Hall of Fame quarterback whose glacial calm in desperate situations made him a legend.<\/p>\n
But watching Hurts remain calm in the storm of a frantic game-winning drive in the Eagles 24-20 victory over the Tennessee Titans reminded me of something that the late Baltimore Colts star John Unitas often did on a regular basis, especially when his team was on the brink of a loss or when things were less than ideal.<\/p>\n
Back in 1970, an aging, 37-year-old Unitas \u2014 the man who created the two-minute drill \u2014 threw five interceptions against the Chicago Bears but came back to throw a game-winning touchdown pass to Hall of Fame tight end John Mackey the fourth quarter. Great quarterbacks know how to flush out the bad plays and figure out ways to come up with win when it counts.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s been Hurts\u2019s experience throughout his college years and in the NFL. It\u2019s in his football DNA. Like Unitas and other great quarterbacks before him, Hurts keeps the same stoic expression on his face whether he\u2019s winning or losing.<\/p>\n
During his senior year at Alabama, Hurts came off the bench to replace quarterback Tua Tugovailoa in the 2018 Southeastern Conference Championship to lead the Crimson Tide to 21 straight points in a 35-28 win.<\/p>\n
In his final year of eligibility at Oklahoma in 2019, Hurts led the Sooners from a 31-3 deficit to a 34-31 win. That win ultimately led Oklahoma to the College Football Playoff.<\/p>\n
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) passes the ball during the second half of an NFL football game against the Tennessee Titans in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (AP Photo\/Stew Milne)<\/p>\n
In his press conference after leading the Eagles to their last-minute win on last Sunday, Hurts was asked about how he stays so calm in critical situations. His answer was poised and low-key.<\/p>\n
\u201cPreparation, great focus and poise throughout what\u2019s being done, and trusting the guys around me, being in the moment,\u201d Hurts replied. \u201cIt\u2019s a team game; it takes all 11 out there on the field. As a leader, as a captain, it\u2019s something that I take a ton of pride in in how I\u2019m showing up for the guys around me. \u2026 Ultimately you gotta keep the main the main thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Sunday against the Titans, the Eagles were inconsistent on offense. The running game wasn\u2019t working. Tight-end Dallas Goedert got hurt.<\/p>\n
The offensive line was banged up. And to top things off, Hurts threw two interceptions, one of which was a fourth quarter pick that led to a field goal that put Tennessee up 20-17.<\/p>\n
Hurts led the Eagles on a nine-play 65-yard drive that culminated in a three-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Darius Cooper in the back of the endzone with nine seconds left in the game. This was the Eagles their second win of the 2026 season and the 15th game-winning comeback as a quarter of Hurts\u2019 career.<\/p>\n
During that drive, Hurts completed 6-of-8 passes for 61 yards and had a 135.9 passer rating. Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said that despite all the team\u2019s struggles throughout the game, Hurts was able to come through in a crucial moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cJalen was able to flush it and lead us down field in a critical situation, \u201d Sirianni said. \u201cI\u2019m just proud of the way he played he played and the way he had his resolve, but that\u2019s who he is. That doesn\u2019t surprise. He\u2019s that on a daily basis. He\u2019s constantly in the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s something that late great \u201cJohnny U\u201d would have appreciated.<\/p>\n
Next up for the Eagles is a Monday Night Game against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field in Chicago. Gametime is 8:15pm and you can catch the game on 6ABC.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This Aug. 15, 1970, file photo shows Baltimore Colts quarterback Johnny Unitas (19) getting off a pass as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":294893,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[69,71,70],"class_list":["post-294892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=294892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294892\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/294893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=294892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=294892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=294892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}