With the Eagles (11-4) leading 20-18 in the fourth on Monday night, the team had a third and 20 from their own 26-yard line, and the Giants had all the momentum after Adoree Jackson’s 76-yard interception return for a touchdown.
However, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts made the throw of the game, and maybe his best throw of the year, when he avoided the rush and threw a perfect pass over the outstretched arms of Isaiah Simmons, which landed perfectly into the hands of A.J. Brown for 32 yards.
Ultimately, D’Andre Swift would end the drive with a five-yard touchdown run; the Eagles would take a 27-18 lead and hold on for a 33-25 win over the Giants(5-10) at Lincoln Financial Field to snap a three-game losing streak.
Hurts, who completed 24-of-38 attempts for 301 yards two total touchdowns, and a interception, explained what happened on the play.
“I just held up, held up enough and looped it through the pocket, and was able to get it open through the defender,” Hurts said after the win. “A.J. [Brown] made a great play, staying alive, not letting the situation get the best of us and finding a way to overcome that circumstance, and kind of put ourselves there.”
Eagles Nick Sirianni added on the play: “I mean, what an unbelievable play by Jalen(Hurts) and A.J.(Brown)… I think that was the key. Sometimes in those third and real longs, it takes a great — like there aren’t a lot of plays you can draw up on third and 20, so it was just an unbelievable individual effort by Jalen, A.J., the offensive line giving Jalen enough time to escape and step up in the pocket and fire the ball to A.J.”
The Eagles led 20-3 at halftime, but they had two turnovers, one on special teams and Jackson’s pick-six; those turnovers kept the Giants in the game and made the game closer than it needed to be.
Despite the struggles and three losses in the last four games, Hurts says the team is hungry and still trying to reach that “standard.”
“I think we’re hungry,” Hurts said. “I think we’re motivated, eager. Kind of the same things I’ve been saying just in terms of that standard we have for ourselves and demanding that of ourselves. I don’t think win, lose, or draw, there’s a circumstance where we compromise the standard of what we want and how we want to be. It’s just a matter of being together and committing ourselves to that excellence and chasing that. Obviously good to get a win. Great to get a win. We kind of went through a little tough stretch there, but to be able to overcome the things we did today – defense played the way they did. Kind of had some unfortunate things… So, just everybody doing that together. It takes everyone. It’s still a process; it’s still a journey with no arrival.”
On the Giants’ final drive, Sirianni seemed to be in an animated discussion with a coach and DeVonta Smith, but according to Sirianni, it’s not that big of a deal.
‘I get animated a lot,” Sirianni said. “There are things that when mistakes are happening or trying to get the communication going, just a little bit of that. That happens throughout a game. It’s going to be between players and players, coaches and players, coaches and coaches. But when you have the relationships that we have and the connections that we have, we’re able to move on quickly.
“The guys know all we’re trying to do, and coaches know all we’re trying to do is get everybody to play their best, and sometimes that’s with a smack on the butt, and sometimes that’s with a yell. But I think all those guys know how we feel about them, and the coaches know how we feel about them and each other.”
At this point, the Eagles are in complete control of the NFC East, and if they win out, they win the division. They are pushing for the top two seeds, preferably the one seed, but none of that matters if they are not playing at a high level, which they continue to strive to do.
Notes:
Hurts established an NFL QB record with his 15th rushing TD of the season, breaking the previous mark that was set by Cam Newton during the 2011 campaign (14).
He is also tied with Steve Van Buren in 1945 (15) for the 2nd-most rushing TDs in single-season franchise history, behind LeSean McCoy in 2011 (17).
With his 20th passing TD of the season, Hurts tied his Eagles single-season record for total TDs (also 35 in 2022), which he shares with Randall Cunningham (1990).
Eagles defeat the Giants for the 11 straight time at Lincoln Financial Field.
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