After a week full of questions about the Philadelphia Eagles’ passing attack, Jalen Hurts and the Birds got it back on track on Sunday with a 27-13 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers at Lincoln Financial Field.
“So that’s what you all wanted to see, huh?” Hurts asked the media as he sat on the podium for his post-match press conference.
To his credit, Hurts and his top two wide receivers – AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith – performed well after the team’s passing game came under heavy scrutiny last week. win over the Carolina Panthers.
Hurts finished that game with 108 passing yards and looked indecisive in the pocket. The Eagles leaned on Saquon Barkley as they have for much of the season, but it was a completely different story against the Steelers.
Hurts was efficient against Pittsburgh, completing 25 of his 32 passes for 290 yards and two touchdowns with a quarterback rating of 125.3 and rushing for a score on the “Brotherly Shove” to go along with 45 rushing yards on 15 carries .
“I’ve always said and believed that you want to make sure all your tools are sharp when you need them so that when it’s time to use them you can go, so I don’t think there’s any question about that,” Hurts said . “I honestly think an effort was made. The approach was a little bit different this week. And the grass will be green where you water it. And we decided to water it, you kind of saw the fruits of that our labor in. Obviously we’ve watered the ongoing game a little bit. It’s quite natural to emphasize one and take the emphasis off the other and see what you guys have seen we want to try well rounded and water all parts of our garden.”
Terrance Williams/AP
With the Steelers in the top five against the run, the Eagles won through the air and it helped them build an early lead.
Hurts connected with AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith on first-half touchdowns, the latter giving Philadelphia a 17-3 lead early in the second quarter.
Smith finished with 11 catches for 109 yards and a touchdown, while Brown had eight catches for 110 yards and his score. It’s the first time all season that the star wideouts each had more than 100 receiving yards in the same game. Both have missed games this season due to injuries.
After last week’s game Brown’s one-word answer about the passing game led to questions about the Philadelphia air raid. Then things got even worse when Brandon Graham fanned the flames and suggested Hurts and Brown didn’t get along. Graham later apologized and said he had made a mistake, while Brown later clarified what he meant last week.
This led to the Eagles have a lot of tough conversations about the passing game before facing Pittsburgh, and Hurts said he takes the criticism to heart.
“The research is endless, it’s nothing new,” Hurts said. “That is something that I find exciting. I appreciate being told that I can’t do it and that we can’t do it. And I know that I lead this team and it takes a lot out of you. It asks a lot of you. “I just want to show up and be the best teammate and quarterback and be the best I can be for the guys on the team.”
While Hurts was throwing the ball sharply, he confirmed he is playing with a broken finger on his non-throwing hand. He said it affected his play, but he didn’t elaborate much on the details of the injury or when it occurred.
“I mean, it is what it is,” Hurts said. “It’s been in the state it’s in all week and I really don’t want to put too much into it. I can say I don’t think it got any worse today. If it’s broken, it’s broken. It’s some it is.” .”
