The Eagles are getting better each week — and now they have an impressive win to show it.
Nick Sirianni, Jalen Hurts and the Eagles collected their best win of the season on Sunday in Denver, dominating for long stretches in all three phrases of the game in a 30-13 victory.
Each unit played a role in the win. The offense was balanced and Jalen Hurts was arguably the best he has been all season throwing the ball. The defense kept the Broncos offense in check and even scored a touchdown of their own on a 83-yard fumble recovery by Darius Slay. The special teams blocked a field goal to keep the Broncos off the board.
The win moves the Eagles to 4-6 and keeps them very much in the playoff race for the final Wild Card spot, and with the schedule getting much easier the rest of the way, they have a very real chance of making the postseason.
There will be plenty to talk about from this one, but for now, here is a report card for Jalen Hurts and Nick Sirianni:
Jalen Hurts: Coming into the game the big question was whether Hurts would be able to move the offense through the passing game if the running game wasn’t able to carry them like they have the last two weeks.
Hurts answered that question with his best game of the season.
Hurts looked the best he ever has passing the ball in an Eagles’ uniform, and came out firing from the start against the Broncos.
Had an outstanding throw on 3rd-and-12 to tight end Dallas Goedert for 24 yards on the second drive of the game, extending the drive and giving the Eagles a fresh set of downs. Then, four plays later, he gave DeVonta Smith a chance to make a contested catch in the end zone from 36-yards out, and his No. 1 wide receiver came down with it for the touchdown.
Two drives later Hurts used his legs to get the offense going, running it up the middle for 31-yards midway through the second quarter. He then found Watkins on 3rd-and-3 for a six-yard gain to get the offense to the Broncos nine-yard line, before capping the drive off with a five-yard touchdown to Smith.
By the time he hit Smith to give the Eagles a 17-10 lead, Hurts was 11/13 for 130, two touchdowns and a 147.9 passer rating while adding 52 yards on the ground.
Hurts best throw of the game might have been an incompletion, as he hit receiver Quez Watkins with a perfect pass right into his hands at the end of the first half in the end zone, but Watkins dropped it.
As good as he was, Hurts didn’t have a perfect day. He had one ugly pass in the third quarter nearly intercepted by Justin Simmons, but DeVonta Smith broke it up. Then, on the next possession, he threw an equally ugly ball right to Simmons for the interception. The pass was impacted by Hurts’ arm being hit as he threw it, due to a missed block by Kenny Gainwell, but it still seemed to be a poor decision by Hurts.
The two poor throws do not take away from Hurts’ outstanding day, however. With Hurts playing like he did this Eagles’ offense can be very dangerous and very productive. His play was not only encouraging for the remainder of this season, but in the constant question of whether he can be the franchise quarterback, Hurts looked every bit the part of the franchise guy on Sunday.
Grade: A
Nick Sirianni: When Hurts is playing well in the passing game one thing is very clear — Sirianni is a good head coach.
Credit to Hurts for playing as well as he did, but Sirianni also deserves credit for scheming receivers open and remaining committed to the run despite going against a good Broncos run defense.
Sirianni ran the ball five times on the opening drive, including a designed run for Jalen Hurts. While running the ball would seem to be a very obvious decision considering how well it has worked over the last two weeks, Sirianni has shown in the past that he sometimes allows the opposing defense to dictate what his offense does. That wasn’t the case against the Broncos, as Sirianni called five running plays on the opening drive, including a designed run for Jalen Hurts.
At one point Sirianni had 10 called runs to 12 called passing plays, and with both parts of the offense working, it was the most balanced the offense has looked this season.
One issue that has been a problem throughout the season has been the offense needing to rush to get the snap off, and that was very much the case against Denver. Multiple times in the first half the Eagles had to rush the snap. Once they had to use a time out to avoid a delay of game, and another the rushed snap led to Hurts being sacks on a third-down play. In a game where the offense was moving arguably the best it has all season, the sloppiness before the snap really stood out.
Even with the pre-snap issues, however, one thing is clear — Sirianni has this team playing much, much better since their loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, which was a low point of the season. Instead of the team collapsing they responded with a blowout win vs. the Lions, a strong showing against the Chargers and their best win of the season vs. the Broncos.
Sirianni deserves a ton of how he has lead this team, and as the season goes on, the decision by Jeffrey Lurie to hire him is looking like a smart one.
Grade: A
You can reach Eliot Shorr-Parks on Twitter at @EliotShorrParks or email him at esp@94wip.com!