Eagles QB Jalen Hurts hopes to buck his pattern of poor efficiency vs. Tampa

Feelings of all types had been spilling out of Philadelphia Eagles gamers after clawing their method to a 15-12 win over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.

There was elation over the win; concern in regards to the well being of two concussed gamers, DeVonta Smith and Lane Johnson; frustration over a few suspect performs by the Saints that led to these accidents; and pleasure within the unheralded backups who stepped up of their absence. Security C.J. Gardner-Johnson spoke to all of this and extra as he passionately held courtroom at his stall to the left of the locker room entrance, oscillating between taking pictures at his former crew and build up his present one.

On the opposite aspect of the room, Jalen Hurts was working on a special aircraft. Pumping out of the audio system was one of his favorite songs by certainly one of his favourite artists: “Pleasure and Ache” by the late Frankie Beverly and Maze, setting an in any other case chaotic scene to a clean R&B soundtrack. Hurts nestled into that calm wavelength as he put the ending touches to his postgame apparel, nodding his head and syncing his actions to the beat.

He emitted an analogous vibe within the late phases of that sport, in keeping with a few of his teammates, when he engineered a five-play, 69-yard go-ahead landing drive to beat a tough offensive efficiency and quiet a raucous crowd inside Caesars Superdome.

“[Hurts] is essentially the most poised human being I’ve ever been round in my life,” operating again Saquon Barkley stated.

“He is at all times acquired that look on his face like, no want to fret, simply hold going at it, hold working and we will be alright. … He does not should say a lot, you may see it on his face, you may see it in his demeanor. He is a winner, he is a gamer, and he got here up huge.”

It has been a moderately chaotic begin to the season for the Eagles and for Hurts particularly. All three of their video games have been of the coin-flip selection, having received two and misplaced one. Each side of the ball have wildly veered between dominance and ineffectiveness.

Hurts has been all around the map, too. He is accomplished 70.6% of his throws — nicely above his profession common of 63.8%. He’s fourth in passing yards (772) and first in off-target proportion (6.5%).

He’s additionally turning the ball over at an alarming fee. Hurts’ six turnovers this season are tied for second most via three weeks. He has 12 turnovers in his previous 9 regular-season video games, essentially the most within the NFL since 2023 in Week 13. And his seven straight video games with an interception is the longest streak by a Philadelphia quarterback since Ty Detmer in 1996.

It’s in that state of volatility that the Eagles journey to tackle the 2-1 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1 p.m. ET, Fox). Raymond James Stadium has been a home of horrors for Hurts and the Eagles. Hurts is 1-3 lifetime towards the Bucs with 4 touchdowns to 2 interceptions. Two of his three profession playoff losses have been in Tampa, together with final yr’s disastrous 32-9 trouncing within the wild-card spherical of the playoffs that cemented the crew’s 1-6 collapse.

Sunday’s sport will function one other installment of a season-long take a look at to see if an organizational basis that proved shaky in 2023 has stabilized and to find out whether or not Hurts can reclaim his spot as one of many prime signal-callers within the league. Whereas the general outcomes have been blended so far, there are indicators that Hurts is maturing as a quarterback and a frontrunner, providing promise that the Eagles are in a greater place in comparison with the final time they boarded a flight for Tampa.

ONE SIGN OF change got here after the crew’s lone lack of the season, a 22-21 heartbreaker to the Atlanta Falcons in Week 2.

Because the crew settled into the locker room, it was not the coaches however Hurts who addressed the crew postgame.

His message to his teammates was to select their heads up, and to keep away from these sorts of losses transferring ahead, they as a bunch should “intensely management the controllables” and hone in on the small print of their craft.

“Jalen led all the things. No coach stated a phrase,” security Reed Blankenship stated. “It is a player-led crew on the finish of the day, and we all know what we did was detrimental to us.”

Coach Nick Sirianni later stated that Hurts’ message was so on level, he did not really feel the necessity to add to it.

“When he began to speak to everyone, it was like, man, that is precisely what you need to occur from the leaders in your soccer crew,” Sirianni stated. “When the leaders in your soccer crew are preaching precisely the identical issues that you already know are your core values and are vital to the soccer crew, that is superior. … I simply actually appreciated what he stated, and the crew appreciated what he stated. And it began the method of, hey, getting over that loss and happening to the following one.”

Hurts has harassed the significance of following the lead of the coaches on a number of events throughout his interactions with the media this season — key since he and Sirianni struggled to get on the identical web page for a lot of final season.

The hope internally was that Hurts would turn into extra outward in his management in Yr 5, significantly in down occasions, and that has been the case, in keeping with veteran defensive finish Brandon Graham.

“It is about getting higher yearly and I do know for him, he is seen some issues the place he can get higher. He is extra vocal,” Graham stated. “He was having enjoyable [before] however I feel much more now he is simply letting unfastened. As a result of if I’ll be the No. 1 man and other people need to hear from me, I feel that is what he is embracing this yr, like I am going to ensure they hear me.”

THE KEY IMPROVEMENT on the sphere has been towards the blitz. He threw a league-high eight interceptions towards the blitz whereas posting a QBR of 68.7, which ranked within the backside half. By way of three video games this season, he’s sixth in QBR towards the blitz (67%).

Hurts seems to be geared up with higher solutions towards the blitz beneath new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore. He is additionally assumed extra management over setting protections on the line of scrimmage now that middle Jason Kelce has retired — a shift that Hurts has been ready on and one which has seemingly improved his command in these conditions.

The operation might be firmly examined this week towards a Tampa crew that ranks third in blitz proportion since 2023 (40%) and has routinely given Hurts suits since coming into the league.

“I do know Jalen has actually performed nicely towards the blitz these final couple video games, and he is labored his butt off on it,” Sirianni stated. “And simply excited in regards to the problem, however we all know there’s going to be challenges towards a [Buccaneers head coach] Todd Bowles’ coached protection. Once more, now we have achieved a pleasant job up to now, however you are solely pretty much as good as your subsequent sport.”

For all of the progress, the turnovers have actually held Hurts and the offense again.

His six giveaways are second to solely Will Levis (8). One other interception this week would put his consecutive sport streak at eight, which might be tied for the fourth longest by an Eagles participant because the 1970 merger.

The Eagles have misplaced the turnover battle in all three video games they’ve performed, which is not conducive to profitable soccer over the long run, as Sirianni has identified.

But, the Eagles are 2-1, partially due to Hurts’ regular hand down the stretch to shut out video games towards the Green Bay Packers within the opener and Week 3 towards the Saints.

He is been aided, he stated, by the sort of perspective that solely comes from experiencing the peaks and valleys of a profession over time.

“You are going to have joyful moments and you are going to have painful moments,” he stated, taking the message from the Beverly tune to the rostrum in New Orleans. “You are going to have belongings you like in a sport and issues you do not like in a sport. However in the long run, it is about the way you reply. I feel it is so vital to maintain the principle factor the principle factor and do not trip waves, simply management the cruise, and climate it. I am simply so happy with that and I am happy with how we responded.”

Hurts’ three losses towards the Bucs are tied for essentially the most in his profession towards a single opponent (Dallas Cowboys). This week, he spoke of his respect for Bowles and the alternatives he creates for his protection. Since Bowles joined the Buccaneers as defensive coordinator in 2019, they’ve blitzed a league-high 37% of the time. That method has attacked a vulnerability for Hurts, who has thrown 13 interceptions towards the blitz since getting into the league in 2020, tied for third most over that point.

Hurts was requested if he feels he is in a greater place to deal with the Bucs’ warmth this time.

“I feel I am wiser, I am older, extra seasoned in some areas,” he responded, “and I feel that helps us.”