The matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football featured a lot more offense than people were expecting. While the Eagles have been humming on offense all season, the same cannot be said for the Packers. Despite that, Green Bay went toe-to-toe with Philadelphia for most of the evening.
But, at the end of the day, the Packers just didn’t have enough to keep up and overcome the Eagles. Philadelphia won the game 40-33 as their defense made just enough plays in a game that nine touchdowns were scored in comparison to what Green Bay’s defense did.
A big difference in the game was quarterback Jalen Hurts. Hurts had a tough evening through the air, which isn’t too surprising considering that wide receiver A.J. Brown was battling an illness and tight end Dallas Goedert being sidelined because of an injury.
Hurts completed only 57.1 percent of his passes in the game for 153 yards and two touchdowns. While passing was a struggle at times, Hurts more than made up for it with his legs.
Green Bay had no answer for him rushing the ball as Hurts ran the ball 17 times for 157 yards. By the end of the first quarter Hurts had already surpassed the 100-yard mark as the shootout was on.
As shared during the telecast, that kind of rushing performance hasn’t been seen from a quarterback in three decades. Hurts is the first quarterback to rush for 100+ yards in a single quarter in 30 years.
Hurts hasn’t had to rely on his legs nearly as much this season as he did the first two seasons of his career. He has come a long way as a passer, which has helped elevate the team’s offense as a whole. But, it is certainly reassuring for the coaching staff to know that if the game plan calls for it, Hurts is still more than capable of getting the job done on the ground.
That dual-threat ability is what makes Hurts such a dangerous player and a headache for defensive coordinators to game plan against. He is an elite runner but now has the passing ability to match, which is why he is in the MVP conversation this season.
