CINCINNATI — Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts scored four touchdowns (three rushing, one passing) in a 37-17 road win over the Bengals on Sunday, finally catching Joe Burrow. exceeded.
“That’s the league. I have my own standards, too,” Hurts said when asked if he was comfortable playing against Burrow, who is considered one of the best quarterbacks in football.
Hurts has played Burrow’s runner-up role thus far. Burrow won the Heisman Trophy in 2019 and Hurts finished second. They only faced each other once in college, when Burrow’s LSU Tigers defeated Hurts’ Oklahoma Sooners 63-28 in the 2019 College Football Playoff semifinals.
Hurts had the advantage in Sunday’s first professional matchup, going 16-of-20 for 236 yards (132.5 QB rating) and adding 10 rushes on the ground for 37 yards. Burrow completed 26 of 37 for 237 yards (84.7 rating) with one touchdown and one interception, and had three rushes for 15 yards.
Hurts has played more efficient football since the Eagles’ Week 5 bye. He had seven turnovers in Philadelphia’s first four games, second most in the league at that point behind Will Levis. However, they have conceded zero goals in their last three games and have won all of them.
“Jalen is putting in the effort,” coach Nick Sirianni said. “What you don’t get talked about a lot about Jalen Hurts is how much he loves football and how much time he puts into this game. You want that to be one of the leaders on your team. You would think so.”
This was Hurts’ third career game with three rushing touchdowns, the most by a quarterback since the start of 1950, according to ESPN Research. This was his 14th career game with multiple rushing TDs, the most by a quarterback in NFL history.
The Eagles have relied more on Saquon Barkley (22 carries, 108 yards) and the ground attack in recent weeks, making things easier for Hurts and the defense as well.
Hurts called Sunday’s win “a great team win” and believes the offense is heading in the right direction.
“I don’t think we’re there yet. We’re slowly figuring it out and trying to piece things together,” he said. “It comes down to optimizing the rhythm and rhythm and the way we play and ultimately all the talent that we have.”
