With the game on the line and overtime ticking down, Jalen Hurts ran off with the victory.
Bursting through the left side on a quarterback draw in which he sprinted through a gaping hole and split a pair of would-be Buffalo Bills tacklers, Hurts tallied the game-ending 12-yard score for a Philadelphia Eagles 37-34 OT win.
It was his fifth total touchdown of the night as Hurts, who seemed to be often troubled by his nagging knee injury, lifted his Eagles to 10-1 — the best record in the NFL. Hurts became just the second QB with 10-plus wins over his team’s first 11 games in back-to-back seasons since 1950, joining Peyton Manning (2005-06), per NFL Research.
“He made a lot of really clutch plays in that second half and then, you know, the big one, obviously at the end right there,” Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said. “We did a great job of blocking up front, and Jalen got himself through there for a touchdown in a clutch moment. Man, what you learn about him. I don’t think it’s anything you learn about him because you know that he’s clutch. He’s been clutch for us and clutch for this city and clutch for this team for the past three years now, so you know, he just kept going and put his head down and worked and made some big-time plays at the end.”
Hurts on Sunday scored in every period but the second quarter — that’s when the Bills built a 17-7 lead that the Eagles QB rallied his squad from.
“We just continue to find ways to win,” said Hurts, who totaled five TDs in a game for the first time in his four-year career. “We continue to find ways to win. We play together. We’ve shown our resiliency day in and day out. Game in and game out. We’ve been challenged in a number of different ways. We always find a way, you know?”
Hurts finished the game completing 18 of 31 passes for 200 yards, three touchdowns and an interception, while rushing for 65 yards and two scores on 16 carries. He ran for a 1-yard TD to open the game’s scoring, hit A.J. Brown on a 3-yard pass to begin the comeback in the third quarter, and in the fourth quarter found DeVonta Smith for a 15-yard TD and then connected with Olamide Zaccheaus on a beautiful 29-yard scoring toss to put the Eagles ahead with 11:07 to go.
“Just clutch in clutch moments, right?” Sirianni said. “There’s going to be plays that he wants back from the first half. There’s going to be plays that we called that we’re going to want back from the first half, but really made some big-time plays when they mattered the most. None more than the three touchdown passes. I thought he read the defense perfectly and hit the ball to DeVonta on the touchdown. What an unbelievable throw and catch by OZ and Jalen on the touchdown on the scramble. My goodness, that was a good play.”
Bills counterpart Josh Allen had an all-together outstanding night statistically, as well, throwing for 339 yards, two TDs and a pick to go with 81 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
It was Hurts who had the ball last, though.
After Allen led a 12-play, 53-yard march for a Tyler Bass field goal and a precarious 34-31 lead in OT, Hurts responded by commanding a nine-play, 75-yard game-winning odyssey.
On the drive, he completed 3 of 5 throws for 32 yards and ran it three times for 27 yards, including the game-ending draw play.
A season-long narrative for the Eagles has been whether they’re playing at their peak level, particularly the offense. Well, they’ve played well enough to claim the best record in the league through 11 games and Hurts has been a catalyst through all weathers and opponents, with good games and bad ones ending in triumphs.
On Sunday in a game-of-the-year candidate, he racked up five touchdowns as his Eagles ran off with the win.
“We found a way in the end,” Hurts said, “and made it happen.”
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