Getty Eagles QB Jalen Hurts finished with 224 combined yards during a 27-24 loss to the LA Chargers.
Jalen Hurts pointed at two plays he’d like to have back – a potential big gainer to Dallas Goedert early, then a would-be touchdown to DeVonta Smith late – against the Los Angeles Chargers. Convert those and maybe the Philadelphia Eagles are 4-5.
They didn’t. Now the team goes back to the drawing board following a three-point loss. The game was tied 24-24 with 6:07 left but Justin Herbert took the Chargers on a 15-play, 64-yard clock-eating drive. Jalen Hurts – 11-of-17 for 162 passing yards, 62 rushing yards – never got the opportunity to answer. He could only watch from the sideline.
“There are some opportunities whether there’s a perfect situation or not, whether there’s a perfect pocket or not, whatever it was – I didn’t make the play early in the game,” Hurts told reporters. “Those are the things that are on my mind right now. The things that I didn’t do to help this team win this football game. It hurts to see another team go out there and it not be in your hands at the end of the game to go out there and win it.”
Asked about having to sit and watch the Chargers driving the field and kicking a game winning field goal, Jalen Hurts brought up the 2 missed opportunities — the missed throws to Dallas Goedert and DeVonta Smith — as contributing reasons for the loss.
Hurts was hard on himself for missing on those plays to Goedert and Smith. The second-year quarterback has seen improvement on the offensive end, guys are communicating better and showing urgency. Hopefully, Nick Sirianni’s young saplings continue to grow.
“I’m not satisfied with losing. I never will be as long as I’m here on this earth,” Hurts said. “We have to find ways to come out. We have done it. Doing it consistently, there’s an urgency around here. There’s a ‘want to’ around here. There’s an effort around here.”
The latest Eagles news straight to your inbox! Join the Heavy on Eagles newsletter here!
Fourth-Down, Short Yardage Stops
The Eagles’ defense couldn’t come up with a big stop on the Chargers’ final offensive possession. Fifty-four competitive minutes of football condensed into a six-minute dagger through their hearts. Jonathan Gannon’s unit got Los Angeles into two 4th-and-1 situations, including one right before the two-minute warning. Both plays resulted in first downs.
“I will have to look at the tape of the execution, the call, and everything like that,” Sirianni said. “You just want to get a stop in that scenario and give the ball back to the offense. That’s the name of the game and that’s what you want to happen.”
Added Javon Hargrave: “I definitely feel like we had some chances, especially on fourth-and-one to come up big but we didn’t get the job done.”
Herbert’s Completion Percentage
Herbert was lights out against Philadelphia. He went 32-of-38 for 356 yards and two touchdowns through the air. That’s a completion percentage of 84.2 while going a perfect 16-for-16 against zone coverages. And the Eagles couldn’t get his jersey dirty: no sacks, one quarterback hit.
Justin Herbert is the 5th QB to complete 80-plus percent of his passes against the Eagles this season.
Between 1950-2020, Eagles allowed just 6 QBs to complete 80-plus percent of their throws (min. 25 attempts), per ESPN Stats & Info.
The masses were calling for the Eagles to blitz instead of staying back in soft zone coverage. Pressuring the quarterback has been an issue, although Sirianni wasn’t willing to throw his defensive coordinator under the bus.
“So, I’m not going to say Jonathan [Gannon] anything because that’s – my name is on that, right? So, whatever happens on that field my name is on, offensively, defensively. I’m not the offensive coordinator, I’m the head coach,” Sirianni said. “So, again, it’s all of us together. So, it’s first myself, getting the right calls and putting the players in position, then Jonathan, then the players executing.”
Eagles showed growth and progress on offense. That’s all we ask. Can we also have a defensive coordinator who is not afraid to play aggressive? And avoid Charmin soft coverage?