Getty Eagles QB Jalen Hurts takes a sack during a 42-30 loss to Kansas City in Week 4.
Jalen Hurts wasn’t the reason the Philadelphia Eagles lost in Week 4. Nick Sirianni called it one of his best outings he’s seen from Hurts. And one of the better performances he’s ever witnessed from a quarterback.
Hurts went 32-of-48 for 387 yards and two touchdowns while rushing twice for 47 yards. He battled hard behind a makeshift offensive line that lost another starter hours before kickoff. The Eagles still lost to the Kansas City Chiefs, 42-30. After the game, a somber-toned Hurts stared out into the press conference room and gave a two-word answer to sum up the day.
“We lost,” Hurts told reporters. “We lost. We lost the game. We got to do more. We got to do better.”
His honest assessment had no excuses in it. The Eagles simply need to play better and learn from their third straight loss. Every time they strap on the pads is another opportunity, according to Hurts, and the new face of the franchise shared that message with his teammates in the locker room.
“My message is this, we control our own destiny,” Hurts said. “We’re the masters of our own fate, the captain of our own soul, and we control everything moving forward. I think that’s the mentality of this team. We’re gong to continue to grow, continue to get better. That’s what I believe and that’s what we believe.”
Jalen Hurts addresses his performance: “We lost.”
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Three Touchdowns Called Back for Penalties
The biggest hurdle for the Eagles right now is “self-inflicted wounds,” according to Sirianni. Philadelphia committed nine penalties (for minus-49 yards) versus Kansas City to bring their season total to 44. That’s a whopping 11 flags per game. Worse yet, they lead the league in that department with 13 more than the next closest offenders (Houston Texans).
Sirianni’s team had three touchdowns called back due to penalties in Week 4. One was negated by an offensive pass interference call on J.J. Arcega-Whiteside. Another came off the board for “illegal touching” after DeVonta Smith stepped out of bounds. And a third was reversed due to an illegal man (Andre Dillard) down the field.
“Small [penalties] hurt [us]. Nothing the other team is doing,” Smith said. “We are doing it to ourselves, just little penalties and things like the small details and plays.”
Smith attempted to explain what went wrong on his “illegal touching” play. That penalty wiped out a 30-yard touchdown for the rookie receiver who finished with seven catches for 122 yards.
“I just need to squeeze and hold my line,” Smith said. “I got pushed too far to the sideline, so I just need to squeeze and hold my line and that will not happen.”
Eagles Defense: ‘Just Had a Bad Game’
The Eagles surrendered 471 total yards to the high-powered Chiefs’ offense, including 271 through the air. Neither team punted in the game which was back and forth in the first half. Problem was, Philadelphia kept settling for field goals and Kansas City tallied seven touchdowns on eight drives. Game over.
Here’s the #Chiefs offense by possession today, for everyone who was worried about them:
Touchdown
Touchdown
Touchdown
Interception
Touchdown
Touchdown
Touchdown
Game Over.
“They’re explosive but, I mean, we had a bad game,” defensive tackle Javon Hargrave said. “We got Carolina next week, so we’re looking to bounce back.”
Win or lose, there’s always #BrotherlyLove.