Getty Eagles QB Jalen Hurts has his team one step closer to a playoff berth.
Jalen Hurts was almost sacked by hometown fans after a railing collapsed at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland. The Philadelphia Eagles quarterback was giving out free high fives as he made his way to the tunnel when a steel barrier came crashing down.
Hurts avoided injury and helped the fans, as well as a few photographers, back up while posing for pictures with them. The stadium was filled with rowdies in midnight green jerseys who made the short trek from Philly to Maryland for the game. They could be heard cheering loudly all afternoon, sometimes it sounded like an Eagles home game.
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“I’m just happy everybody is safe from it, happy everybody is safe,” Hurts said. “It’s crazy stuff right there, that was a real dangerous situation. I’m just so happy everybody just bounced back from it, it seemed like it. Passion of the Eagles fans, I love it.”
For those who missed it, a railing collapsed at @FedExField just as @JalenHurts was walking to the tunnel and fans fell, barely missing the QB but landing on some photographers. Hurts immediately helped the fans up then posed for pics. @Eagles @6abc
The scene unfolded moments after Hurts did a post-game interview with NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo. In it, the 23-year-old talked about his team’s resilience following an ugly 20-16 win over the Washington Football Team.
“I’m so proud of this team’s perseverance, ability to overcome everything and anything,” Hurts said. “We’ve shown it all year. Them roots grew up and they sprouted, I’m just so proud of these guys.”
Predictably, Hurts didn’t want to get into the possible playoff scenarios.
“I ain’t worried about none of that, man,” Hurts said. “All we do is worry about the things that we can control, just attacking and trying to get better every day. There are a lot of things we can learn from this game, but we’re going to enjoy this win for 24 hours, and then we’ll get ready for Dallas.”
With #Eagles QB Jalen Hurts minutes after the win over the #WashingtonFootball Team and moments before he was almost flattened by fans falling over a busted railing:
“The roots grew up and they sprouted.“
Eagles Coach Keeps Those Roots Growing
Nick Sirianni became just the fourth rookie head coach in NFL history to produce a winning season after starting with a 2-5 record. Those flowers have indeed taken root as Hurts alluded to. And Sirianni’s nine wins are the most for a newbie Eagles coach since Ray Rhodes won 10 games in 1995. Sirianni has a strong case for NFL Coach of the Year.
“I’m obviously pleased with the situation we’re in now, controlling our own destiny,” Sirianni said. “I’m really pleased with the way we responded in today’s game and thankful for the guys we have on this team who fought through hard times.”
Only four rookie head coaches in @NFL history have produced winning seasons after starting 2-5 or worse through seven games (@EliasSports):
Nick Sirianni, @Eagles (2021)
Frank Reich, Colts (2018) – playoffs
Mike Mularkey, Bills (2004)
Mike Holmgren, Packers (1992)
Philadelphia is now guaranteed a winning season for the fourth time since 2017 (via Eagles stats guru John Gonoude). Their 17 winning seasons since owner Jeffrey Lurie bought the franchise in 1995 are tied for the fifth-most in the NFL. The others? New England (23), Green Bay (20), Indianapolis (19), Pittsburgh (19).
Defense Didn’t Make Any Adjustments
The Eagles’ defense got gashed to open Sunday’s game. Washington went 67 yards on six plays to take a 7-0 lead. Taylor Heinicke was dealing and buying himself time in the pocket despite a spirited pass rush from Philly. Then, the defense flipped a switch at halftime and Josh Sweat burned the most watts.
“I don’t think we made any [adjustments at halftime]. I know we just executed better,” Sweat said. “Everybody was just in the right spots, you know everybody just started playing better, and I think that’s all it boiled down to.”
JOSH SWEAT SACK 💪 t.co/Kr1b3SHwkB
Sweat finished with 1.5 sacks, plus the athletic defensive end got his mitts on two Heinicke passes and deflected them at the line of scrimmage. Sweat was a key difference-maker in this one.