Jalen Hurts, Eagles brush aside a Miami challenge

PHILADELPHIA — In the showdown between teams which had been criticized for supposedly not beating any good teams this season, the Eagles prevailed, 31-17, over the Miami Dolphins Sunday night at Lincoln Financial Field.

Billed as a shootout between college teammate quarterbacks Jalen Hurts of the Eagles and Tua Tagovailoa of the Dolphins, it would be Hurts firing for a victory.

Hurts threw for 279 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another score to spark the Eagles. He got another monster game from receiver A.J. Brown, who caught 10 passes for 137 yards and one TD.

The Eagles survived despite two more Hurts giveaways largely because of one of their top defensive efforts of the season, a credit to the defensive line and coordinator Sean Desai. The line sacked Tagovailoa four times, with Josh Sweat dropping him twice. Darius Slay added an interception for the Birds.

“It started with making them one-dimensional,” Nick Sirianni said of the game plan. “Great job by our defensive staff, great job by our defensive players.”

Just the same it was Hurts who had a 109.5 passer rating compared to 87.5 for Tagovailoa and converted four short yardage Tush Push runs into first downs to lock up the decision. After the game he bear-hugged Tagovailoa just long long enough to help let go of their 2018 national championship game past as teammates.

“That,” Hurts said, “was a big win for us.”

Tight end Dallas Goedert, who had five catches for 77 yards and a touchdown on the night, suggested the Eagles had something to prove on their national platform after handing the New York Jets a win the previous weekend.

“We felt we needed to come out and make a statement this week,” Goedert said. “And that’s what we did.”

The Dolphins averaged almost 500 yards of offense entering the weekend. The Eagles held them to 244 yards largely by putting the heat on Tagovailoa and Tyreek Hill, the league’s most productive passer and receiver, respectively. The Eagles limited Hill, who led the league in receiving yards, to 11 catches worth just 88 yards and one TD. Running Raheem Mostert, who led the circuit n touchdowns didn’t get a single point.

The win was critical in that the Eagles (6-1) are trying to keep pace for the top seed in the NFC with the San Francisco 49ers (5-1), who oppose the Minnesota Vikings Monday night. The Detroit Lions (5-2), Dallas Cowboys (4-2) and Seattle Seahawks (4-2) are close behind.

“We’re still right there in it,” said Brown, who registered his fifth straight game with 125 or more receiving yards. “We know we have the momentum. We just have to execute.”

The Eagles will be watching that MNF game. For now, they can revel in the glory of a rugged triumph over the Dolphins (5-2).

From the moment the Kelly green pregame light show began, spectators syncing their cell phones to the music, to the minute the public address announcer introduced “Jalen Hurrrrrts,” the Eagles’ captain found a way to make plays.

It wasn’t always pretty as Hurts’ early fumble set up a field goal in the first half and his deflected pick-six in the second half cost the Eagles the lead. It’s just that there are at least four quarters to a game, and Hurts was bent on playing them all.  This wasn’t the case in the national championship game at Alabama, where Hurts was benched in favor of Tagovailoa, who led the Crimson Tide to the title in 2018.

In a bumpy game the Eagles led by 17-3 in the second quarter before a late drive by the Dolphins reduced that. Tagovailoa threaded a 27-yard scoring pass to Hill between Eagles defenders James Bradberry, Terrell Edmunds and Sydney Brown in the last minute of the first half.

At the intermission Hurts had matched Tagovailoa with one touchdown pass. Hurts also scored himself, his sixth TD run of the season a big part of that intermission lead.

The third quarter offered plenty of twists and turns.

Corner blitzer Kader Kohou deflected a Hurts pass into the arms of Jerome Baker, who returned the ball 22 yards to knot the score at 17 with 4:02 left in the frame.

The interception followed a stop by the Eagles, who survived a drop by Hill in the end zone and took over on downs at their own 21.

But the Eagles promptly marched 75 yards in eight plays to go ahead 24-17 on Hurts’ 14-yard lob to Brown, who muscled his way through the Dolphins secondary. Miami then moved downfield and was positioned to tie the game when Darius Slay intercepted Tagovailoa trying to connect with Mostert on a wheel route near the goal line. Slay’s16-yard return got the Eagles out of danger.

It was that kind of 47-degree night at the Linc.

Hurts lost his second fumble of the season in the first quarter, Bradley Chubb knocking the ball loose and the Dolphins recovering at the 23-yard line of the Eagles. The Birds caught a break when Lester Cotton, replacing injured guard Isaiah Wynn, drew a holding penalty wiping out what would have been a 12-yard scoring pass to Hill.

The Dolphins settled for a 40-yard field goal by Jason Sanders knotting the game at 3.

Left offensive tackle Jordan Mailata’s textbook rolling block sprung Goedert for a 19-yard score on a screen, giving the Eagles a 10-3 lead with 11:25 left in the first half.

Hurts was more adept managing an 80-yard drive he capped with his sixth rushing score giving the Eagles a 17-3 advantage with 3:10 left in the first half.

Just when it appeared the Dolphins were done, Tagovailoa led them to the TD with 39 ticks left in the first half. The night, however, belonged to the Eagles.