After Philadelphia’s 42-30 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said Jalen Hurts had turned in “one of the better quarterback performances I’ve seen.”
The former Alabama standout had a different take on the game.
“Look, we lost,” Hurts said when asked about Sirianni’s assessment during a postgame press conference. “We lost. We lost the game. Got to do more. Got to do better. Here’s what I’m going to say: You got every opportunity to learn, right? Everything that you do, you learn from it. And we’re clearly not there as a football team because we lost. But we’re this close.”
Hurts held the index finger and thumb on his right hand about an inch or so apart.
“We’re this close,” Hurts said. “And that’s something that I believe. That’s something that I believe. We have to continue to grow, continue to learn, continue to be 1 percent better every day -- rent being due every day – continue to clock in and believe in that. That’s what it’s going to take. And we’re not a finished product. No player on this team is a finished product. But it’s about believing in that.”
On Sunday, Hurts completed 32-of-48 passes for 387 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. He reached career highs in completions, attempts and passing yards. Hurts also led the Eagles with 47 yards on eight rushing attempts.
“That’s one of the better quarterback performances I’ve seen,” Sirianni said, “and I’ve been around a lot of good quarterbacks with Philip Rivers and Andrew Luck. He battled. He made good decisions with the football. He got out of trouble when there was trouble. He made good checks. He made good reads.
“That’s the best I’ve seen him in practice, that’s the best I’ve seen him in a game since I’ve been here, so hat’s off to Jalen. He battled, and that’s going to be important to us moving forward.”
Hurts lost two touchdown passes to penalties – in the second quarter for an ineligible receiver downfield and in third quarter for offensive pass interference on a pick play. In both cases, the Eagles ended up with field goals. In the second quarter, the touchdown would have given Philadelphia the lead. In the third quarter, the Eagles could have pulled within one point or tied the game, depending on the conversion.
Hurts also lost a 34-yard TD throw to former Alabama All-American wide receiver DeVonta Smith in the fourth quarter because the Philadelphia rookie stepped out of bounds on his way down the field, making him ineligible to catch the pass. The Eagles ended that possession with an incompletion on fourth-and-11.
Philadelphia entered Sunday’s game as the most penalized team in the NFL and had nine penalties for 49 yards against the Chiefs.
“I think we’re close because everything we do, we control it,” Hurts said. “We control the penalties. We control the little things. It’s all magnified in games against good football teams. We’ve played good football teams to this point in every game.”
The Eagles dropped to 1-3 heading into their Oct. 10 game against the Carolina Panthers.
Philadelphia lost on Sunday even though it scored six of the eight times it had possession, didn’t punt and didn’t lose a turnover. The Eagles had three touchdowns and three field goals, possessed the football when the first half ended and were stopped on downs in the fourth quarter at the Kansas City 35-yard line.
But the Eagles also struggled to stop the Chiefs in the first NFL game since Oct. 26, 2014, in which neither team punted. Kansas City had eight possessions and scored six touchdowns, lost an interception and had the football when the game ended.
Hurts’ passing yardage is the eighth-most in an NFL regular-season game for a former Alabama player, exceeded by Joe Namath and Richard Todd three times each and Ken Stabler once.
Namath holds the record for the most passing yards by a Crimson Tide alumnus in an NFL game with 496 in a 44-34 victory over the Baltimore Colts on Sept. 24, 1972. Namath completed 15-of-28 passes with six touchdowns and one interception.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
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