DENVER – A Denver Broncos fan in a white Tim Tebow jersey and white hat with the team’s well-recognized horse emblem looked at the display board at Empower Field at Mile High Stadium, instructing fans to get loud.
Obliging to the command and wanting to do his part to make noise, the fan began jumping up and screaming, along with the 76,000-plus other people in the stadium on an important third and goal in the second quarter of Sunday’s game between the Broncos and Eagles.
Want more Eagles coverage? Get exclusive news, behind-the-scenes observations and the ability to text directly with reporters
After being filled with hopeful excitement, his cheers turned to silence and later a head shake and disbelief after seeing Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts find wide receiver DeVonta Smith break open in the middle of the field to catch a 5-yard touchdown as the Broncos called for an all-out blitz.
Smith had four catches for 66 yards and two TDs, powering the Eagles to a 30-13 win, the team’s fourth of the season. Hurts — helped by a running game that steamrolled the Broncos for 214 yards on 40 carries — played his best game to date, and the grades below will reflect that.
Here is the Week 10 report card for Jalen Hurts:
Final statistics
Hurts finished completing 16 of his 23 passes for 178 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception. Hurts’ final passer rating for the game was 103.2. Hurts also had 53 rushing yards.
Accuracy
For the most part, Hurts was technically sound with his footwork and placed the ball in areas that allowed his receivers to make plays on the ball, resulting in Hurts being rewarded for it in his final yardage total.
Hurts began the game, completing seven of his first eight passes for 107 yards. Hurts start was highlighted by his 36-yard touchdown pass to Smith. Hurts could have had another touchdown on another good throw to wide receiver Quez Watkins late in the second quarter, but Watkins dropped the pass.
On Hurts’ interception, he made the bad choice of not only throwing into an area with tight coverage but throwing flat-footed, not stepping up into the throw, allowing Broncos safety Justin Simmons to come up with the interception. Hurts made strides in his accuracy Sunday but has to fine-tune some things to be more accurate.
Grade: B
Mobility
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni made it a point to roll out Hurts early to avoid the rush up the middle. Sirianni also rolled him out on designed runs. These decisions once again led to Hurts being the third-leading Eagles rusher Sunday. The Broncos decided to play a lot of man coverage, which worked well for Hurts running because the Broncos players in coverage had their backs to Hurts. Sirianni has incorporated Hurts running ability into the offense, and it is paying off.
Grade: A
Spreading the ball around
Hurts threw to seven different receivers Sunday. Smith and Watkins — who dropped a sure TD on a perfectly thrown deep ball — shared the team lead in targets with six. Smith and Watkins saw the increased share after tight end Dallas Goedert left the game with a concussion. Goedert has become a reliable weapon for Hurts, especially in the middle of the field. The other receivers were able to step up.
Grade: A
Decision-making
Hurts did a good job holding the safeties in position by scanning the field and not locking on to one receiver. Hurts also made a good audible in the second quarter, changing the play to a screen pass to Boston Scott, which gained eight yards but could have been a touchdown if Scott and left tackle Jordan Mailata did not collide the play.
It was not a completely clean game because of the previously mentioned interception, a pass Hurts should not have been thrown given the coverage look.
When it came to running the ball, Hurts made the right choices on the zone read plays, knowing when to hand the ball off and when to pull it and take it around the defensive edge. Hurts also knew when not to take unnecessary hits, sliding when there were no more yards to be gained, and running out of bounds to protect himself.
Grade: B
Overall
Hurts is beginning to round into form in this new offensive look that the Eagles are showing, and his performance Sunday made showed he is continuing to improve as the season goes on. Hurts made timely throws and not only managed the game but made some highlight ones as well. Hurts will look to duplicate his performance next week at home against the New Orleans Saints.
Grade: A-
Grade:
Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting us with a subscription.
Chris Franklin may be reached at cfranklin@njadvancemedia.com.
Ad Choices