INDIANAPOLIS − It got to a point where Jalen Hurts seemingly said enough with the penalties, missed chances, turnovers.
The quarterback, playing without star tight end Dallas Goedert, took matters into his own hands after the Eagles fell behind by 10 points early in the fourth quarter. He did it mostly with his legs.
Hurts ran for 86 yards, including the go-ahead 7-yard touchdown run on 3rd-and-goal with 1:20 left, giving the Eagles a hard-fought 17-16 win over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.
A few plays before, Hurts ran up the middle on 4th-and-2 from the 9, getting 4 yards to keep the Eagles alive.
“I was just playing the game,” Hurts said. “I don’t really get into how I have to win it or whatever. I just try to go out there and read and react, make it as simple as I possibly can.”
The Eagles then had to stop the Colts on defense. Brandon Graham took care of that with his sack on Matt Ryan on 3rd down to set up a 4th-and-21. The Colts didn’t convert and the Eagles could finally exhale as they improved to 9-1. The Giants’ loss to Detroit gave the Eagles a 2-game lead in the NFC East.
There were so many emotions after the game. That was evident when Eagles coach Nick Sirianni was caught on camera turning around and yelling into the crowd behind the Eagles’ bench. He was clearly emotional two weeks after the Colts fired his mentor in Frank Reich two weeks earlier.
While Sirianni wouldn’t go into it after the game, he did say: “You guys can probably imagine what I really think.”
There were other emotions, too, like exhaustion and elation from the Eagles’ two newest players, veteran defensive tackles Linval Joseph and Ndamukong Suh. They played often and effectively. They even combined on a sack in the third quarter.
“I didn’t expect to play this much,” Joseph said. “If we were winning by two touchdowns, you probably wouldn’t have seen that much of me because now we’re rushing (the quarterback). But when the game is close, and they’re running the ball, I’m expecting to be on the field.”
The Eagles needed it to stop Colts running back Jonathan Taylor. He ran for 49 yards on 7 carries on the Colts’ first possession, which resulted in his 1-yard TD run. Joseph wasn’t on the field for Taylor’s two longest runs that series − for 28 yards and 9 yards.
After that opening drive, Taylor had just 35 yards on 15 carries.
But the offense couldn’t get untracked, misfiring in penalties, sloppy play and missed opportunities.
That is, until the fourth quarter.
The Eagles trailed 13-3 before Quez Watkins scored on a 22-yard touchdown pass from Hurts with 13:31 to go.
The Eagles had one more chance because of Haason Reddick’s sack on Matt Ryan on 3rd-and-goal from the 5. That forced a 37-yard field goal and kept the Eagles within a touchdown with 4:37 left.
“I was like, we gotta stop them from scoring here, keep it to a field goal,” Reddick said. “We were able to do that.”
The Eagles gradually worked their way down the field. Miles Sanders drew a 39-yard pass interference call to get to the Colts’ 28. But everything came down to one play, the fourth down from the 9.
Hurts ran the ball up the middle, and the Eagles kept the drive going. Then he finished off the drive on a quarterback draw from the 7. It was as if the Colts defense parted and let him walk through.
“I knew we were going to have to (show some guts),” Joseph said about Hurts’ play. “That’s just what it is. It was that moment. It was do or die. Who wants it more? Who’s going to step up? He did that. Once he did that on fourth down, you know what? I knew we were going to be alright.”
That was the case on defense, too. The Eagles had allowed an average of 160 yards per game over the last two games.
But Suh and Joseph helped keep the Colts to just 99 yards on the ground.
The Eagles had trouble on offense without Goedert, both in production and in penalties.
The Eagles committed 5 penalties for 40 yards in the first half alone. They had three in a row on one drive that left them with a 1st-and-35. No surprise, they ended up punting. All three backup tight ends were called for penalties during the first half.
When the Eagles faced a 2nd-and-goal from the 2 midway through the second quarter, Jason Kelce snapped the ball over Hurts’ head and the Eagles lost eight yards. They settled for a field goal, cutting their deficit to 7-3.
Then the Eagles’ follies continued in the second half. On the very first play, Colts’ defensive end Yannick Ngakoue sped past Jordan Mailata and hit Hurts just as he was getting ready to throw, causing a fumble that Indianapolis recovered at the Eagles’ 22.
But just like later in the game, the Eagles held the Colts to a field goal.
Then Hurts took matters into his own hands.
“Oh, man, it was a great win,” Sirianni said. “It wasn’t what you draw up or anything like that, but in this league, it rarely is. It’s tough sledding. Just a great win to be able to get that.”
Mistakes keep coming
The Eagles, no doubt smarting from a bad first half offensively, were hoping to make amends by getting the ball to start the second half.
That didn’t work out. On the first play, Colts defensive end Yannick Ngakoue blew past left tackle Jordan Mailata and then Miles Sanders. He then hit Hurts’ arm as he was getting ready to throw, forcing a fumble that the Colts recovered at the Eagles’ 22 yards line.
The Colts settled for a field goal and a 13-3 lead. And the Eagles’ offense remained stuck in quicksand.
1st-and-35?
The Eagles didn’t help themselves in the first half. On one drive in the first quarter, the Eagles got a 1st-and-10 on the Colts’ 35. On the first play, center Jason Kelce was called for being an illegal man downfield, pushing the Eagles back 5 yards. On the next play, guard Landon Dickerson was called for holding, pushing them back another 10 yards.
On the next play, tight end Tyree Jackson was called for offensive pass interference. That gave the Eagles a 1st-and-35 from their 40 yard line. The Eagles ended up punting.
Eagles, Colts inactives
The Eagles listed QB Ian Book, CB Josh Jobe, RB Trey Sermon, G Josh Sills and G Sua Opeta as inactive. As for the Colts, both Pryor and Foles are among the inactives.
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
