DETROIT − We’re approaching everything all wrong about Jalen Hurts.
Yes, the goal during the entire offseason was for Hurts to improve on his 61.3% completion percentage, especially after the Eagles traded for wide receiver A.J. Brown.
And yes, the Eagles knew they had to become more of a passing-based offense this season to contend for a Super Bowl.
Yet there Hurts was, taking off and running for first downs five times in the first 18 minutes of the game. That included converting two third downs of 15 and 6 yards.
And it included a 4th-and-goal from the 1 yard line. On that play, Hurts faked the ball to Miles Sanders, then stepped to his right and ran it in untouched. It shouldn’t have surprised anyone. The Detroit Lions fell for the fake.
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There was more. The Eagles faced a 4th-and-1 from the Lions’ 40 with 1:06 left. The Eagles were clinging to a three-point lead, and the Lions would have had enough time to get into range for a game-tying field goal, or possibly the game-winning touchdown.
Hurts snuck the ball up the middle and got the first down to seal the 38-35 win over the Lions.
In all, Hurts ran the ball 17 times for 90 yards. Just like most of the games last season, the Eagles ran the ball more times (39) than they passed it (32).
It wasn’t supposed to be this way. But this is the alternate reality with Hurts.
“He bailed us out numerous times,” Eagles center Jason Kelce said. “That’s the benefit of having a guy with such versatility … Whatever happens, having a guy like that to be able to go off-schedule and make something happen, that’s tremendous.”
That is how the Eagles will become a Super Bowl contender.
Hurts does have to improve his completion percentage. He only completed 56.3% of his passes Sunday, going 18-for-32 for 243 yards. But on three different occasions, Hurts was scrambling to his left, about to be sacked, when he somehow pushed the ball out of bounds just beyond the line of scrimmage as he was falling.
Those incomplete passes were a better result than taking a sack, although it didn’t help Hurts’ completion percentage.
“I think we had kind of a lot of broken plays, a lot of throwaways,” Hurts said. “As a quarterback, sometimes that is the best play. Sometimes you’ve got to throw the ball away.”
Then we saw the result of playing for another down. Hurts hooked up deep down the sideline for a 54-yard completion to A.J. Brown that led to a field goal with 6 seconds left in the first half.
“That was a dime,” Brown said. “It fell out of the sky.”
Hurts can do that, too.
The Eagles offense scored four touchdowns, all on the ground. Brown had 155 yards receiving, and both Hurts and Miles Sanders ran for at least 90 yards − Sanders had 96 yards, Hurts 90.
And yet, it could still be better.
“It didn’t meet my standards. It didn’t, I’ll just say that,” Hurts said. “There’s always more out there. We’re going to go to work. We’re going to work our tails off to continue to take a step, make progress, grow.”
But here’s where Hurts might have made his biggest improvement:
Typically, when the primary receiver is covered, the quarterback is expected to check down to a second or third receiver over the middle or in the flat.
Hurts changes that calculus. Often, if Hurts’ primary receiver was covered, he can gain 10-12 yards running the ball into the open spaces. That is often a better result than dumping it off to a running back for a short gain.
We saw the effect on the Lions, too.
“Everything he does frustrates defenses,” Kelce said. “He’s not your standard drop-back quarterback. It’s an element you’re going to have to worry about on third down, or even first or second down … I think he does a lot of things that makes it difficult for defenses. Makes them have to be more aggressive, and that opens up things down the field.
“All in all, he frustrates defenses.”
To no end.
That, in turn, leads to some other consequences, which doesn’t bode well for Hurts’ health. Already, there’s a pattern developing.
Hurts played just one series in the preseason against the Jets, and he was the victim of a vicious late hit out of bounds.
Against the Lions, Hurts took off around the right end when the pocket collapsed and gained five yards. Lions safety Tracy Walker used his helmet to hit Hurts as he was sliding. Walker was ejected after being called for a second unnecessary roughness call on the play (only one penalty could be accepted) when he took a swing at some Eagles’ players who confronted him.
Still, that’s two late hits on Hurts in five quarters of play. Each time, Hurts got up. But it’s a 17-game season, and those hits can take a toll.
Does Hurts worry about that?
“I don’t,” he said, not elaborating.
“Obviously we got that big … unnecessary roughness, but that turns into frustration when he keeps getting out and going, ‘boom,’ and it’d turn into a big play,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “That ended up being a scoring drive for us, and so his legs were huge.
“What an unbelievable thing to be able to have as a coach. ‘Oh, we called that, and it didn’t work?’ He made it right.”
And that is the essence of Hurts’ importance for the Eagles’ success this season: He takes a lot of situations that are on the verge of going wrong, and he makes them right.
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
