The Philadelphia Eagles continue to soar over the competition with a big Week 9 win on Thursday Night Football. This time, Philadelphia defeated the Houston Texans 29-17 on the road to keep its undefeated record intact. The Eagles are now 8-0 on the season, the first time they've ever accomplished such a feat.
With a 14-14 tie at halftime, this game was closer than expected at first. Then, the Eagles turned it on in the second half and showed why they're one of the best teams in football. Philadelphia forced two key interceptions on defense, while the offense had two touchdown drives to put the game out of reach.
It may not have been their best performance of the season, but the Eagles performed when they needed to. Without further delay, let's go over some of Philly's most impactful players from the win over Houston.
3. Dallas Goedert
The reliable Goedert continued to impress on Thursday night. Philly's star tight end had his best game of the season with eight catches for 100 yards, notching his first 100-yard game this year. He also scored a key touchdown in the fourth quarter to essentially ice the game.
Goedert became Jalen Hurts' favorite target on Thursday night, with nine targets compared to A.J. Brown's six. Top tight ends are hard to come by in the NFL, and many teams would love to have Goedert. Fortunately for Hurts and the Eagles, they can rest easy knowing that they do have him.
2. Javon Hargrave
After a quiet start to the season, Hargrave has hit another gear in his last two games. He showed out in Sunday's win over the Pittsburgh Steelers with eight total tackles and two sacks after having just 11 tackles and one sack in the first six games. Then, he upped his game even more on Thursday night.
Hargrave had seven tackles in the game, but more importantly, he also had all three Eagles sacks. He chose a good time to go off too, with two of his sacks coming in the fourth quarter. This marks the first time in his seven-year career that he has had a three-sack game.
The Eagles already have a strong pass rush, with their 26 sacks tied for second in the league. With Hargrave now on fire, that pass rush is now definitively one of the best in the NFL.
1. Jalen Hurts
Thursday's game was always going to be a special one for Hurts. The Houston native was playing his first NFL game in his hometown, and he wanted to show out for his family. The third-year quarterback accomplished that goal with his performance.
Hurts didn't have his best rushing game with just nine carries for 23 yards. However, he continued to show how much he has improved as a passer, completing 21 out of 27 passes for 243 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. His passer rating of 128.9 was his second-highest of the season, only behind his four-touchdown performance against the Steelers.
“Any time I get to come back to the city of Houston it’s special. This is the first time I’ve been able to play back home at the professional level,” Hurts said, per Pro Football Talk. “I never got the opportunity to do it at the collegiate level. So coming back, playing in the place where I built a lot of memories with my mom and my dad, coming to watch ball in this same stadium. Of all things, it’s a great team win. . . . I’m proud my family got to see that today. I’m proud my dad got to see that and I know it’s special to him because my family knows the memories we’ve had with the Houston Texans.”
Hurts is right there in the MVP race with Josh Allen. If he continues his impressive play, this season will be one to remember in Philadelphia.