The Philadelphia Eagles continued their recent mastery of the Kansas City Chiefs, winning their much-anticipated rematch, 20-17, on Sunday.
The Eagles have now won three straight games against the Chiefs, including last season's Super Bowl. They improved to 2-0 and are now 17-1 in their last 18 outings.
Philadelphia escaped with the victory despite Jalen Hurts tallying only 101 yards after going 15-of-22 for 101 yards. He, however, scored on a critical one-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to give them a 20-10 lead. Before that, Hurts threw a 28-yard laser to DeVonta Smith to keep their drive alive.
After the game, Eagles coach Nick Sirianni credited the reigning Super Bowl MVP for the important lob.
“You see those in practice, and you see them in the past, and it gives you confidence to do that,” said Sirianni in a report from NBC Sports Philadelphia's Reuben Frank.
“I think Jalen Hurts is one of the best deep-ball throwers in the NFL, and I think he’s shown that. People don’t talk about that enough.”
Sirianni, who had a testy relationship with Hurts in the past, even mentioned instances when the Eagles quarterback found his teammates with the deep ball.
“Go back to last year and all of those fourth downs that went vertical, whether that was in the (Cleveland) Browns game in the four-minute (mark), whether that was in the (New York) Giants game on a fourth down, or whether that was in the Super Bowl on a fourth down that ended up coming back. There’s all this nitpicking on Jalen, but nobody talks about that,” added Sirianni.
“He’s unbelievable at throwing the deep ball, which ends up helping us setting things underneath.”
He stressed that it's amazing to see the 27-year-old Hurts have a “great connection” with his targets.
In their win over the Dallas Cowboys in Week 1, Hurts went 19-of-23 for 152 yards, with Dallas Goedert and Saquon Barkley combining for 11 receptions.
The Eagles will aim for a third straight victory against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday.
