Jalen Hurts interceptions: Eagles QB matches career-high with puzzling, game-losing pick vs. Jets

Edward Sutelan

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Jalen Hurts interceptions: Eagles QB matches career-high with puzzling, game-losing pick vs. Jets image

Jalen Hurts has been the biggest reason the Eagles have been one of the most dominant teams in the NFL the past two seasons. But on Sunday, his puzzling late-game decision might be one of the chief reasons Philadelphia lost.

The Eagles had possession of the ball with under two minutes to play facing a third-and-9, and the Jets having no timeouts remaining. Rather than run the ball out of the two-minute warning and punt the ball back to the Jets with 1:20 left, Hurts attempted to fire a pass into Dallas Goedert to seal the win.

The problem? Goedert was double covered, and safety Tony Adams easily intercepted the pass.

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Adams returned the pick to the Eagles' 8-yard line, and the Jets cashed in an eight-yard rushing touchdown by Breece Hall to give the Jets the 18-14 lead. A 2-point conversion made it a 20-14 lead. And after four offensive plays by the Eagles, Philadelphia turned the ball over on downs and lost by that score.

Nick Sirianni explains why Eagles let Jalen Hurts pass before third interception

After the game, coach Nick Sirianni said the mindset behind trying the throw in that situation was to end the game, and that a similar play call had worked earlier in the game.

"We thought that if we got the first down there in that particular case the game was over. The worst thing that could happen, happened," Sirianni said. "Sure, every time you're going to think about it. I don't think in that particular case we thought running it was the right thing. Then we had a third down earlier in that drive that we converted on in similar circumstances, we're going to trust our guys to make plays.

"In that particular case looking at it, again, we'll have to put him in better spots to succeed and then we've got to execute."

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There were plenty of reasons to question the decision to throw the ball in the first place, then for Hurts to try to fit it into that window. To start, it was an unlikely pass to result in a completion. With two defenders blanketed over Goedert, the pass still appeared likely to be an incompletion.

Had Hurts decided to run the ball and come up short of the line to gain, Philadelphia would have been able to punt the ball away with 1:20 or less remaining in regulation. That would have left New York with most of the field and no timeouts left to drive most of the field and get into field-goal range.

On the Jets' previous two drives, New York had combined for three yards on eight plays. Zach Wilson had been sacked twice. Garrett Wilson was hobbled, apparently dealing with a foot injury, though Jets coach Robert Saleh said after the game he would have been able to return to the field.

The Eagles had one final attempt to head down the field after Hall's quick interception, re-gaining possession with 1:46 left and two timeouts left. Hurts missed a pass to A.J. Brown, missed another to DeVonta Smith and then connecting with Smith only for two yards.

The game ended with Hurts trying a 48-yard deep shot to Smith, again into double coverage, that was nearly Hurts' fourth pick of the game.

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Jalen Hurts' interceptions

Hurts already had two interceptions coming into the penultimate drive, though neither were entirely his fault. The first came off a pass deflected out of the hands of Goedert that went right to defensive tackle Quinnen Williams.

The next came when Jermaine Johnson reached Hurts and hit his arm, with Hurts' deep shot attempt sailing straight into the air and into the hands of Bryce Hall at the line to gain.

Hurts tied his career-high with the three interceptions. His seven interceptions in 2023 are already more than the six he had in 2022, and just two shy of his career-high set back in 2021. Sirianni said he would have to review the tape to further evaluate Hurts' game-losing interception in the fourth quarter.

"I'm going to have to see that play again and see if there was something that flushed him out of the pocket. He had to hold it for a tick longer, I'm going to have to see what happened there," Sirianni said. "Looked like the played some sort of cover 4 on that. We had a completion on that play earlier in the drive and then I'll have to look at the tape exactly. I know Jalen's going to want that play back obviously. I thought that was pretty much the only turnover that was on him though."

Hurts, however, said he believed he made the wrong read on the play.

"I think I had an opportunity and I didn't do my job on the play, I don't think I made the correct read on it," Hurts said. "But it happens. It's an opportunity for us to learn from it and grow."

Edward Sutelan

Edward Sutelan Photo

Edward Sutelan joined The Sporting News in 2021 after covering high school sports for PennLive. Edward graduated from The Ohio State University in 2019, where he gained experience covering the baseball, football and basketball teams. Edward also spent time working for The Columbus Dispatch and Cape Cod Times.