‘I own it:’ Jalen Hurts explains yet another interception originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
If Saquon Barkley hadn’t dropped that pass, Jalen Hurts wouldn’t have thrown that interception.
Because the game would have been over and that drive never would have happened and that pass never would have been thrown.
But it did. And he did.
It happened with 27 seconds left in a game the Eagles should have won, but for the sixth straight game Hurts threw an interception.
After Barkley’s drop Monday night and the Falcons’ effortless 70-yard go-ahead touchdown drive, the Eagles got the ball back at their own 30-yard-line with 34 seconds left with one timeout left.
Not ideal, but realistically, they needed about 27 or 28 yards to get into the outer limits of Jake Elliott’s range. Elliott is 4-for-4 in his career from 58 yards and out, and he’s one of five kickers in NFL history to make multiple field goals from at least 61 yards – the game-winner vs. the Giants in 2017 and another last year vs. the Vikings.
Twenty-seven yards would get the ball to the Falcons’ 43 and give Elliott a shot at another 61-yarder.
Hurts picked up 13 quick yards to the Eagles’ 43 on a completion to Dallas Goedert, and the Eagles called their second timeout with 27 seconds left.
Just 14 yards away now.
But instead of chipping away at the Atlanta defense, Hurts went for broke and again threw into coverage, trying to force a ball to DeVonta Smith at the Falcons’ 32-yard-line. Smith had no chance to make the catch and Jessie Bates, the Falcons’ Pro Bowl safety, snagged the interception.
Ballgame.
“Yeah, just, honestly, trying to give a guy a shot to make a play,” Hurts said Wednesday. “In that situation, the game, I think, just looking back on it, (considering) the time we had, the opportunity we had, maybe didn’t have to be as aggressive there. But we’re trying to take a shot down the field in that area. And didn’t connect.”
Hurts didn’t throw his third interception in 2022 until Week 9. But after chucking two in the opener vs. the Packers, he now has three in two games, tied for 3rd-most in the league behind Bo Nix and Anthony Richardson, who each have four (and have a combined eight career NFL starts).
Since opening day last year, Hurts’ 18 interceptions are tied for 2nd-most in the league, behind only Sam Howell‘s 21.
The only Eagles quarterbacks with more interceptions in a 19-game span over the last 30 years are Rodney Peete and Michael Vick.
Hurts again took responsibility for his poor judgment. And it’s important to remember a 60-yard field goal is hardly a lock. To get into range for a 55-yarder – and Elliott 5-for-6 from 55 yards and out since 2021 – the Eagles needed 33 yards.
But with a fresh set of downs and a timeout and a world-class kicker, it all seemed possible.
Then disaster. Again.
“I own that in those moments because those are the moments you get excited about to make plays,” he said. “We got a great skill set of guys and everybody is different in their own right. We’re giving them the opportunity to express themselves and what makes them great.”
Hurts didn’t throw an INT in the playoff loss to the Bucs, but he’s now thrown at least one in six straight regular-season games, tying the longest streak by an Eagles quarterback since Ty Detmer’s seven-game streak in 1996.
The franchise record is shared by Ron Jaworski and Randall Cunningham at 10 games each.
The only longer current streak among active NFL quarterbacks belongs to Howell, who’s currently backing up Geno Smith in Seattle.
