Since the very start of this season, the Philadelphia Eagles have been utterly dominating. They are leading the NFC East with a standing of 9-1, including their recent triumph in week 11. Facing the Kansas City Chiefs, the Eagles may have had a satisfactory win, but it wasn’t up to mark according to quarterback Jalen Hurts.
Despite the 21-17 win and beating the team against whom they lost the Super Bowl last season, Hurts didn’t sound impressed with himself as well as the overall performance of the team. It was because the team faced hardship in moving the ball and getting sacked five times and one turnover. It was the defense that kept them going to the fourth quarter where Hurts connected with Devonte Smith for a 41-yard halfway.
Jalen Hurts said during the post-game press conference:
I don’t think we played clean tonight. I don’t think we played to our standard, nowhere near our standard," But I think the thing that you can’t test or quantify is the resilience that a team has, the ability to persevere and see through things and overcome things, and this team has that. We’ve yet to put up a performance to our standards, but we continue to find ways to win.
Even though the aftermath of the Eagles’ victory of week 11 wasn’t up to the standard of the star quarterback, they still are in the lead at 9-1. This puts them atop the NFC division, heading into the final six weeks of this season.
QB Hurts believes the way the team wins a game, builds character for them that would serve a great purpose for them in the future. And based on their records, they sure are one of the toughest teams in the league which gives them a fair chance to make it to the postseason run.
Facing the team against whom the Eagles lost in last season’s Super Bowl was sure a huge pressure for them, especially when the wound hasn’t healed yet. As the Chiefs went after the 10 points halfway through the Super Bowl, the Eagles made a comeback in the second half leading to their 21-17 victory.
The Eagles defense held the game pretty tight as many well-placed passes went incomplete because of the Chiefs’ struggling receivers, as quarterback Patrick Mahomes witnessed. In the final minutes, when the Chiefs got an opportunity to score a go-ahead touchdown, the drive ended up inadequate by drops from Travis Kelce, Justin Watson, and Marquez Valdes-Scantling.
In the second quarter, as Mahomes was intercepted by Kevin Byard, he lost a good opportunity to score. And when the Chiefs were driving early, Kelce fumbled away in the fourth quarter. For the most part, the Eagles struggled to make the turnovers into points. They got the first and last lead of the game when Hurts connected with Smith downfield for 41 yards, last in the fourth quarter.
