It was a night in LA to forget for the Philadelphia Eagles, but Jalen Hurts would like to forget it more than anyone else. Hurts recorded five turnovers, one shy of the NFL record. That tally is also tied for the most in the NFL this season, and it’s a pretty huge reason the Eagles lost in overtime.
Jalen Hurts’ career-worst outing sparks damaging Eagles loss
At one point, the Philadelphia Eagles seemed destined to vie for the top seed in the NFC again, but they’ve lost three games in a row and have dropped to the third seed in the NFC. They’re just a game ahead of the NFC South leader, which is a little embarrassing since the Buccaneers and Panthers only have seven wins.
This latest loss comes, mostly, as a result of Jalen Hurts’ struggles. He has struggled a lot this season, as poor playcalling and hot-and-cold offensive line play have tanked the Eagles’ offense. But on Monday night, in a historically bad outing, much of the problem lay squarely with the quarterback.
Hurts did something no one else in NFL history has ever done: threw an interception and lost a fumble on the same play. Hurts threw the ball to the Chargers’ defense. On the return, the defender fumbled the ball. Hurts picked it up, held it for a second (long enough to confirm possession), and fumbled it right back to the Chargers. It was an unprecedented play.
For fantasy football managers, that was a catastrophic turn of events for anyone who needed Hurts to help them get into the playoffs that have begun this week. The other three turnovers didn’t help that goal, but he’s the first fantasy QB to lose four points (two for each turnover) on one play.
Two plays after that mess of a play, Hurts threw another interception. All told, he had four interceptions and that fumble in a disgusting display of football. Had the Chargers not also had trouble on offense and turned the ball over a couple of times as well, the Eagles would’ve never come close to overtime.
But as it stood, the Eagles had the ball in field goal range on their final possession. They could’ve tied it up and kept playing or won with a touchdown. Instead, with pressure in his face, Hurts underthrew his receiver, allowing a different defensive back to tip it up in the air, and Tony Jefferson snagged it to end the game.
Hilariously, his own teammate tackled him so he wouldn’t fumble and risk repeating that earlier play where Hurts turned it over twice. That ended the game and mercifully put an end to the ugly offensive display from both teams.
After the game, Hurts took full responsibility. “I didn’t play well enough,” Hurts said via CBS Sports. “Too many turnovers. Lots of opportunities, especially when we get on the other side of the 50 and I wasn’t able to get us in the box.”
“It starts with me and how I play, how I lead, and it’s my ability to go out there and figure it out,” the QB added. “There’s no excuses. I know being all subjective in terms of how you look at it. Obviously, we always feel like we got a chance but we just got to come together and find ways to win and I have to find the way to win.”
This marked the fifth time in his career that his QBR was below 40. For reference, spiking the ball every play results in a 39.6 rating, and Hurts was well below that on the night.
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