PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jalen Hurts had Cincinnati in knots — as well as his cleats — as he played his best game of the season and kept the Eagles riding high after the bye.
Hurts had sole possession of the most quirky snap of the game, forced to play with mismatched cleats when one of his green Air Jordan 4 PEs came off during a run down the sideline. But Hurts had tied the laces so tightly that he couldn’t easily slip on the cleat and was forced to burn a timeout to find a substitute shoe.
Never short on swag, Hurts changed to a white Jordan 11, a fashion faux pas for most, but a green-white scheme that could start the next hot trend in Philly backyard football games.
“I had to go Jalen Two Shoes for a bit,” Hurts said.
How’s this for a stat line: Hurts rushed for three touchdowns and passed for another, and played with two different cleats on one scoring drive in Philadelphia’s 37-17 win over the Bengals.
For all the hand-wringing in Philly over early losses to Atlanta and Tampa Bay, the Eagles are 5-2 and Hurts has been the difference-maker in three straight wins coming off the bye.
He has put early turnover woes behind him, and, well, laced the offense with the kind of rousing play that stirs reminders of his 2022 season when he led the Eagles to the Super Bowl. Hurts became the first Eagles QB to throw a 40-plus yard TD in three consecutive games since Carson Wentz did it in four straight games in 2017. Hurts’ 45-yard TD to DeVonta Smith on Sunday traveled 59.3 yards in the air, which is the longest such completion of his career, according to Next Gen Stats.
“Jalen puts the work in. That’s something that doesn’t get talked about enough, how much he loves football, how much time he puts into this game and that’s what you want from one of your leaders on this team,” coach Nick Sirianni said.
Besides Washington’s Hail Mary win against Chicago and the Browns stunning the Ravens, Hurts’ colorful cleat combination was one of the NFL’s most viral can’t-miss plays on Sunday.
So about that hot streak, it's gotta be the shoes, right?
Try hairstyles. The Eagles are 3-0 since Sirianni buzzed his head, a look the superstitious coach just might keep —- as long as he doesn't take it to a vote inside his home.
“My wife really doesn’t like it,” he said.
What’s working
The offense. Let's start with the offensive line. The Eagles were down two starters in Jordan Mailata and Mekhi Becton, yet replacements Fred Johnson and Tyler Steen helped hold the Bengals to no sacks. That allowed Hurts to play without pressure and he orchestrated a turnover-free game for the entire offense.
Saquon Barkley rushed for 108 yards. Smith had six catches for 85 yards, and A.J. Brown had five for 84. The Eagles piled up 397 yards on offense.
“I think when you are able to run the ball effectively, it opens up so much," tackle Lane Johnson said. "First of all, it wears down the interior defenders, weakens the pass rush, puts the backers in a predicament. The more we can effectively run block instead of (using) play actions, that opens up everything.”
What needs help
First-quarter points. The Eagles played their best all-around game of the season — with one hiccup. They again failed to score in the first quarter, making them 0 for 7 this season.
It wasn't necessarily the offense's fault in this one. Cincinnati's opening drive went 70 yards, took more than 10 minutes off the clock and ended with a 2-yard TD pass from Joe Burrow to Ja’Marr Chase. Cincinnati was 5 for 5 on third down on the drive.
Stock up
Smith. Much like his cleats, Hurts and Smith proved to be quite a pair in Cincinnati. One week after Smith had just one catch for minus-2 yards, he returned to form and was a familiar target for Hurts.
Hurts said Smith wasn't to blame for last week's poor outing against the Giants.
“I don’t think that’s on DeVonta,” Hurts said. “We’ve got a lot of talent, a lot of mouths to feed.”
Smith and the Eagles had a voracious appetite for big plays against the Bengals. Smith’s 45-yard score was his third this season and tied for the second-longest receiving TD of his career, trailing a 63-yarder in 2023 against Minnesota.
The 45-yard completion was the Eagles’ 11th play of 40-plus yards this season and came in the sixth game overall with a 40-plus yard play.
Stock down
The too-tight laces and lack of a quickly available matching shoe were about as close to disaster as the Eagles got the entire game.
Instead, the Eagles got a field goal on the drive and Hurts could laugh about the wardrobe malfunction.
“I talked to (the equipment guys) about it in the back. That’s just something that’s small, but yet, no one would think about it in terms of work and time, and how much pride that our equipment team puts into it,” he said. “(They were killing themselves) that we had to burn the timeout because of the shoe. I was just like: ‘Hey man, next play. It’s all right, let it go.’ But I’ll never have a shortage of shoes, to say the least.”
Injuries
CB Darius Slay suffered a groin injury in the second half.
Key number
13-1 — The Eagles’ record in their last 14 games vs. AFC opponents. Since 2021, the Eagles boast the highest interconference winning percentage (.765, 13-4) in the NFC. The Eagles could improve that record Sunday against Jacksonville.
Next steps
Former Eagles coach Doug Pederson returns Sunday to Lincoln Financial Field, this time with swirling speculation about his job status with the Jacksonville Jaguars stuck at 2-6. The scheduled Sunday night game was bumped last week to a 4:05 p.m. start.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Dan Gelston, The Associated Press
