Jalen Hurts and DeVonta Smith have played together for five years in the NFL, but in Sunday's win over the Vikings, they each posted career games while making history along the way.
Hurts became just the third Eagles quarterback ever to have a perfect passer rating, joining Donovan McNabb (2007) and Nick Foles (2013). Smith had the most receiving yards in a game by any NFL player this season, grabbing nine passes for a career-high 183 yards and a touchdown.
It was exactly what the Eagles needed as they snapped their two-game skid.
"Well, you don't have a game like that without the guys around you," Hurts said. "So I give a lot of credit to them. I give a lot of credit to the collective of everyone hanging in there and enduring the game. It's team football in the end.
"[I'm] just happy to come out here and figure out a way to win a football game. That's a really good team, a really good defense, and it was a challenge. They presented a ton of challenges towards us, but we were able to endure and find a way to win, and I'm very thankful of that."
The day started with a bang as Philadelphia scored on its opening drive when Jalen Hurts found A.J. Brown for a 37-yard touchdown on fourth down. It was the first of many big plays as Hurts completed all five of his deep passes of 20+ air yards, according to NextGen Stats.
Smith got going early in the third quarter when he beat former Eagle Isaiah Rodgers deep for a 79-yard touchdown on a perfectly thrown pass, a play Smith had been advocating for at halftime.
"He (Smith) had a lot of confidence in that look, had a lot of confidence in that," Hurts said. "He was chirping about it and it ended up getting called. I'd say great feel by him. Great execution from the guys up front and then great, great call by KP (Offensive Coordinator Kevin Patullo) to get to it."
From there, Smith was cooking en route to one of the best games by an Eagles receiver of all time. He had multiple chunk gains, shaking off tough hits and being a go-to guy for Hurts.
Brown was also a major part of the passing game, adding a 26-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter and then virtually icing the game with his 45-yard grab on 3rd-and-9. Brown finished with four catches for 121 yards and two scores, and he came up clutch with a reception on 3rd-and-13 late in the game to keep a drive going.
While the Eagles run game didn't take off, Smith said postgame that high-level passing performances can loosen up defenses and prevent them from selling out to stop the run. Sunday's win will certainly play a role in that as the trio of Hurts, Smith, and Brown put together a complete performance, helping the Eagles move to 5-2 on the season.
"We're all on the same page," Smith said after the game. "The sky's the limit. We just have to continue to do that." — Written by Matt Ryan
