PHILADELPHIA — Rookie quarterback Jalen Hurts gave the Eagles’ offense the jolt coach Doug Pederson was looking for, using his arm and legs to power Philadelphia to a 24-21 upset win over the New Orleans Saints, who saw their nine-game winning streak come to an end.
Making his first start in place of the struggling Carson Wentz, Hurts went 17-for-30 for 167 yards and a touchdown and ran 18 times for 106 yards. The Saints had gone 56 games without allowing a 100-yard rusher, the longest such streak in the Super Bowl era.
The Eagles (4-8-1) not only busted that up but also had two players go past the century mark, as Miles Sanders ran 14 times for 115 yards and two scores, including an 82-yard TD sprint to put the Eagles up 17-0 at the half. That was their first 17-point lead since Week 1.
“He played awesome, man. The tape [speaks] for itself,” Sanders said of Hurts. “He’s so confident. He’s a natural leader. We just needed that, and he gave us that spark starting from last week [against the Green Bay Packers].”
Hurts and Sanders became the first Eagles quarterback/running back duo to each rush for 100-plus yards in a game since Donovan McNabb (107) and Duce Staley (126) in 2002 against the New York Giants. Hurts’ 106 rushing yards are the second most by a player in his first career start at QB since 1950, trailing only Lamar Jackson‘s 119 yards in 2018, per Elias.
With the win, the Eagles snapped a four-game losing streak and stayed within striking distance of the division-leading Washington Football Team.
“Sometimes you look for an opportunity to jump-start things and kind of reset a little bit,” Pederson said. “Jalen got the start this afternoon, and I thought overall there were some good things and really kind of gave us a spark as a team that I was looking for and, I think, we were looking for as a team. But this win is not about one guy. This win is about this team and how resilient this team is.”
Player and team sources told ESPN’s Chris Mortensen that QB is Hurts’ job for the rest of the season, barring injury or disastrous play. Also, the Eagles intend to keep Wentz and have him be a major part of the team moving forward, sources told Adam Schefter, so while there is some sorting out to do at the QB position over the long term, it’s Hurts’ show for now.
New Orleans mounted a comeback in the second half, but a Josh Sweat strip sack of Taysom Hill on fourth-and-2 with less than 10 minutes to play turned the tide. The Eagles followed with a six-play, 53-yard scoring drive capped by Sanders’ second rushing TD of the game, which prompted Hurts, the team’s second-round pick in April, to break into a dance.
“It felt good,” Hurts said of his debut as a starter. “It was a new experience for me, for sure, my first NFL start out there. But I’m excited that I was able to do it with this group of guys, with this team. We’re ready to get back to work and fix the things we need to fix.”
The win came at a cost, as three-fourths of the secondary — cornerbacks Darius Slay (head) and Avonte Maddox (knee) and safety Rodney McLeod (knee) — left because of injury and did not return. Defensive linemen Malik Jackson, Derek Barnett and Sweat were also hurt. But the defense managed five sacks and 12 QB hits on Hill while limiting the Saints to 21 points, which matched a season low for New Orleans.
Meanwhile, Hurts helped the Eagles’ offense to its highest point total since Week 6.
