PHILADELPHIA — “M-V-P! M-V-P!”
The chants are only getting louder for Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts.
Hurts on Sunday delivered another stellar performance against the Tennessee Titans. His efforts — 392 combined yards and four touchdowns (three passing, one rushing) — proved to be the deciding factor in the Eagles’ 35-10 victory at Lincoln Financial Field.
As Hurts departed the field victorious, he was greeted by shouting similar “M-V-P” chants near the home tunnel. With five regular-season games remaining, Hurts has emerged as a legitimate candidate for the league’s top award. The Eagles own the NFL’s best record at 11-1, including first place in the NFC East.
Brown and Smith overwhelm the Titans
Star wide receiver A.J. Brown admitted he was experiencing a wave of emotions ahead of Sunday’s game against his former team. He successfully rid himself from those feelings. Brown torched his former teammates with a game-high eight catches, 119 yards, and two touchdowns.
During a draft day trade with the Titans, the Eagles surrendered first- and third-round picks in order to acquire Brown, whom they subsequently signed to a four-year extension worth up to $100 million. Brown has helped transform the Eagles offense into a high-octane machine. When Hurts wasn’t delivering picturesque basket-type passes to Brown, the 24-year-old quarterback was tossing completions to wide receiver DeVonta Smith, who finished right behind Brown with five catches, 102 yards, and one touchdown.
Defense bottles up Henry, Tannehill
All week long, the Eagles knew exactly who was coming to town. The defense proved to be up for the challenge as it limited Titans running back Derrick Henry to 11 carries and 30 rushing yards.
Early and often, coordinator Jonathan Gannon stacked the box with extra defenders. It took a collective group effort to quiet the former Offensive Player of the Year. For a majority of the game, the interior defensive line set the tone while others played cleanup duty. Linebacker T.J. Edwards paced the unit with a team-high six tackles.
With the Titans unable to get much going on the ground, quarterback Ryan Tannehill couldn’t muster much more. The defensive front harassed Tannehill to the tune of six sacks, including two from defensive end Josh Sweat. Last season, the Eagles recorded 29 sacks. Through 12 games, the Eagles are up to 42 sacks. Tannehill managed just 14 completions with 141 passing yards and one touchdown. He also finished as the Titans’ leading rusher with 34 yards on three scrambles.
Special teams improvements
This specific group suffered arguably its worst performance of the year last Sunday night against the Green Bay Packers. But the Michael Clay-led group rebounded nicely versus the Titans with multiple standout performances.
Linebacker Christian Elliss, who was elevated from the practice squad, started the party with an electric hit in the first half. Elliss also served as a key blocker in front of returner Britain Covey, who finished with a season-best 105 punt return yards across six punts. Covey also recorded his longest return of the season (27 yards).
Penalties
Despite the final scoreboard, it wasn’t an entirely clean performance from the Eagles. They committed a season-high 11 penalties for 75 yards. A handful of their mistakes were committed by the offensive line with veterans Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson flagged for false-start penalties. Those type of slipups simply can’t occur at such a frequent rate, especially late in the season at home.
Injury report
Wide receiver Quez Watkins sustained a shoulder injury in the second half. Watkins did not return.
Second-year offensive lineman Landon Dickerson sustained an apparent lower body injury during the first half. Dickerson missed a few snaps, and he was briefly replaced by Andre Dillard at left guard.
