‘Special’ Hurts helps Eagles edge thriller
Dallas play ‘complete game’, thrash Vikings
LOS ANGELES: The Philadelphia Eagles returned to winning ways with a thrilling 17-16 NFL late comeback victory at the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.
But another of the league’s form teams, the Minnesota Vikings, suffered a crushing 40-3 defeat at home to a rampant Dallas Cowboys.
The Eagles, whose perfect start to the season ended after eight games with a defeat to Washington last week, were staring at the prospect of another loss as they began the fourth quarter 14-3 down.
But quarterback Jalen Hurts found Quez Watkins with a 22-yard touchdown pass and, after a Colts field goal, Philadelphia (9-1) snatched victory with 1:20 minutes to go, as Hurts rushed in for an eight-yard touchdown.
Hurts ended with 190 passing yards, 86 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
“That was a great win, it wasn’t what you draw up but in this league it rarely is,” said Eagles coach Nick Sirianni, who was offensive coordinator with the Colts before joining Philadelphia.
“You keep seeing it, when we need a drive, when need some points, we can always lean on our offensive line and Jalen is always special with the ball in his hands,” he said.
The Vikings went into the day tied with the Eagles for best record in the league at 8-1, the meeting with the Cowboys billed as a clash of two of the best teams in the NFC.
But it was an utterly onesided encounter.
Dallas, quickly putting aside the disappointment of last week’s loss to the Green Bay Packers, scored points on each of their first seven drives.
“We just played a complete game, offence, defence. We knew we had to respond after last week and this was big for us,” said quarterback Dak Prescott, who threw for 276 yards and two touchdowns to the outstanding Tony Pollard.
Running back Ezekiel Elliott also rushed for two touchdowns while Pollard rushed for 80 yards on 15 carries and also gained 109 yards on six receptions, using his running power to burst from deep to great effect.
The combination of Elliott and Pollard proved too much for Minnesota.
“They are dynamic, when we have them both out there, the defense doesn’t know what is coming at them,” Prescott said.
The 37-point margin was the biggest the Cowboys have enjoyed in 54 years.
The loss also saw Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins snap a streak of 39 consecutive games with a touchdown — the fourth best record since the NFLAFL merger.
The Kansas City Chiefs improved to 8-2 with a 30-27 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers.
The Chargers led with 1:46 minutes remaining, but Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes piloted a six-play, 75-yard drive capped by a four-yard touchdown pass to Travis Kelce that made it 30-27.
It was Kelce’s third TD catch of the night and the Chargers’ bid to claw back ended when Chiefs defender Nick Fulton intercepted a pass by Los Angeles quarterback Justin Herbert.
The Buffalo Bills, forced to move their home game with the Cleveland Browns to Detroit due to a snow storm, left Motor City with a 31-23 win.
Browns QB Jacoby Brisett threw for 324 yards and three TDs but three field goals in the fourth quarter were enough to secure the win for the Bills, who had lost their previous two games.