Hurts takes Mile High step on career day

Defensive virtuoso Vic Fangio thought it best that the Denver Broncos make Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts beat them from the pocket Sunday at Empower Field at Mile High. Nothing new there, as other teams had done so with varying success, mainly when the Eagles were playing at their own field.

On this day, however, it would be different. Two pinpoint touchdown passes to DeVonta Smith later, the Broncos tried to chase Hurts from the pocket.

This was the day Hurts showed the NFL he could win from the pocket.

This was the day head coach Nick Sirianni will look back on as the one where Hurts arrived as a passer.

“Throwing from the pocket today isn’t something I can’t do,” Hurts said. “It’s something I think I do very well. I think it’s just taking advantage of it.”

Sirianni was at a loss to describe the precision throws and checks Hurts made against one of the league’s top defenses. The Broncos were among just three teams to rank in the top 10 in rushing, passing and overall yards allowed entering the game. They were allowing a 57.5 completion percentage, best in the league and just 17 points per game, second on the circuit entering the weekend.

This just in: Eagles 30, Broncos

13. And all that after the team had broken out the black pants.

“He just continues to get better,” Sirianni said. “He just did some really good things in that game. Right before the (36-yard pass) to DeVonta, he made a couple of really good checks. He really got us out of holes and that’s what your good quarterbacks do.”

Nonbelievers need only watch replays of the precision throws Hurts made to Smith to realize how far he’s come in just 14 NFL starts for a team in a rebuilding program. First there was the 36-yard lob he looped over hotshot rookie cornerback Patrick Surtain Jr., another Alabama prodigy, to Smith for a sprawl

BART YOUNG — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts runs the ball against the Denver Broncos in the first half Sunday in Denver.