Hurts throws for TD, runs for another as Eagles thump Bucs
Jalen Hurts threw for a touchdown, ran for another and led the Eagles on a game-ending drive that lasted more than nine minutes as Philadelphia remained unbeaten with a 25-11 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.
The defending NFC champions, who won their first eight games a year ago, are off to a 3-0 start in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1992-93.
Hurts improved to 20-1 over his last 21 regular-season games. He tossed a 34yard TD pass to Olamide Zaccheaus that helped Philly build a 13-3 halftime lead, and his 1-yard scoring run gave the Eagles a 17-point advantage early in the second half.
The Eagles led 25-3 by the time the Bucs finally got into the end zone on Baker Mayfield's 1-yard TD throw to Mike Evans. A 2-point conversion trimmed Philadelphia's lead to 14 with 9:22 remaining, but Hurts and the Eagles never let Tampa Bay get the ball back.
Hurts was 4 of 5 passing and ran for a first down on that final drive.
The Bucs (2-1) lost for the first time with Mayfield at quarterback, turning the ball over twice after playing turnover-free against Minnesota and Chicago. The Bucs' usually reliable defense struggled, too, yielding 201 yards rushing.
A week after rushing for a career-high 175 yards, D'Andre Swift ran for 130 yards on 16 attempts for Philadelphia. Hurts was 23 of 37 passing for 277 yards and two interceptions, while A.J. Brown finished with nine receptions for 131 yards for the Eagles — one of just three NFL teams that remain unbeaten, along with Miami
and San Francisco.
BURROW SHAKES OFF CALF INJURY, THROWS FOR A SEASON-HIGH 259 YARDS AS BENGALS BEAT THE RAMS 19-16 >> Joe Burrow shook off a lingering calf injury, throwing for 259 yards as the Cincinnati Bengals beat the Los Angeles Rams to get their first win after starting the season with two losses.
Joe Mixon's 14-yard touchdown run in the third quarter gave the reigning AFC North champs their first lead of the season. Meanwhile, Logan Wilson picked off Los Angeles quarterback Matthew Stafford twice and the Bengals sacked him six times.
Stafford threw a 1-yard scoring pass to Tutu Atwell with just over a minute left in the game, and the PAT got the Rams to within three points, but Mitchell Wilcox fell on the ensuing onside kick to seal the win for the Bengals (1-2).
STEELERS' TEAM PLANE MAKES EMERGENCY LANDING IN KANSAS CITY, NO INJURIES REPORTED >> The Pittsburgh Steelers' charter
flight home following a Sunday night win in Las Vegas made an emergency landing in Kansas City early Monday.
Team spokesman Burt Lauten posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that “everyone on the plane is safe and we are making necessary plans to arrive back in Pittsburgh later today.”
KDKA-TV, which has a pair of journalists on the team plane, reported the plane landed in Kansas City just before 5 a.m. EDT. The station reported the plane was dealing with an oil pressure failure in one of the engines.
The team was originally scheduled to arrive in Pittsburgh around 2:30 a.m. after improving to 2-1 by holding off the Raiders. RAIDERS' GAROPPOLO IS IN CONCUSSION PROTOCOL >> Raiders quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is in concussion protocol, putting his status in question for when Las Vegas visits the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday.
Garoppolo was injured in Sunday night's 23-18 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Coach Josh McDaniels said Monday that he didn't know when the injury occurred, but Garoppolo took several hits in getting sacked four times and his head bounced off the turf on one play in the fourth quarter.
Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick was flagged for roughing the quarterback. CHARGERS' WILLIAMS TORE HIS LEFT ACL DURING SUNDAY'S WIN >> Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Mike Williams will miss the rest of the season after suffering a torn ACL in his left knee.
The team said an MRI on Monday morning confirmed the ACL tear. There isn't a timetable on surgery since the swelling in the knee needs to go down.
Williams suffered the injury late in the third quarter of Sunday's 28-24 win over the Minnesota Vikings. The seventh-year receiver had a catch for an 11yard gain when the injury took place.