Eagles ugly it up, but find way to beat Bills
PHILADELPHIA — Jalen Hurts walked off the Linc field with his arms extended in celebration as the Eagles crowd, which had booed the team off the field at halftime, went wild in appreciation for one more comeback. One more series of stupefying plays their franchise QB has made routine.
Consider one in the fourth quarter, when Hurts rolled to his left and almost seemed out of options. He stopped, spotted Olamide Zaccheaus through a crowd of defenders, and threw for a go-ahead score.
Or even the winner, a designed run from a QB who played through a bruised knee this season and went virtually untouched for a TD — his fifth scoring play of the game.
“He made a lot of really clutch plays in that second half,” Philadelphia coach Nick Sirianni said.
Obviously, yes. It was Hurts, after all. He zipped into the end zone from 12 yards out with 2:37 left in overtime, and the Eagles beat the Bills, 37-34, on a cold, rainy Sunday.
Hurts threw for three touchdowns and ran for two more, outdueling Buffalo’s Josh Allen while rallying the Eagles from a 17-7 halftime deficit for the second straight game.
“You know he’s clutch,” Sirianni said. “He’s been clutch for us, clutch for this city, and clutch for this team for the last three years now. He just kept going, put his head down, and worked.”
Hurts needed some help, though. Philadelphia’s Jake Elliott tied the game with a 59yard field goal in swirling wind with 20 seconds remaining.
“Given the conditions, that was probably the toughest one I had to hit,” Elliott said.
The Bills (6-6) still had 20 seconds left and a chance to at least try a desperation heave or a quick play to set up a field goal try. Coach Sean McDermott instead elected to have Allen take a knee.
After the Bills went ahead with a field goal on the first possession of overtime, Hurts scooted for the score that made the Eagles the only 10-1 team in the NFL. He hit DeVonta Smith for 17- and 11-yard receptions in OT, and D’Andre Swift had a 16yard run to help set up the walkoff TD.
The Eagles trailed by 10 points at the half, 10 in the third quarter, and by 3 late in regulation and early in OT.
“We found a way at the end and made it happen,” Hurts said.
Allen threw for 339 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 81 yards and two scores for the Bills, who are in danger of missing the playoffs after winning the AFC East the past three years. But he was intercepted in the fourth quarter by James Bradbury, setting up Hurts’s 29yard TD pass to Zaccheaus for a 28-24 Philly lead.
Allen used a 15-yard scramble and a 15-yard roughing the passer penalty on the first drive of OT to put the Bills in position for the win. Tyler Bass — who had missed two field goals — nailed the go-ahead kick from 40 yards with 5:52 left in the extra period.
Hurts finished 18 of 31 for 200 yards with an interception in a matchup of two of the NFL’s most dynamic QBs. He also rushed 14 times for 65 yards.
Hurts played a miserable first half, throwing for 33 yards while the Eagles had 99 overall.
“It couldn’t have been much worse of a first half,” Sirianni said. “That was an offensive explosion in the second half. It had to be.”
The MVP candidate rallied his team, just as he did a week earlier at Kansas City. Hurts connected with A.J. Brown from 3 yards and Smith from 10 yards to get Philly back into the game.
“The difference is, I think it’s the mind-set,” Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham said. “It’s not like, ‘Oh, Jalen threw a pick.’ We don’t feel that. Whatever it is, don’t complain about it, go do something about it.”
The Bills finished with 505 total yards and 13 third-down conversions.
“They’re defending NFC champs for a reason,” Allen said. “They made plays tonight and they made enough to win the game.”