Jalen Hurts saves Nick Siriannis' bacon in a messy Eagles win over the Jags

Nick Sirianni trained so poorly that only top-notch Jalen Hurts could save him.

Hurts led off a fourth-quarter touchdown that freed Slick Nick from the second deadly coaching sin: greed. Sirianni left nine points on the field as he chased a hypothetical 20. He twice attempted to convert fourth downs instead of shooting short field goals, then settled for three failed two-point conversions.

“We could have been better situationally. “We could have done better,” Hurts said afterwards, trying again to save his coach.

Thanks to Hurts, the Eagles defeated the Jaguars 28-23, their fourth straight win, to move to 6-2.

Hurts plays so well that sometimes you don't even notice him. His passer rating is 128.9 over the last four games, with six touchdowns. He's targeting six more. He wasn't perfect and he wasn't productive – he averages just 211 yards per game – but he didn't need productive perfection.

“He was efficient,” right tackle Lane Johnson said. “He did a good job. to drown out distractions. We have a lot of attacking additions and that means we don’t ask too much of any particular player – that he has to play ‘Superman’ football.”

” READ MORE: Doug Pederson's Jaguars tenure on life support; LeSean McCoy honored by Saquon Barkley's Eagles

Hurts finished the game 18-for-24 for 230 yards, with two passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown. He took three sacks, but only one was unwise, and it's almost always better to take a sack than to force a pass or try to run through defenders. For the fourth game in a row, he didn't turn the ball over.

“Jalen took great care of the football,” Sirianni said. Again. Hurts hasn't turned the ball over in four games and the Eagles have won all four.

Not that he doesn't make plays.

His 18-yard touchdown run gave the Eagles a 22-0 lead in the third quarter. His 46-yard fourth-quarter bomb to DeVonta Smith set up the game-winning touchdown, and upon hearing a compliment on his deep-ball skills, Hurts smiled and seemed to choke up a little:

“This is the first time I've heard this. …They say I can't.” Never believe them when they tell you they don't hear their critics.

He threw this pass with more hope than confidence: “This is one that I struggled with all week in practice,” Hurts admitted.

In any case, that play marked the 25-yard teardrop from Hurts to Smith in the back of the end zone on third-and-22. That was a breach of trust.

“I didn’t have much of an idea about DeVonta,” he admitted, “but I knew where he would be.”

The TD made it 28:16 in the middle of the fourth period, and that was enough. That's the key to Hurts. If he does enough and doesn't try too hard, he'll give the Eagles their best chance.

“Honestly, I don’t like it,” said Josh Sweat, who had two more sacks. He has scored five in the last five games, but he wants more chances: “He takes all the damn time!”

The Eagles had the ball for 38 minutes on Sunday, almost twice as much time as the Jags. They have won the TOP battle in the last three games.

Incredibly, Hurts wasn't the star on Sunday.

Saquon Barkley recorded his fifth 100-yard rushing game and his third straight with 159 and two scores, one on the ground, one on a miraculous 20-yard catch. He was the best player on the field. His signature play came early in the second quarter when he knocked down one tackler, spun away from another and then hurdled another – backwards.

The defense dropped Trevor Lawrence twice, both times by Sweat. The linebackers intercepted Lawrence twice. First, a dropped pass deservedly ended up in the hands of linebacker Zack Baun, who played brilliantly; Then, with 1 minute and 38 seconds left in the game, Nakobe Dean made an acrobatic reach into the end zone to seal the victory. On special teams, Sydney Brown forced a fumble in punt coverage that led the Eagles to their first first-quarter score in nine games dating back to last season.

Yes, it should have been easier. Sirianni made sure that wasn't the case; good for the drama, bad for the blood pressure.

The Birds were able to continue without the services of their best player AJ Brown, who did not play in the second half due to a knee injury. They held on despite the fact that the referees and replay officials had apparently made a completely botched fumble call against Barkley; The fumble was returned for a score. They persevered like the great Eagles teams of yesterday.

It was a night full of nostalgia. The players wore Kelly green, LeSean “Shady” McCoy received his Eagles Hall of Fame jacket and Doug Pederson, who won the franchise’s only Super Bowl, visited Lincoln Financial Field for one final loss.

Hurts' playing also brought back memories; Memories of a bygone era, when he didn't give the ball away, when he managed the talent around him and played like a winner, not a hero.

You know. Back in 2022, when the Eagles reached the Super Bowl — sometimes, despite Sirianni.