Photo Credits – Lincoln Financial Field Steve Eng via Flickr
Though the NFL season is only three weeks in, the time for overreacting is upon fans across the league: both good and bad. Jalen Hurts and the Eagles sit atop the National Football Conference (NFC) for the moment with a high-powered offense and stalwart defense that has only improved with time.
Hurts, for his part, has been the most encouraging development of the season thus far and has earned NFC Player of the Month for his contributions. The answer to whether or not he is the franchise quarterback is, aside from an all-time mid-season collapse, an emphatic yes. His decision-making is on point, his accuracy has vastly improved and his leadership intangibles have only gotten better with time.
His play seems to have become infectious as the rest of the team has roared to a 3-0 start, dominating on all facets of the game. Newcomers from across the roster have instilled a newfound hope in the franchise and the short term success. AJ Brown began his Eagles career in record-breaking fashion receiving ten catches for 155 yards but was not able to score in the opening affair.
Philly dominated Detroit in the opening game of the season until the fourth quarter, when the Lions roared back to within three points. The team had been up 31-14 at one point and this sudden comeback surely brought Eagles fans to the edge of their seats. Fortunately, the Birds’ offense was able to put the game away with a couple crucial first downs. 1-0.
The next game pitted Kirk Cousins and the Vikings against Philly for the home opener of Lincoln Financial Field for “Monday Night Football.” With fans’ nerves still cooling from the near-implosion of the defense against Detroit, there was a sense of worry that the Vikings would exploit that weakness to the tune of receiver Justin Jefferson dropping career-high stats against the zone scheme of Johnathan Gannon.
The reality was the opposite.
Philly smashed the Vikings early and often on both sides of the ball. Hurts tore the defense to shreds for two rushing touchdowns and a 53 yard bomb to Quez Watkins for his third in total. Darius Slay locked down Jefferson to be a virtual non-factor and the rest of the defense stalled star running back Dalvin Cook to nothing as well. Cousins threw three picks, two of them to Slay, and the Eagles claimed their second straight win of the season.
In week three, former franchise quarterback Carson Wentz took on the team which had benched him for now-starter Jalen Hurts. The revenge tour did not go as planned for the “North Dakota Assassin” however, as he was thrown to the turf for nine sacks and 17 quarterback hits against a swarming Philadelphia defense which seems to have officially arrived. He fumbled twice and only managed to bring his team to the end zone once during garbage time.
Hurts once again took to the skies in another fantastic showing throwing for 340 yards and three touchdowns with yet another efficient passing percentage game under his belt.
Philly now sits atop the NFL as the lone undefeated team following the Dolphins loss on “Thursday Night Football.” There is still plenty of football left to be played and anything can happen over the upcoming weeks, but as for great starts to the season, this was the best case scenario.
Joseph Gill is a fourth year English major with a minor in Journalism. jg923276@wcupa.edu