Jalen Hurts starts 2021 in dream fashion for Philadelphia Eagles fans

Philadelphia Eagles fans were hoping that Jalen Hurts could prove to be the answer at quarterback. A three-touchdown, statement game might have answered their prayers.

Coming into the 2021 NFL season, Philadelphia Eagles fans were hoping that second-year passer Jalen Hurts would prove over the course of the campaign that he was the answer under center for the Eagles.

He might have proved that over the course of a single game.

Hurts was impressive for the Eagles in a surprisingly-easy victory over the home Atlanta Falcons. The second-year QB threw three touchdown passes, targeting three different receivers for scores.

The first touchdown was the connection Eagles fans have been waiting to see since DeVonta Smith came off the board to Philadelphia in the first round of last April’s draft. Facing a 3rd-and-4 just outside the red zone, Nick Sirriani dialed up a perfect route combination to beat man coverage:

The rub concept, with tight end Zach Ertz creating some traffic, worked to perfection. Smith gets separation on the wheel route and Hurts drops in a perfect touch throw for the score.

On his second touchdown strike of the day, Hurts flashed some of the athleticism that made him an intriguing prospect coming out of Oklahoma. With the Eagles facing 1st-and-goal with time running out in the half, Hurts escapes the pocket to his right, keeping his eyes downfield before firing a laser to tight end Dallas Goedert for six:

From this end zone angle, you can see how TE and QB work to get on the same page. Goedert sees Hurts scrambling outside the pocket and works towards the middle of the field, but Hurts puts the throw towards the outside to beat the lurking underneath defenders. Goedert sees this and darts behind the defender, getting in position to finish the play:

His third touchdown of the day was a throw behind the line of scrimmage, but Hurts still needed to make a little magic happen on his end of the play. The Eagles show run-action on this before having Hurts pull and target Quez Watkins on a tunnel screen. But the QB is under pressure in the pocket with a defender right at his ankles, yet Hurts still has the ability to stay upright and get the throw off:

From there, Watkins picks up a convoy of blockers and the Eagles are in the end zone again.

The day was not perfect from Hurts, and there were some plays that he left on the field. One such example was this vertical concept where Hurts has Ertz wide open on an out-and-up route against single-high coverage. The pass is underthrown, still catchable but a better throw likely results in a bigger play:

Still, given the questions about Hurts coming into the season, and the never-ending rumors about the Eagles addressing quarterback either via trade or the draft, this was the performance Philadelphia fans were praying to see at some point this season.

An emphatic, statement game from Hurts.

They did not need to wait long.