I have always tried to defend Jalen Hurts.

My biggest argument about him is his composure — nothing seems to rattle him. 

Before Hurts threw an interception Sunday, he went 149 straight passing plays without throwing one. 

Hurts also fumbled in the Philadelphia Eagles’ 34-6 dismantling of the Dallas Cowboys, the Eagles’ first time winning at AT&T Stadium since 2017 and Saquon Barkley’s first-career time beating Dallas.

After that, Hurts was great. We can talk about how the Eagles’ defense won that game, which I believe was also a major reason. But we should not discount Hurts’ contributions in the win.

Hurts wasn’t looking great to start. The  fumble was bad. The interception was not great, even though Trvon Diggs should get credit on that play. It was a good read. But the Eagles’ drive before halftime is the reason why I will continue to defend Hurts.

With 1 minute, 43 seconds remaining in the second quarter, he orchestrated a seven-play, 84-yard drive, which was capped by a 14-yard touchdown pass to Dallas Goedert. Hurts also scrambled for a 23-yard gain on the drive, his longest of the season. In the second half, he led the Eagles to points on three of their six possessions (the last scoring drive was led by Kenny Pickett… yeah, the Eagles beat Dallas so badly the backups  pretty much played the entire fourth quarter). 

The Cowboys were trailing 7-6 and staying in the game because of mistakes, penalties and sacks. Hurts was sacked five times in that first half. Was it a completely clean game? No! But guess what? When things got messy, Hurts’ just remained calm and poised. That’s what he does. He never looks bothered on the bench. He maintains that serious look, after both good and bad plays. I love that attribute about him. After his interception, his next pass was a 27-yard dart pass to Jahan Dotson. Hurts just didn’t feel any pressure and made the next play, and not all quarterbacks can do that. 

Hurts finished with 202 yards with two TDs and a decent 115.0 passer rating, his fifth straight game with a passer rating of 115-plus. Hurts also rushed for 56 yards and two touchdowns. Not a bad stat line for the way he started

Now let’s get to the defense.

The Eagles have allowed 10 points per game and 201 yards per game in the last five games, and they gave up just four touchdowns during that stretch. The Eagles had just two takeaways in their first six games, both compliments of Reed Blankenship. But they have had 10 takeaways since then, including five Sunday against the Cowboys. Zach Braun, who has been having a Pro-Bowl-type season with 87 tackles, forced and recovered a fumble. Milton Williams, Cooper. DeJean and Blankenship recovered a fumble, and C.J. Gardner-Johnson made an interception.

The five takeaways matched the most ever by the Eagles in a game at Dallas.

Braun led the Eagles with eight tackles, including one for loss. Gardner-Johnson added seven tackles, Nakobe Dean six. DeJean and Braun are amazing players. Even Quinyon Mitchell! Right now, this entire defense is playing great. Whatever Vic Fangio did at the bye is working wonders. He has this defense ready for battle, and I love it (as I am sure you all do).

From the first few weeks, this has been a huge improvement. The defense is young, so I did expect them to be a bit inconsistent to start. But I think they are in the right groove right now. The Eagles are just playing more physically and applying more pressure. 

The red-zone defense has been better recently, evident by back-to-back stops when the Cowboys were deep in Eagles’ territory. Jalen Carter made a great stop on third-and-3, and Braun forcing that Ezekiel Elliott fumble was glorious. The Eagles shut out the Cowboys in the second half, forcing two punts and a fumble. Dallas has been atrocious this season, but the Eagles did what they had to do. It’s as simple as that. The Eagles were the better team, and they showed it. 

Now the real test comes.

When was the last time an Eagles and Washington game really mattered? I mean, Thursday night is absolutely HUGE! I did not expect this from Washington, but the Commanders are very good, despite the loss Sunday. Washington was playing a good Steelers team, and the game was competitive. The Commanders are not a pushover by any stretch of the imagination.

This game will be the biggest of the season.

This game is for first place in the NFC East. 

This game could put one team in a Wild Card battle. 

Whichever team wins this game could maybe even get the series sweep when they met again next month. 

There is just so much on the line. 

The Eagles have a tough stretch upcoming with Washington, the Rams and the Ravens. The Rams are getting healthy and are not a team to take lightly. The Ravens, despite their defense not being great, are still a dangerous offensive team. Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson are big-time threats.

That makes the Eagles’ matchup with Washington that much more important.

The Eagles beat up on the lowly Browns, Giants and Dallas. They earned a great win against a solid offensive team in the Bengals … and it was a quality win. The Bengals are better than their record, and should have won this past Thursday. 

But the Eagles may be facing their toughest challenge yet.

I think the difference will be their defense. Both offenses are talented. Jayden Daniels is something special. But the Eagles defense is playing phenomenally right now. They have been so good, and it might just come down to them making a stop. And with the way the Eagles have been playing, especially against Dallas, that could just happen.  

Thursday is going to be very exciting.