I was very happy Sunday, as most Eagles fans should have been after their 28-22 victory over the Minnesotta Vikings.

As an avid Jalen Hurts’ supporter who has to constantly defended him (yes, people still doubt him), it was such a great sight to see him finally get the opportunities to throw.  

And like Hurts usually does when given the chance to show his arm talent, the reigning Super Bowl MVP impressed again.

Hurts threw for 326 yards with three touchdowns. He had zero interceptions and finished with a 158.3 passer rating and 95.2 quarterback rating. 

Hurts became the first quarterback in Eagles history to throw for three TDs and 326 yards with no interceptions and complete 82% of his passes in a game. His perfect 158.3 passer rating was the third-best in team history, behind Donovan McNabb (2007) and Nick Foles (2013).

A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, both of whom expressed their frustrations this season with the passing game, combined for 304 yards. Smith had nine receptions for 183 yards, including a 79-yard TD in the third quarter to extend the Eagles’ lead to 21-9. Brown caught two TDs, one from 37 yards out and the other was 26 yards. 

Hurts made spectacular throws, some even on the run. There were times he looked like he was about to be sacked and kept the play alive.

He was just amazing, and the Eagles needed him to be, especially after two straight losses. The Eagles could not have afforded to lose again, and Hurts knew that.

“Well, you don’t have a game like that without the guys around you,” Hurts said. “So I give a lot of credit to them. I give a lot of credit to the collective of everyone hanging in there and enduring the game. It’s team football in the end.”

Not only did the Eagles lose the last two games, the run game could not get going again. Hurts needed to win this game with his arm, and did just that.

“(I’m) just happy to come out here and figure out a way to win a football game,’ Hurts said. “That’s a really good team, a really good defense, and it was a challenge. They presented a ton of challenges towards us, but we were able to endure and find a way to win, and I’m very thankful of that.”

And it goes beyond just a good game for Hurts.

We know he has that in him, but he was never given those types of play calls. I am not a fan of Kevin Patullo. I think his play-calling his way too predictable, and he put his players in bad situations.

So I don’t know if it was Patullo, Nick Sirianni or the players just doing their own thing and taking control, but the play-calling was improved Sunday.

Typically a shotgun-based offense, the Eagles went under center 16 times. hurts was under center, ran motion and ran play action-plays. He was able to be more explosive because of that.

Instead of the same, predictable plays and little dumb passes, Hurts took shots down field. The Eagles made things happen more through the air, and everything just looked more efficient.

Going under center really helped open the passing game up, and it was something different than the same-old things we have seen each week.

“We’ve obviously been in the gun for a long time in our offense,” said Sirianni, who downplayed the success of going under center.

.”It’s just a change of some of the things that we’ve done. We’ve been very successful in the gun and we’re just trying to find ways to get things going, different ways. Today it was, ‘Hey, try to get under center some.”

So, it sounds like the plan was to play under center more Sunday, but using the term “very successful” for being in the shotgun is a bit of a stretch. It just hasn’t worked, at least not all the time. They have to mix up the formations, and they did that Sunday… and that was successful.

Sure, things weren’t perfect.

After their first TD, the Eagles punted on their next three drives to end the first half. But after that, two of their next three drives were TDs and the other should have led to points, but Jake Elliott missed a field goal.

The offense actually scored late in the game, unlike the last two weeks when they blew leads and failed to get anything going offensively.

I believe having some play under center helped, and hopefully that continues. 

“We still want to be able to run the ball more effectively and more efficiently than we did today, but it gives you, obviously, something a little different,” Sirianni said. “There’s a time for it, and there’s also a time to be back in the gun and running from there, because we’ve made a lot of plays from there as well.”

That first part is correct, Nick.

The biggest issue on offense now is the running game. It just has to get going. The Eagles were so good on the ground, and that helped them win time of possession and even close games out.

Without that run game going, the Eagles are a different team. The line hasn’t been great, and a lot of that has to do with injuries. However, something has to change.

Saquon Barkley rushed for 25 yards on the first drive, but only had 19 yards on 13 carries the rest of the game. That’s not good. It’s great to see the passing game look phenomenal, but Barkley and the run game needs to get going. That’s the next challenge for the coaching staff.

But now let’s talk about the defense.

After an abysmal two weeks against Denver and the Giants, Vic Fangio’s unit looked much better. Not perfect, but better.

Jalyx Hunt’s interception return for a touchdown, Andrew Mukuba’s interception, Cooper DeJean’s pass breakup on Justin Jefferson’s target in the end zone, which is a TD for Jefferson 99% of the time, were some of the great plays the Eagles made.

The Eagles had eight hits and two sacks on Carson Wentz.

Sure, they allowed 387 yards, 21 first downs and were destroyed by the out-route, especially by Jordan Addison. Again, not a perfect game. But. they were so clutch in the key moments.

The Vikings had to settle for five field goals. The Eagles’ defense let the Vikings get into their territory, but they did not break. They allowed long drives and weren’t great on third down, but they got the job done.

The Eagles played bend-but-don’t break defense, so there shouldn’t be much complaining. They are still not fully healthy, too. It was great to see Nakobe Dean back. He made plays that were needed. So, I believe the defense will be fine, but there is still a lot of improvement to be had.

The Eagles are 5-2 and in a good spot. Now, they really need to have a big game and beat the Giants. They need to win that game and get revenge from that loss in Week 6. The Giants will be mad, too. They suffered a horrible loss Sunday, allowing 33 fourth-quarter points.

I think the Giants are a little bit underrated. They aren’t a great team, but I don’t know if they are bad. I like Jaxon Dart. I like Cam Skattebo. Despite that ending Sunday, the Giants’ defense is terrible. It’s just young, as with their offense.

The Eagles need to go win that game, wearing their Kelly Green’s, a win confidently and improve to 7-2 before the bye.

After the way Hurts and the passing offense looked Sunday, that scenario should happen. The defense just needs to step up, and the running game needs to be figured out.