Jalen Hurts set a number of marks for NFL quarterbacks that the NFL hasn't seen since at least 1950 in his first career start for the Philadelphia Eagles. Hurts, who led the Eagles to a shocking victory over the New Orleans Saints, became the first quarterback in the past 70 years to throw for 150 yards with a passing touchdown and rush for 100 yards in his first career start.
Hurts finished 17 for 30 for 167 yards with a touchdown in the victory. He also finished with 18 carries for 106 yards with a fumble, his lone turnover of the day. Hurts also became the first quarterback over the past 70 years to throw a touchdown pass and rush for 100 yards in his first career start. He joined Lamar Jackson as the only quarterbacks since 1950 to have 100-plus rush yards in their first career start, and Hurts had the first 100-yard rushing performance for an Eagles quarterback since Michael Vick on Dec. 19, 2010.
"He played awesome today. The tape shows for itself," Eagles running back Miles Sanders said to reporters after Sunday's win. "He's so confident and he's a natural leader. We just needed that and he gave us that spark to start from last week. But ya'll seen it all. I think we played a whole total of four quarters today. I think we looked like a complete team, minus the penalties, we have to clean that up, but overall though I think this whole team did a hell of a job."
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Hurts became the second quarterback in NFL history to win his first career start against a team that had won at least nine straight games -- which was the Saints' winning streak heading into the game. The other quarterback to accomplish the feat was Ron Jaworski, when he started for the Los Angeles Rams and defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1975 (the Steelers won 11 straight games). Jaworski was the Eagles quarterback from 1977 to 1986.
"He played exceptionally well. He hurt us," Saints head coach Sean Payton said to reporters after the loss. "We'll take a look at the tape. Obviously, we didn't do a good enough job of slowing [his run game] down. When a team rushes for 250 yards, not a lot of good can happen.
"I'll say this – he was impressive just watching him. I thought he played with poise, made some throws, and was smart. He did a good job."
