Jalen Hurts solidified his MVP bid with throwing for 380 yards and three touchdowns and runs for another score, and A.J Brown caught two touchdown passes against his former team to lead the Philadelphia Eagles to a 35-10 win over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.
Hurts had led the Eagles by 11-1, their first time with that streak since 2004 and the fourth time in franchise history. 1949 Eagles won the NFL championship. The 1980 and 2004 teams lost the Super Bowl.
The Eagles look like a team that could win a Super Bowl.
Pain is all they need to get anywhere near a playoff spot.
The quick and well-armed QB set a career high with 29 total touchdowns and had his third career game total with four TDs. His first half alone was pretty good play for most quarterbacks: a 268-yard pass and two touchdowns on a rush score.
The Eagles' defense was also first rate, packing in Derrick Henry - who had 11 hits for 30 yards - and limiting Ryan Tannehill to 141 yards and a touchdown. The Titans (7-5) lost for the second straight but are still comfortably ahead in the AFC South.
After a field goal put Tennessee within 14–10 late in the second quarter, the Titans had five consecutive possessions before turning it around.
It was inevitable that Hurts would go after Brown. Tennessee drafted Brown in the second round of the 2019 draft and he immediately became one of the top earners in the game. He totaled 1,000 receiving yards in each of his first two seasons and had 869 in just 13 games in his third. But the Titans balked when Brown wanted a raise that would make him one of the highest-paid earners in the league and sent him to Philadelphia in an evening draft deal.
The trade was Philly's first real win of the season.
Brown was better than advertised - and yes, the Eagles paid him $57 million guaranteed - and he had eight catches for 119 yards against the Titans. Fellow width DeVonta Smith had five catches for 102 yards.
With the game tied 7-all, Hurts and Brown connected with a 40-yard TD pass that looked overturned on a penalty. Brown had already hugged the post as part of his goal celebrations. Don't worry. Hurts came back and hit Brown – who catapulted past cornerback Kristian Fulton – for, yes, a 40-yard touchdown and a 14-7 lead.
Hurts threw a 34-yard TD pass to Smith on the first drive of the game and closed the first half with a 2-yard run for a 21-10 lead.
The next Hurts-to-Brown TD is a doozy. Hurts spread it into the corner of the end zone and the ball passed cornerback Tre Avery's face shield before Brown cradled him for a 29-yard score and led 28-10 in the third quarter.
Miles Sanders' 3-yard TD run in the fourth made it 35-10 and the only tension left was if Hurts would come back for another drive. He didn't. The game is out of reach. The best season in the team's history is still very much in sight.