Jalen Hurts shoulders blame for Philadelphia Eagles loss to Buccaneers: "I just have to play better"
Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles had a chance to make it a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 4. Despite the poor play and lack of execution, it was a two-possession game.
Hurts and the Eagles were driving late in the third quarter in Tampa Bay's red zone, but then an all-too-familiar play happened.
As Hurts dropped back to pass on first-and-10 from the Buccaneers' 19-yard line, he was stripped-sacked by Tampa Bay linebacker Lavonte David. The play essentially sealed the game for the Buccaneers in the 33-16 win over the Eagles as the Birds weren't able to get into Tampa Bay territory for the remainder of the game.
"Overall, I just have to play better, I got to play better," Hurts said. "I had a ton of opportunities to lead the offense and really play complementary ball and that starts with me on that side of the ball."
Hurts was without starting wideouts A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith and starting right tackle Lane Johnson. Brown is still dealing with a hamstring injury, while Johnson and Smith were out with concussions.
But Hurts took responsibility for his performance, even though he was without his best weapons and one of the best tackles in all of football.
"I didn't play good enough, that's what it comes down to," Hurts said. "We had opportunities. We put a lot of time in this week to take advantage of this game and what we had and the guys that we had a lot of trust in. We took advantage of some and some we didn't. Ultimately, it starts with me."
Hurts completed 18 of his 30 passes for 158 yards and one touchdown pass to veteran wide receiver Parris Campbell to go along with his fumble. He also rushed for 20 yards on eight carries and a touchdown.
Hurts' performance Sunday looked similar to other games he's played against the Buccaneers since he became Philadelphia's starting quarterback.
Hurts has played the Buccaneers five times in his career, including the playoffs, and head coach Todd Bowles has gotten the best of the Eagles quarterback. In those five games, Hurts is 1-4 and has thrown five interceptions with a 59% completion percentage.
Hurts and Philadelphia's offense have been plagued by turnovers over the past four weeks. He's given the ball away seven times, has had a turnover every game so far and has led the league in turnovers since the start of the 2023 season.
Three of Hurts seven giveaways this season have also come in the red zone, and Philadelphia has lost the turnover battle in every game so far in the 2024 season.
"There's many things that go into it," Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said. "It could be the call that we made, it could be the protection by a back or the offensive lineman, it could be somebody didn't win downfield, it could be he held on to it too long, there are so many things that go into that. But at the end of the day, he's going to get that credited to him. At the end of the day, it's a team game and it's on all of us."