By most statistical measures as well as the eye test, the Eagles’ 37-17 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals was one of the best games in history. Jalen hurts‘ career.

The 26-year-old quarterback finished 16 of 20 for 236 yards with a passing touchdown and three more rushing scores to go with it. Looking at his 80% completion rate, 11.8 yards per attempt and 132.5 passer rating, each ranks in the top five in his career so far and his completion percentage compared to expectations was also the highest of his career, according to Next Gen Stats.

Especially since Hurts was coming off an inconsistent performance against the New York Giants the previous weekend, there were some notable differences in the Eagles’ offensive approach against Cincinnati and in Hurts’ play in general. To identify what has changed, let’s watch the film:

An early rhythm

The Bengals scoring a touchdown on their first series put the onus on the Eagles offense to start faster than it ever has this season. After a Saquon Barkley A 7-yard run got the Eagles to a manageable second down, Hurts did well to step into the pocket and rush for 7 yards, thanks in large part to an impressive block of Lane Johnson recover a linebacker at the end of a blitz.

After another first down from Barkley, the Eagles created something we’ve rarely seen from them this year: a midfield route concept from a play-action fake, read and executed perfectly by Hurts .

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The play of second and eight announced by the offensive coordinator Kelly Moore sent Jahan Dotson on a deep dig route with DeVonta Smith freeing up space in the middle of the field on a skinny post route from a slot alignment in front of Dotson. Dotson got stuck at the line, affecting the timing of the Hurts side read first, causing Hurts to move back towards AJ Brown carrying out his own deep digs from the other side of the formation.

It’s subtle, but it’s also worth noting that Hurts kept a wide base while making his reads, which made it easier for him to time the throw to Brown as he moved from one side of the field to the other.

Hurts’ pass to Brown was well-placed and well-timed, two things that are typically required for passes in the middle of the field. This is an area he hasn’t often targeted, especially early in the season. The decision also showed necessary patience and caution on the part of Hurts, who was chosen to target Smith at a similar skinny post against a two-height zone defense in Week 1.

The opening series ended with one of Hurts’ four incomplete passes, a play the offense relied heavily on throughout the season with mostly positive results.

The Bengals appeared in the press with their cornerbacks heading to the line of scrimmage and two deep safeties. Hurts identified Brown’s one-on-one matchup against Cincinnati cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt and targeted Brown on a go route. The pass was a few yards long for Brown, who caught balls in high-leverage moments against the Giants and Cleveland Browns the week before, but the play illustrates the downsides of overreliance on low-percentage shooting down to hold things.

Game plans

The Eagles also used a significantly higher number of play-action passes to unblock the middle of the field against the Bengals with success.

According to Pro Football Focus, seven of Hurts’ 22 dropbacks featured play action simulations, accounting for 31.8 percent of the time. In comparison, only 21.2% of his dropbacks this season have come from play-action concepts. In those seven game losses, Hurts went 5 of 6 for 114 yards, five first downs and a touchdown.

Given Barkley’s dominance this season, it makes sense for the Eagles to exploit his impact on the opponent’s second and third levels of defense with fake points, which contributed to Hurts’ biggest throw in Sunday’s game.

Shooting deep midway through the third quarter, Hurts faked the handoff to Barkley with the shotgun and thus lured Bengals safety Jordan Battle a few yards toward the line of scrimmage. Running a post again from the slot, Smith was the benefactor as he found himself isolated with Battle as the safety scrambled to regain the depth he gave up early in the game.

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The 45-yard touchdown required a pinpoint pass from Hurts and a contested acrobatic catch from Smith, but the one-on-one matchup favored the star in part because of Barkley’s influence. According to Next Gen Stats, Hurts’ pass traveled 59.3 yards, which was the longest of his career.

One of the Eagles’ best play designs also started with a fake handoff to Barkley and Smith on a post route. Facing first-and-10 early in the third quarter, the Eagles lured Cincinnati’s linebackers underneath first with a fake point, then with a Jack Stoll cross route paired with a Barkley flat route the other way . On the back end, Smith drew the attention of the midfield safety in Cincinnati’s deep three-zone coverage while Brown manned the cornerback in charge of its outside third.

On the other side of the field, Smith’s route also generated enough traffic for the other outside third defender and created a huge void in the middle of the field for Grant Calcaterra to occupy on a deep crossing route located between Brown Road and Stoll Road. shallow cross.

Note that Brown blows past a sliding Taylor-Britt, but it’s hard to fault Hurts for targeting Calcaterra for a 28-yard completion on the perfectly crafted and executed route concept.

Play the hits

While there were some notable developments for the offense, the out-and-out concepts the group relied heavily on this season were still there when needed against the Bengals.

Hurts hit Brown on a stop route against Cover 3 early in the third quarter while the game was still on the line, taking advantage of the one-on-one matchup Brown had against Bengals corner DJ Turner.

Brown’s stopping route also gave the Bengals problems earlier in the game, with the Eagles converting a third-and-16 against a seemingly destroyed zone coverage by Cincinnati.

Even with the disconcerting amount of space Brown found, the conversion still required Hurts to place his throw between two layers of the defense.

Overall, the Eagles are starting to create effective punches and counter punches behind their dominant running game and get a play-action game out of it. It’s worth mentioning that Hurts suffered only three of his 21 losses, but the rhythm he found midway through the game and the midfield successes in particular are nonetheless an encouraging sign for the second half of the season.