By most stats, as well as the eye test, the Eagles’ 37-17 win over the Cincinnati Bengals was one of the best games of Jalen hurts‘career.

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

Especially considering Hurts had an uneven performance against the New York Giants the previous weekend, there were some notable differences in the Eagles’ offensive approach against Cincinnati and Hurts’ overall game. To identify what has changed, let’s review the movie:

An early pace

The Bengals scoring a touchdown on their opening drive put the burden on the Eagles offense to get off to a faster start than it has at any point this season. After a Saquon Barkley The 7-yard run brought the Eagles within a manageable second down, Hurts did well to step into the pocket and fight for 7 yards, thanks in large part to an impressive block of his own. Lane Johnson picking up a late linebacker.

After another run from Barkley, the Eagles ran something we’ve rarely seen from them this year: a middle route concept off a play fake, perfectly read and executed by Hurts.

” READ MORE: Did the Eagles find their offensive identity after beating the Bengals? Jalen Hurts says he pushed for it.

The second-and-8 play was called for by the offensive coordinator Kellen Moore sent Jahan Dotson on a deep route with DeVonta Smith freeing up space in the middle of the field on a thin post route from a slot alignment across from Dotson. Dotson got stuck at the line, affecting the timing of Hurts’ first read, which led to Hurts working back to AJ Brown making a deep dig from the other side of the formation.

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

Hurts’ pass to Brown was well placed and well timed, two things that are usually necessary for passes to the middle of the field. It’s an area he hasn’t targeted often, especially early in the season. The decision also showed the patience and caution needed from Hurts, who was elected to target Smith in a similarly thin post against a two-high zone defense in Week 1.

The opening drive ended with one of Hurts’ four incomplete passes, a play the offense has leaned heavily on all season with mostly positive results.

The Bengals came out in press coverage with their cornerbacks close to the line of scrimmage and two safeties deep. Hurts identified Brown’s one-on-one matchup with Cincinnati cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt and targeted Brown on a drive route. The pass was a few yards long for Brown, who caught loose balls in high-leverage moments against both the Giants and Cleveland Browns the week before, but the play illustrates the downsides of being too reliant on shots with low percentages from the bottom to support. things.

Play action photos

The Eagles used a significantly higher amount of pass plays to unlock the middle of the field against the Bengals with success.

According to Pro Football Focus, seven of Hurts’ 22 dropbacks featured play action fakes, which occurs 31.8 percent of the time. By comparison, just 21.2 percent of his sacks this season have come on play-action concepts. On the game’s seven dropbacks, Hurts went 5-for-6 for 114 yards, five first downs and a touchdown.

Given how dominant Barkley has been this season, it makes sense for the Eagles to use his impact on the second and third levels of opposing defenses with run fakes, something that contributed to the biggest sack of to Hurts from Sunday’s game.

Taking a deep snap midway through the third quarter, Hurts faked Barkley’s handoff out of the shotgun and, as a result, drew Bengals safety Jordan Battle a few yards toward the line of scrimmage. Once again answering a post from the slot, Smith was the benefactor as he was isolated with Battle as the safety scrambled to regain the depth he had given up earlier in the play.

” READ MORE: DeVonta Smith’s improbable TD catch for the Eagles highlights a comeback day against the Bengals

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 Stars in part because of Barkley’s influence. According to Next Gen Stats, Hurts’ pass went 59.3 yards, which was the longest of his career.

One of the Eagles’ best plays also started with a handoff fake to Barkley and Smith on a post route. Facing first-and-10 early in the third quarter, the Eagles drew Cincinnati’s linebackers first with a run fake and then with a pass route from Jack Stoll paired with a flat route by to Barkley, who goes the other way. On the backside, Smith drew the attention of the safety in the middle of the field in coverage of Cincinnati’s three-deep zone, while Brown occupied the cornerback responsible for his third outside.

On the opposite side of the field, Smith’s post route also generated enough traffic for the other third outside linebacker and created a massive gap in the middle of the field for Grant Calcaterra to occupy on a deep pass route between Brown’s route and Stoll’s. shallow cross.

Take note of Brown blowing on a sliding Taylor-Britt, but it’s hard to fault Hurts for targeting Calcaterra for a 28-yard completion on the perfectly designed and executed route concept.

Playing the hits

While there have been some notable developments for the offense, the off-the-numbers concepts the group has 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 with the game still in the balance, taking advantage of Brown’s one-on-one matchup against Bengals cornerback DJ Turner .

Brown’s stop route gave the Bengals trouble early in the game as well, with the Eagles converting a third-and-16 against a zone coverage seemingly blown by Cincinnati.

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

Overall, the Eagles are starting to build effective punches and counters behind their dominant run game and action game outside of it. It’s worth noting that Hurts was only pressured for three of his 21 dropbacks, but the rhythm he’s found in the middle of the game and, in particular, completions in the middle of the field is an encouraging sign in the second half of the season.