PHILADELPHIA — There was very little to feel good about in the Philadelphia Eagles blowout loss on Monday Night Football to the Dallas Cowboys.
And there was a lot to be worried about.
The injuries continue to hurt this team, as do penalties.
The defensive scheme looks soft. The play-calling is confusing.
It was a complete team effort in this collapse at Jerry World, but the most disappointing part of the loss was the performance of Jalen Hurts.
This was the first test for Hurts against a top-tier quarterback, and a top-tier offense: An offense that was very likely going to have more success against Philadelphia's defense than the two previous opponents did.
Could he match that offense in a potential shoot-out?
Could he elevate this team and be someone the Eagles can win because of and not just win with?
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Well, he had his opportunity.
Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and the Dallas offense moved the ball, with ease, up-and-down the field all game.
If the Eagles were going to win, it would have to be with Hurts and his arm: throwing the ball at a high volume, and with high efficiency.
In the first of many tests this season in this scenario, Hurts failed.
Consistently throughout the game, the second-year signal-caller was late to his throws, inaccurate, left the pocket way too early, and under-threw a lot of pass attempts.
Every weakness raised as a concern about with Hurts as a passer reared its ugly head in front of the entire country. He looked like the same limited passer he was in college and as a rookie.
After two interceptions against Dallas, Hurts now has six interceptions in seven career starts. Four of which came in two matchups at Jerry World.
It isn't a coincidence. Both games the Eagles had to play from behind and throw their way back into it.
That is where a team can learn a lot about what they have at quarterback.
So far through seven games, the lessons about Jalen Hurts have remained consistent.
He still has 14 games this year to change the narrative.
With matchups against Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady, and Derek Carr this month alone, the Eagles will need Hurts to do a lot more as a passer to keep this season from falling off the rails.
Hurts will need to do that for himself as well, to ensure Philadelphia isn't looking for his replacement in 2022.
