Jalen Hurts let out a chuckle and a smile while he contemplated what he would say, and perhaps more tellingly, what he wouldn’t.

The Eagles quarterback was asked about his first touchdown pass of the new season and the fact that it looked eerily similar to the final play of the season before. Hurts found Dallas Goedert running up the seam on the same four vertical route concept that had become the lasting symbol for the group’s offensive struggles in 2025 and the limited menu some blamed the 28-year-old signal caller for during the offseason.

So what was going through Hurts’ mind after he ripped the throw high enough and far enough into the back of the end zone for only Goedert to make the play and promptly turned toward the sideline, shrugging his shoulders in celebration?

“It’s a great play. It’s a great play,” Hurts said with a chuckle. “Y’all will dig. Y’all will try to figure something out.”

On a night with plenty of irony about the way the Eagles leaned on a few old tricks while operating in the new system offensive coordinator Sean Mannion has implemented, Hurts’ answer offered irony of its own. After delivering individual brilliance in a handful of big moments that led to a 24-22 win over the Washington Commanders, Hurts was the one to offer a cryptic postgame message after a year of them being directed at him instead.

Hurts’ most pivotal play came on the ground. With the Eagles facing third-and-18 midway through the fourth quarter, Mannion called a vertical passing concept with seven players in to protect against a possible Commanders blitz. Hurts broke out of the pocket and upfield with Washington’s defense dropping out of the pressure look, and got a key block from rookie receiver Makai Lemon on a 22-yard scramble to keep the Eagles on the field to protect a one-point lead.

Three plays later, he found Dallas Goedert for a 45-yard touchdown catch and run that proved to be the decisive score of the game.

“That was huge. That was a big-time play,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said of Hurts’ run. “Being able to extend. I think one of the things that makes Jalen such a special quarterback is that he can do it through the air. He can do it running the show. He can do it with his legs when he needs to make plays, and obviously, that was a big play, and you need those.”

Eagles right tackle Jordan Mailata added, “I didn’t know where he was in the pocket. I was getting my facemask grabbed … and then I look up and J’s 20 yards downfield. I was like, ‘Thank God.'”

Hurts finished 14-for-25 for 203 yards with three touchdowns and zero interceptions. The latter feels important to point out given the amount of scrutiny his interception tally during training camp garnered, and also to help paint the picture of what kind of night it was for the Eagles offense.

Hurts and Co. went three-and-out on five of their 11 actual drives. They gained more than one first down on just three of them. According to TruMedia, Sunday night’s performance would have ranked lower than just two of the team’s 18 games last year in success rate and is 28th among the 30 teams in Week 1 going into Monday night.

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