NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Eagles escaped the sweltering Tennessee heat with an ugly win.

Here are my instant takeaways from the surprisingly tight game in Music City:

Third-and-Hurts

After a week harping on the importance of staying on schedule, Sean Mannion’s second stab at calling plays as Eagles offensive coordinator certainly seemed to align with that philosophy.

Especially in the first half, the Eagles consistently found themselves doing hard work for manageable third down situations, sometimes at the expense of being aggressive instead. It’s a philosophy that doesn’t neatly align with more analytically inclined minds and one that put the onus on Jalen Hurts for better or worse on Sunday.

And in the game’s decisive moments, Hurts delivered for the better. The Eagles quarterback, who was challenged to “play quarterback” by Titans defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons in the lead-up to the game, did just that on a game-winning drive at the end of the game.

Hurts went 6-for-8 on the decisive series, hitting Dontayvion Wicks for a 20-yard gain facing third-and-6 at midfield and finding Darius Cooper for a three-yard touchdown pass with just seconds remaining.

Overall, Hurts went 26-for-37 for 264 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.

That statline requires some context, though. As our friend Deniz Selman pointed out on social media, the Eagles have yet to register a gain of 10 or more yards on first down this season and didn’t have a pass attempt beyond the sticks until late in the third quarter on Sunday.

In those third downs before the final drive, Hurts had a performance that was mostly defined by two incredibly costly interceptions. He was picked off by Amari Hooker on an ill-advised throw to DeVonta Smith in the end zone on the team’s opening drive and gave the ball up again midway through the fourth quarter with the game hanging in the balance.

The latter pick came after three quarters of relatively clean football from Hurts even with plenty of chaos around him. Hurts got hit by Simmons just as he threw a ball downfield to a wide open Smith, but the pass was underthrown and intercepted by Titans cornerback Marcus Harris lurking underneath.

Hurts two miscues can’t be totally absolved, but the lack of aggression on early downs didn’t do him or the offense any favors Sunday. The group seemed almost at its best when operating “behind the sticks” on third down or after a penalty for most of the game.

And behind on the scoreboard, Hurts was at his best when the Eagles needed him.

Finicky front

Turns out the surprise of Drew Kendall getting his first NFL start at center with Cam Jurgens bumping over to left guard wasn’t enough to thwart the Tennessee pass rush.

In fact, you could make an argument moving Jurgens to left guard may have backfired to some degree.

The 27-year-old looked like an offensive lineman playing his first game at the position Sunday, struggling to pick up stunts with Jordan Mailata in a way that is somewhat understandable given the limited amount of reps the two have taken together over the last several years.

Kendall fared better, although the Eagles offensive line in general struggled to keep Hurts clean in obvious passing situations.

Especially as the game wore on, the front struggled to sustain things in the run game in a way that brings back worrying memories of a season prior. Perhaps Jurgens can settle in at left guard with another full week of practice before next Monday’s game against the Chicago Bears?

Heat check

The Eagles defense had a few uncharacteristic moments Sunday, enough to crescendo into a Titans series late in the fourth quarter with the group of starters seemingly out on their feet.

The secondary had a couple coverage busts on a Titans scoring drive late in the third quarter and the pass rush in general became less of a factor in the second half. The run defense wavered significantly as well, with Titans running back Tyjae Spears breaking off a 27-yard rumble past the Eagles defensive front and a diving Marcus Epps to set Tennessee up in the red zone just before the two-minute warning.

Jalyx Hunt also had a costly moment early in the game that’s hard to attribute to the heat, failing to get Titans quarterback cam Ward on the ground after knifing into the pocket on a third-and-goal in the first quarter. Ward’s ensuing scramble got Tennessee within quarterback sneak range on fourth down and set up the opening touchdown of the game.

This game brought back memories of some of the Eagles struggles down in Tampa Bay in season’s past. In 2024, a Week 4 loss brought about major changes that contributed to a Super Bowl run. Saying nothing about postseason potential, I’d still argue this year’s group has just as high a ceiling, but the performance Sunday shows they still have plenty to overcome.

Some quick thoughts:

• If it wasn’t obvious already, the swing pass to Makai Lemon needs to be ripped out of Mannion’s playbook. The swing pass game in general, really.
• Tank Bigsby is the angriest runner I’ve seen in an Eagles uniform since … LeGarrette Blount? Maybe I’m forgetting someone.
• Hurts’ confounding habit of running out of bounds for a sack has persisted into this season. He took at least two sacks by my count just darting toward the sideline against the Titans, one of which didn’t even spare him a hit as he caromed into Johnny Mundt on the sideline.
• Funniest moment of the game: Robert Saleh calling a coward’s draw at the end of the first half for fear of Nick Sirianni getting the chance to be aggressive with seconds remaining on the clock. Talk about not knowing your opponent.