AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez

Jalen Hurts Applauded for 'Incredible' Poise as Eagles Beat Texans to Improve to 8-0

Scott Polacek

The undefeated dream is still alive.

Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles improved to 8-0 on the season with a 29-17 victory over the Houston Texans in Thursday's contest. Road games don't get much easier on paper than a contest against the one-win Texans without wide receivers Brandin Cooks and Nico Collins, and Philadelphia shook off a slow start thanks in large part to its MVP candidate under center.

Hurts finished 21-of-27 for 243 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions. He spread the ball around early during an 18-play, 91-yard scoring drive and then honed in on tight end Dallas Goedert (eight catches for 100 yards) and wide receiver A.J. Brown for critical second-half touchdowns.

Social media had plenty of love for the signal-caller:

All's well that ends well for the Eagles, but it wasn't always pretty.

The Texans marched right down the field for a touchdown on the opening drive, answered two scores with another touchdown to tie the game late in the first half, bullied a Philadelphia defensive line that was missing Jordan Davis (ankle) to open up consistent holes for Dameon Pierce and made it a four-quarter game.

Some of that was due to Eagles' mistakes, as Hurts lost a fumble on a strip-sack, Jake Elliott missed a field goal at the end of the half and the offensive line struggled to block Jerry Hughes as he got to the quarterback multiple times.

However, the game flipped with C.J. Gardner-Johnson's interception, as Hurts found Brown for a go-ahead touchdown a mere two plays later.

Hurts was in full control by the ensuing drive, leading the visitors 75 yards on 10 plays to create some much-needed breathing room. He established a rhythm with Goedert, scrambled to avoid pressure and then hit the tight end for a score before sneaking it in himself on the two-point conversion.

There weren't many style points for the undefeated contenders, but they got the win they needed ahead of a divisional clash with the Washington Commanders in Week 10.

   

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