Darius Slay Found Out Jalen Hurts was "The Guy" During Colts Game
Really cool write up in The Player’s Tribune from Darius Slay, detailing his time in Philly since he’s been traded from Detroit. I love Slay. There’s something special about a dude who continues to remain himself throughout life. From JUCO, to college, being drafted, fame, money, the tough times in Detroit, the good times in Philly and beyond. My favorite part of the article was the story Slay told of when he realized Jalen Hurts was “The Guy” –
“What kind of made him The Guy to me, was when we played the Colts back in Week 11. We were down like 16–10, or something like that, and then our defense went and got the stop. But A.J. gets stripped on the next play. He fumbles. So we have three minutes left on the clock, and we get the stop again. Hurts’s squad goes out there. And Hurts, man, his composure was so crazy. On their final drive, they scored a TD to win it.
Jalen had been great in every other game we played, but that moment just showed me the composure he has as a QB. And I think it brought us together as a team, too. Because a lot of guys would kind of go in there with their head down when somebody just got stripped and now you only got three minutes left. Like, “Bro, what y’all doing??” Da da da. Nobody’s saying that here. Everybody kind of knuckled up, strapped it up, and went back out and won it.
I think everybody who was on the sideline witnessed greatness that day. It was like, Yeah, I can ride with bruh all day.”
That’s funny because I know a lot of Eagles fans didn’t feel those same feelings after that game. We were still pissed off about the Commies loss six days before and the Birds came out flat against a team who had a head coach that was sitting at an ESPN desk two weeks before. It didn’t exactly breed confidence. Going back and looking at the stuff written about the game, most of the good was about Hurts putting this team on his back when they needed him.
“When the Eagles needed him most, Hurts bailed them out and got his team back on the winning track. His go-ahead score gave the Eagles a 17-16 road victory over the Colts on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium.”
“It was almost literally all Jalen Hurts for the Eagles offense on Sunday. His led all players in the game with 86 rushing yards on 16 carries, eight of which resulted in a first down. He ran for 39 more yards than Miles Sanders did and had three more attempts.”
Joe Santoloquito via Bleeding Green Nation:
“Hurts’ seven-yard touchdown run with 1:20 left to play. His three-yard run for a first down on fourth-and-two at the Colts’ nine with two minutes to play preserved the drive. Earlier, Hurts’ 22-yard touchdown pass to Quez Watkins with 13:31 to play pulled the Eagles to within 16-10. The touchdown was made possible by Hurts’ 23-yard scramble. Hurts did everything he was supposed to do for the Eagles to win.”
Zack Berman via The Athletic (with ads):
“The Eagles offense struggled throughout the game…until Hurts led a game-winning drive. The last impression will be the lasting impression from this game, because for the first 55 minutes, the Eagles didn’t do nearly enough to win. They had two turnovers, four punts and turned the ball over on downs on seven of their first nine drives.
But when the Eagles needed big plays, Hurts made them. He ran for a first down on a critical fourth-and-2 at the 9-yard line, and then ran for the game-winning seven-yard touchdown. The Eagles had not trailed in the second half until last week, so they haven’t had many chances to go on a come-from-behind, game-winning drive. They failed in that spot last week. They capitalized on Sunday.”
“There are a ton questions to ask of the Eagles after that game, but the main takeaway is that they didn’t roll over and die despite the offense looking like dog shit for a large majority of the game. They really buckled down and overcame some intense adversity, which is what a lot of fans were looking for.
…
Bottom line, that’s a game they typically find a way to lose. Credit to the Birds for coming back and getting the job done in a big way. They are still the best team in the NFL, no matter what anybody tries to tell you.”
Maybe when we’re watching the Super Bowl season recap there will be a chapter in there on the Colts game.
