Eagles

Nick Sirianni Says Jalen Hurts “Actually Checked to” Deep Bomb for DeVonta Smith

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Nov 21st, 2023 · 9:37 AM EST

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The Eagles pulled off an epic comeback win against the Chiefs on Monday night, and the offensive dagger was a 40+ yard bomb to DeVonta Smith that took the Birds to the goal line:

BIG TIME PLAY 🎯 pic.twitter.com/qRNiLbqolo

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) November 21, 2023

Huge throw, great catch!

After the game, Nick Sirianni says Jalen Hurts checked to that:

“DeVonta and A.J. (Brown) had a huge, huge play, that Jalen actually checked to. It was a heck of a check, Jalen just sees some great things out there. He did a phenomenal job, won’t get too much into it, but he checked to that. And it ended up being the right call at the right moment. That’s what good quarterbacks do, quarterbacks, they make three or four plays that change the game with their mind.”

The Eagles were 10 personnel on this play, so four wide receivers and a running back. Two receivers on the left, two on the right. KC sends a blitzer off the edge in linebacker Willie Gay.

It’s a little hard to tell without the all-22 camera angle, but when Gay rushes the quarterback, they slide the second linebacker over and bracket A.J. Brown, which leaves Smitty 1v1 with a safety, Mike Edwards, who is just off the screen here:

Hurts saw that pre-snap and checked out of whatever the original design was. Kansas City has a deep safety on the left hash (Bryan Cook), so he looked him off and threw the bomb for Smith, who had a 1v1 coming out of the slot against a safety playing much closer to the box. Smitty will win that footrace every time.

We can split hairs over the difference between “check” and “audible,” but the thought process is basically the same here. Jalen saw something from KC, identified it, and made a pre-snap adjustment. Maybe we can ask a former player to explain to us how they differentiate “check” and “audible,” but on these plays Hurts will typically go to the line with calls that have built-in reads based on a corner or safety’s alignment. So essentially he’s shifting to a different option within the parameters of the initial call. Does that make sense?

Either way, killer job.