Jalen Hurts becoming a fan favorite on Twitter despite Eagles’ 33-26 loss at Arizona

The Eagles got off to a slow start, came on strong. Trailing 16-0, the Eagles tied the score at 26-26 late in the third quarter before suffering a 33-26 loss to the host Arizona Cardinals.

Despite the loss, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts stole the show in his second start.

Here is the Twitter reaction to the game:

Setting up the Eagles’ postseason possibility.

Looking to break a dubious streak:

On their first series, Arizona was marching down the field, but Alex Singleton recovered a DeAndre Hopkins fumble. That play drew a big cheer from an injured Eagles cornerback.

A former Eagle applauds the D.

On the Eagles’ third offensive play, Hurts was called for intentional grounding while in the end zone, resulting in a safety.

Was it really a safety?

Arizona went three-and-out and the Eagles D is affecting Murray with its pressure.

After another Eagles three-and-out, the Cardinals took a 9-0 lead when Murray took the ball on a designed run and scored from 8-yards out, with 5:45 left in the first quarter. The score was set up from the previous play when Murray hit Maxx Williams on a 42-yard pass.

Later in the quarter, the Eagles had a punt blocked, giving Arizona the ball on the Eagles 6-yard line. Two plays later, Murray hit Chase Edmonds on a 6-yard scoring pass, increasing the lead to 16-0.

Hope already fading for the Eagles?

We take a break in the action to look at a potential future Eagle with a former one throwing the pass.

The Eagles began moving the ball. Hurts got the Eagles on the board with a 32-yard scoring pass to Quez Watkins, who made a great spin move en route to the end zone and his first career TD. That cut the lead to 16-7 with 14:01 left in the first half.

On the next series, Hopkins made a spectacular 45-yard leaping catch.

That brought some criticism for the Eagles front office.

And some sarcasm.

A ex-Eagles WR weighs in on the catch.

More thoughts from this Eagles beat writer.

Hopkins’ catch led to a 40-yard Mike Nugent field goal, making it 19-7 Arizona, with 11:37 left in the first half.

All of a sudden the Eagles got a great chance when Nickell Robey-Coleman recovered a Murray fumble at the Cardinals’ 21-yard line.

During the ensuring drive, on fourth-and-3 from the Arizona 4-yard line, Doug Pederson’s gamble paid off when Hurts hit Greg Ward on a 4-yard scoring pass, cutting the deficit to 19-14 with 6:20 left in the first half.

A little levity added in the middle of the next Cardinals drive

Larry Fitzgerald, who always feasts on the Eagles, made a sensational scoring catch, making it 26-14 with 2:13 left in the half.

Think the Cardinals were excited?

Lots of differing opinions on Fox analyst Aquib Talib, the former NFL CB and 5-time Pro Bowl selection.

Back to the game, Hurts threw a 5-yard scoring pass to Ward to get the Eagles right back into the game, trailing 26-20 with 1:19 left in an entertaining first half.

Some great stats by Paul Domowitch.

Cheering for his Eagles teammate.

After an Arizona offside penalty on the PAT attempt, the Eagles went for two and Miles Sanders was stopped just short.

During an entertaining first half, Hurts clearly had everybody’s attention.

Succinct first-half analysis by this Inquirer columnist.

The Eagles were forced to punt on their first two second-half possessions. On Arizona’s second possession, Eagles safety Marcus Epps picked off Murray in the end zone. The Eagles won’t go away.

With a fourth-and-6 from the Arizona 49, the Eagles went for it and Hurts scrambled for 17 yards.

Two plays later, Patrick Peterson was called for pass interference while defending Alshon Jeffery. After a 5-yard penalty, Hurts tied the score at 26 on a 7-yard run with 55 seconds left in the third quarter.

On the PAT attempt, Zach Ertz replaced Cameron Johnston as the holder. Johnston was out with a head injury. On the attempt, there was a bad snap and the Eagles never got the kick off.

With a fourth-and-2 from the Arizona 33, Cardinals punter Andy Lee completed a 26-yard pass on the fake punt.

The Eagles defense eventually held, forcing a fourth-down incompletion.

Later in the quarter, Arizona took a 33-26 lead when Hopkins made another insane catch, on a 20-yard TD pass from Murray with 7:17 left.

Hurts led the Eagles right back, but after Dallas Goedert almost caught a 22-yard scoring pass on third down, Arizona batted down an end zone pass to him on fourth-and-21 from the 22. The Cardinals took over with 1:50 left.

The Eagles held and took over from their own 23-yard-line with 1:28 left. Hurt drove the Eagles to the Arizona 31. Finally, the game ended on an end zone incompletion and the Cardinals had survived. Still, there was plenty of admiration for Hurts.