Eagles-Jaguars analysis: Birds stay undefeated as Jalen Hurts and the defense best Trevor Lawrence

Even on a wet, blustery day, the Eagles found a way to stay hot.

The team overcame a sluggish start to maintain its undefeated record, beating the Jacksonville Jaguars, 29-21, on a rain-soaked Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field.

The Eagles (4-0) preserved their status as the lone undefeated team in the NFL against a Jaguars team led by former Eagles coach Doug Pederson. The Jaguars came into the weekend with two straight impressive wins but were held in check for most of Sunday.

The weather conditions affected both sides, but the Eagles’ offense was dominant on the ground. The defense forced five turnovers and made second-year Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence look uncomfortable.

Here are the takeaways from the game:

After a slow start in suboptimal conditions, Jalen Hurts helped turn the tide.

The Eagles quarterback had a few chunk completions to A.J. Brown and Dallas Goedert to set up the team in the red zone but faced a fourth-and-goal from the 3-yard line. Hurts dropped back to pass, and after scanning the defense, broke for the goal line.

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Hurts scored on the play, but he paid the price, taking a hard shot to the helmet from Jaguars rookie linebacker Devin Lloyd as he surged for the end zone. His efforts on the do-or-die play were pivotal, getting the Eagles on the board and sparking a 20-0 scoring run in the second quarter.

Hurts was 4-for-5 for 47 yards and added 16 rushing yards on the seven-play, 57-yard drive that featured a costly offensive pass-interference call that nullified a Brown touchdown.

Both the conditions and the opponent were reminiscent of the Eagles’ playoff loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last season. In inclement weather against Jaguars defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell, a former Bucs assistant, Hurts made the necessary plays this time around. It wasn’t his flashiest performance — the running game and multiple screens carried the offense for a large stretch of the game — but Hurts was instrumental in turning the game around.

“Today, this team didn’t flinch,” Hurts said. “We found a way. We persevered. We were unwavering in how we played. Nothing was able to deny us. I’m so proud of the way this team played, how we handled the conditions outside. You’ve got crosswinds going 20-to-30 miles per hour. It’s in the 50s and it’s raining sideways and we’re able to be pretty efficient in everything we did; that’s a great team win.”

If it wasn’t Hurts’ big run that sparked a turning point in the game, it was Lawrence’s ball security.

The second-year quarterback had a costly unforced fumble on a fourth-down play while trying to escape from the pocket in the second quarter. Lawrence wasn’t hit, but he dropped the ball as he rolled out and failed to recover the fumble before Fletcher Cox swarmed him. The turnover facilitated the Eagles’ first scoring drive and foreshadowed what was to come.

Lawrence’s problems holding onto the ball continued in the second half, thanks largely to Haason Reddick. The former Temple standout dominated after halftime, strip-sacking Lawrence twice and setting up a scoring drive and effectively finishing the game.

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Reddick’s efforts, along with a red-zone interception from James Bradberry, ballooned Lawrence’s turnover total to five.

“Good players know how to create turnovers,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “Haason, man, I said to him and Shaun Bradley and Kyzir White after the game, ‘Man, there ain’t nothing like winning in Philly.’”

Lawrence, the 2021 No. 1 overall pick, entered the weekend playing at a high level, but he came up well short against the Eagles in his worst game of the young season.

Hurts was the catalyst for the Eagles’ first scoring drive, but the running game picked it up from there.

The team’s next scoring drive featured six runs and one screen pass out of eight plays and gave way to a dominant showing from the Eagles’ rushing attack. Even with an early injury to Jordan Mailata and with Isaac Seumalo leaving in the fourth quarter, the Eagles’ offensive front settled in and got plenty of movement up front for Miles Sanders and the rest of the running backs.

» READ MORE: Miles Sanders has a career day as the Eagles’ battered O-line survives the driving Jaguars and rain

Sanders broke the 100-yard mark on the ground for the sixth time in his career and scored two touchdowns. Hurts added 41 rushing yards and a touchdown.

“Definitely getting in the groove — my job is to be ready whenever they call my number,” Sanders said after he finished with 134 rushing yards. “Whenever they call my number, I’m going to be ready, regardless. With the weather being the way it was, we leaned on our offensive line, and our offensive line had a heck of a game.”

The Eagles were once again sparked by a dominant second-quarter showing.

After spotting Jacksonville a 14-point lead in the opening frame, the Eagles reeled off 20 unanswered points before halftime and had 29 straight points by the time the Jaguars got back on the board.

“I’m so proud of this team,” Brown said. “We learned about each other today as a team. We went down early. Like I said, nobody missed a beat. Nobody folded, and that’s what we needed. We needed to be tested. We’re going to use this game as momentum and keep moving forward.”

The Eagles led the league in second-quarter scoring going into the game with 79 points and had been successful scoring on drives just before halftime in each of the first three games. On Sunday, the team cashed in just before the half to take its first lead, thanks to a 10-yard run by Kenneth Gainwell.

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Both Mailata and Darius Slay left early with injuries and did not return.

Mailata hurt his shoulder on the Eagles’ first series and gave way to Jack Driscoll at left tackle. The 6-foot-8, 366-pound tackle tested out his shoulder on the sideline during the second half but did not return. After the game, Mailata said he would need an MRI to determine the severity of the injury, which occurred on the pick-six on the Eagles’ opening drive.

Andre Dillard, the team’s typical backup left tackle, is on injured reserve with a fractured forearm. He said he would be ready to return “soon” after the Jaguars game, according to The Inquirer’s Jeff McLane.

Slay left with a forearm injury before the Jaguars’ second drive. The Eagles were already missing starting slot cornerback Avonte Maddox, who was ruled out on Friday with an ankle injury. Slay was replaced by Zech McPhearson. Slay said after the game that he was “good.”

Seumalo left the game early, going down with an apparent leg injury. The right guard was replaced by Sua Opeta.