How Eagles Jalen Hurts’ expletive-laced response ended Patrick Mahomes’ Chiefs dynasty

Jalen Hurts responded to taunts from Chiefs’ Chris Jones by emphasizing that the Eagles won the game.
A key deep pass from Hurts to DeVonta Smith in the fourth quarter set up the game-winning touchdown.
The Eagles’ offense has struggled to create explosive plays, but the team continues to find ways to win.

KANSAS CITY − The official changing of the guard took place with 1:13 left when Chiefs defensive lineman Chris Jones started taunting Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts by saying he didn’t have 100 yards passing in the game.

Hurts, with the Eagles lined up in the victory formation, responded: “We won the (expletive game). Shut your (butt) up!”

With that, Hurts and the Eagles put the finishing touches on the Chiefs’ dynasty.

For so long, it’s been Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes who found a way to lead the Chiefs to victory, taking Kansas City to five Super Bowls in seven seasons, winning three, and reaching at least the AFC Championship game in each of his seven seasons as a starter.

Yet there was Hurts about to close out the Eagles’ 20-17 win on Sept. 14 with his message to Jones: “We won the (expletive) game! Shut your (butt) up!”But first, a quick correction on Jones’ taunt. Hurts did surpass 100 yards passing − barely. He finished 15 of 22 for 101 yards. It was Hurts’ lowest passing total in a game that he started and completed in his five-plus seasons.

You think Hurts cares?

“I take great pride in doing whatever’s required to win,” Hurts said. “Sometimes that’s making adjustments. Sometimes it’s not. Sometimes it’s getting us in the right play in the run game. Sometimes it’s making whatever checks, or having a conversation, so we can move forward offensively.

“But it’s just about finding ways to win. It doesn’t matter how it looks. I play the game to win, nothing more, nothing less.”How many times have we seen Mahomes do this during his run of greatness? The Eagles still have the scars from Super Bowl 57 in their 38-35 loss to Mahomes and the Chiefs. Those scars, of course, fueled the Eagles’ response last February in Super Bowl 59 in the Eagles’ 40-22 romp.

Now this, on the Chiefs’ home turf.

And yet, Mahomes almost did it again. Down by 10, Mahomes found Tyquan Thornton for a 49-yard touchdown pass with 3 minutes left. But that was as close as the Chiefs got.

And here, it’s best to look beyond Hurts’ paucity of passing yards to the plays that Hurts did make.

The Eagles were facing a 3rd-and-10 from the Chiefs’ 31 yard line early in the fourth quarter, leading by just three points. The Chiefs sent an all-out blitz at Hurts, who heaved the ball deep down the sideline for DeVonta Smith.

Smith leaped over Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie and hauled in the pass at the 3-yard line. Hurts eventually scored on (what else?) a tush push on 4th down from the 1, giving the Eagles a 10-point lead.

It was enough to hold off the Chiefs.

“I think that it is a big-time play right there,” Hurts said. “They were maxing out coverage, playing very tight in coverage. When they brought pressure, that’s a problem. You see a lot of contested catches. We made some, but we didn’t connect on some. I’m just happy that we connected when it mattered the most.”

Here’s the thing about that throw to Smith.

It came after a similar throw deep down the sideline on an all-out blitz left Smith writhing on the ground in pain as he landed on his back. Smith slowly got up and very gingerly walked over to the sideline.

He was back in for the next series.

Then the Eagles went back to Smith when it mattered most, and he delivered.

“Oh, he’s tough,” fellow receiver A.J. Brown said about Smith, who’s generously listed at 170 pounds on his 6-foot-1 frame. “It was a tough fall.”

But the Eagles know what’s coming. They had just 216 yards of total offense against the Chiefs. This coming after Hurts threw for just 152 yards in a hard-fought 24-20 win over the Dallas Cowboys on Sept. 4.

Brown, who had at least 1,000 yards receiving in his first three seasons as an Eagle, has just 6 catches for 35 yards through two games.