Jalen Hurts threw for two touchdowns and rushed for one more as the Philadelphia Eagles overpowered the Miami Dolphins 31-17 in their marquee NFL clash on Sunday.
Eagles quarterback Hurts — lining up opposite former college teammate and now Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa for the first time — shrugged off a Dolphins fightback as Philadelphia improved to 6-1 for the season.
In a game billed as a potential Super Bowl preview, it was Philadelphia who looked the more complete of the two teams, with suffocating defense neutralizing the threat posed by Tagovailoa and the Dolphins’ potent receiving corps, led by Tyreek Hill.
The Eagles offense, meanwhile, found an extra gear after the Dolphins erased a 17-3 deficit to tie the game at 17-17 in the third quarter following Jerome Baker’s interception pick six.
Rocked by that rare turnover blemish, Hurts calmly regrouped and led Philadelphia on an eight-play, 75-yard drive that ended with A.J. Brown scoring a touchdown from a 14-yard pass to make it 24-17.
Philadelphia’s defense then came up big with a Darius Slay interception as Miami sought to get back on level terms, and the Eagles duly cashed in.
Another long drive — with Philadelphia making two short yardage conversions on fourth down — ended with Kenneth Gainwell spinning into the end zone from three yards out to complete the scoring.
“It’s a big win, especially coming off how we played last week,” Hurts said afterwards, referencing last week’s shock upset loss to the New York Jets.
“We know that if we come out here and control the things that we can, we’re a hell of a team. Great team win,” added Hurts, who finished with 279 passing yards with 23-of-31 completions.
Earlier Sunday, New England quarterback Mac Jones led a dramatic last-gasp touchdown drive as the Patriots upset the Buffalo Bills 29-25 to snap a three-game losing streak.
Jones, whose future had come under scrutiny after a dismal 1-5 start to the season, kept his composure on a final drive with less than two minutes remaining before finding Mike Gesecki with a one-yard touchdown pass.
The decisive score with just 12 seconds left on the clock sealed a roller coaster win for Patriots — the 300th regular season victory of New England coach Bill Belichick’s career.
“I always believe in myself,” Jones said. “I have a lot of confidence in myself and I’m not going to sit up here and say it every time, but I do believe in myself,” added Jones, who amassed 272 passing yards with 25-of-30 completions and two touchdowns.
Chiefs roll on
In other games on Sunday, the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Los Angeles Chargers 31-17 to improve to 6-1.
Pop icon Taylor Swift was on hand once again to cheer on reported boyfriend Travis Kelce and the Chiefs tight end duly obliged with a touchdown and 179 receiving yards from 12 receptions.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes finished with 424 passing yards from 32-of-42 attempts with four touchdowns.
Elsewhere, the Detroit Lions’ credentials as potential Super Bowl contenders took a pummeling in a 38-6 beatdown by the Baltimore Ravens.
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson turned in a dazzling display to outshine Lions counterpart Jared Goff, throwing for three touchdowns and rushing for another while piling up 357 passing yards in a comfortable win that saw Baltimore improve to 5-2 at the top of the AFC North division.
In Indianapolis, Kareem Hunt rushed over for a close-range touchdown on fourth down with just 15 seconds remaining to give the Cleveland Browns a thrilling 39-38 victory over the Colts.
Browns running back Hunt barged his way into the end zone to seal a crucial win for Cleveland, which saw quarterback Deshaun Watson leave the game early on with an injury.
Elsewhere, the Chicago Bears claimed only their second win of the season with a 30-12 defeat of the Las Vegas Raiders as backup quarterback Tyson Bagent throwing for 162 yards and one touchdown.
The Pittsburgh Steelers improved to 4-2 with a 24-17 road win over the struggling Los Angeles Rams.
The Rams led 17-10 heading into the fourth quarter, but the Steelers hit back with 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter as the Los Angeles offense stalled.
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