Eagles Week 15 game balls: Jalen Hurts enjoys victory and a hat trick

Well, that was close, too close for comfort actually. The Philadelphia Eagles, as expected, took the Chicago Bears’ best shot. As expected, they won, but they didn’t cover. We apologize to those of you who took the 8.5-point line.

Look at the bright side. The Birds have won 13 of their first 14 regular-season games. What makes everything better is the Dallas Cowboys lost too. If only the Washington Commanders and New York Giants had battled to another tie. Hey, we can dream, right?

The point of everything is this. If the Eagles hoist the Lombardi Trophy in February, no one will remember what the line in Week 15’s game was, but that was a little too close for comfort.

Be it as it may though, Philly is one step closer to securing the top-seed and home-field advantage in the playoffs, so before we move along to Cowboys Week, how about one more look at the win over Chicago?

We’re throwing out a few game balls. As usual, we probably handed out more than we should have.

Let’s toss out a few game balls following a lucky 13th win on the Eagles season.

The Eagles have earned six sacks or more in each of the past three games. That’s the first time that has happened since 1997. Tip the cap to defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon. As you might imagine, we gave a few of his guys a game ball.

Haason Reddick, linebacker

Two more sacks on the day bring Haason Reddick‘s single-season total to 12. He’s been a joy to watch and he seemingly gets better every week.

Josh Sweat, defensive end

Maybe we’re biased, but we think Josh Sweat has the best sack celebration in the NFL. In Week 15, we got to see it twice, and now, his regular-season total sits at 9.5. That’s a single-season career high for him.

Javon Hargrave, defensive tackle

Javon Hargrave had a monster day, matching Reddick and Sweat with two sacks of his own. We’ve spent so much time discussing the new guys that we may have ignored him some this season, but quietly, he’s crafted a double-digit sack season. He like this Eagles defense is getting hot at the same time.

K’Von Wallace, safety

K’Von Wallace has been criticized a lot during his young Eagles career. Truthfully, some of the criticism has been warranted, but he certainly played well in Week 15, tying for the team lead in total tackles (nine) and leading the team in solo stops (eight).

Here are a handful of game balls for the guys on the Eagles’ offense.

We didn’t leave the offense out. They were tested, but they came through. We have to tip our hat to QB1, Swole Batman, and Skinny Batman!

Jalen Hurts, quarterback

Following Week 15’s win, Jalen Hurts admitted to experiencing some difficulty with the weather conditions early (vision, numb hands), but when your quarterback can experience his worst performance of the season and deliver enough huge plays to lift his team to victory anyway, all you can do is kick your feet up and smile.

All season long, this young man has proven to be the NFL’s Most VALUABLE Player. That hasn’t changed any this week. Three trips to the end zone and the subsequent hat trick will most certainly earn him a game ball for this one.

DeVonta Smith, wide receiver

DeVonta Smith has quietly exceeded 900 receiving yards this season. A 1,000-yard receiving season is within reach thanks to his five-catch, 126-yard receiving performance versus Chicago.

A.J. Brown, wide receiver

It’s amazing that A.J. Brown can get off to a slow start and still wind up with nine receptions and 181 yards receiving. Hey, what else needs to be said? When you’re good, you’re good.

A.J. Brown is well on his way to being one of the best Eagles receivers in franchise history already, and what’s both scary and exciting about that is he hasn’t even played a full season yet.