There were some critical moments in the Philadelphia Eagles' 28-22 win over the Minnesota Vikings, but one play separated them from the rest as the true turning point of the game.
Over the last two games, Eagles offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo has called deep ball passes to A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith in the second half, but Jalen Hurts missed each other. Both passes could have changed the momentum of those games, but the misses stalled the offense and resulted in losses.
Hurts and company were not going to allow that to happen again.
After allowing a field goal to start the second half to make it a 14-9 Eagles lead, on the second play of the drive, Hurts finally hit the deep ball to Smith for a 79-yard touchdown catch to make it 21-9.
Smith finished with a career-high 183 yards and one touchdown. Hurts threw for a season-high 326 yards, three touchdowns, and his first perfect passer rating of 158.3.
The story behind the play is the stuff of Philly legends
After the game, Smith was asked about the play by the media, and he simply replied that he saw it coming from the beginning of the game.
"Yeah, anytime we were in that formation they would bring a safety all the way down to the box, putting the other safety on the edge," Smith said via PHLY's EJ Smith. "We knew it the whole time."
What made that play even more special was that it happened against former Eagles cornerback Isaiah Rodgers. Smith felt for Rodgers as he got caught in a bad position.
"Yeah, tough situation for him. He had be playing a certain coverage and you know he has a certain responsibility and we attacked it."
That play was something Smith and his teammates were advocating for at halftime with Patullo to call it. After the score, Eagles left tackle Jordan Mailata had the perfect response.
"You called your shot."
Hurts gave his props to Smith for pushing for the play to be called and Patullo for going for it.
"He was chirping about it and it ended up getting called. Great feel by him. Great execution, and great call by KP to get to it."
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The play was an absolute game-changer, and it shows how critical it is to communicate with each other. That doesn't happen against the Broncos or Giants, but this is a different team.