Jalen Hurts ran for a pair of one-yard touchdowns and threw a 63-yard TD pass to DeVonta Smith. D’Andre Swift ran for 175 yards and a score. The NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles held off the turnover-prone Minnesota Vikings 34-28 on Thursday night.
Hurts, who finished as the MVP runner-up, overcame a slow start in the first half and energized the crowd with a 63-yard touchdown pass to Smith in the third quarter, extending their lead to 27-7.
One Eagles fan held up a sign that read, “We Own UR SKOL Tonight,” celebrating the team’s success after the touchdown.
However, the Vikings fought back. Kirk Cousins connected with Jordan Addison for a 62-yard touchdown, narrowing the gap to 27-14 in the fourth quarter. Cousins then found KJ Osborn for a 10-yard TD, making it 27-21 and putting the Eagles (2-0) on edge.
Fortunately, Swift, a native of Philadelphia who was acquired from the Detroit Lions, scored a two-yard run to secure a 34-21 lead with 4:13 left on the clock. The Vikings did not have enough time to score twice.
Minnesota (0-2), which had three turnovers in the first half of their season opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, lost three fumbles in the first half against the Eagles and four in total. In a particularly devastating moment for the Vikings, Justin Jefferson fumbled a 30-yard catch into the end zone and out of bounds for a touchback when Minnesota was trailing 10-7 in the second quarter.
Cousins threw for 364 yards and four touchdowns, while Jefferson had 11 catches for 159 yards.
Hurts completed 18 of 23 passes for 193 yards, with most of them going to Smith, who also made a 54-yard catch. Smith accumulated a total of 131 yards on four receptions.
AJ Brown, the Eagles’ other star receiver, seemed dissatisfied with Hurts on the sidelines, prompting coach Nick Sirianni to intervene and diffuse the situation. At that point, Brown had only been targeted four times. He ended the game with four catches for 29 yards.
Jake Elliott kicked two field goals for the Eagles, including a remarkable 61-yarder to end the first half after Jefferson’s fumble.
Perhaps due to the adjustment to new offensive coordinator Brian Johnson, the short week, or Hurts and most of the starters sitting out preseason games, the Eagles started slowly for the second consecutive week. They lacked the explosive big plays that characterized their offense last season.
In fact, Eagles fans were already booing in the first half of their home opener for the NFC champions when the offense repeatedly failed to make progress. The Vikings’ aggressive blitzing and pressure on Hurts prevented him from making plays as easily as he did in the previous season.