After struggling for the past month, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts bounced back in the team’s 31-0 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field.
Hurts completed 12 of his 15 passes for 175 yards and three touchdowns, while also rushing for 39 yards. He did a good job of protecting the ball after turning it over five times during the team’s overtime loss to the Los Angeles Chargers last week.
According to former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky, the Eagles finally played to Hurts’ strengths, running 30 under-center plays against the Raiders.
“He is a much better quarterback from under center play action than he is gun play action,” Orlovsky said Monday on ESPN’s morning show Get UP.
The Eagles lost three straight games before beating Las Vegas. In those matchups against the Cowboys, Bears and Chargers, they ran 24 combined plays under center and ran most of their plays out of shotgun.
Going under center makes the Eagles’ offense less predictable, which could improve both the run and pass game by keeping defenses guessing.
Hurts appears more efficient under center, an adjustment that could elevate his game and help the Eagles’ offense reach its potential.
“If I could ask Philly to do one thing offensively for the remainder of this season and into playoffs, it would be to play more under center and play more under center play action,” Orlovsky said.