Hurts Presents Defensive Challenge for Cardinals After Fields

Hurts Presents Defensive Challenge for Cardinals After Fields

TEMPE – Another week, another mobile quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles, signal caller Jalen Hurts for the struggling Arizona Cardinals. After seeing Justin Fields do his thing in Arizona’s Week 16 loss to the Chicago Bears, the Cardinals will be tasked with stopping Hurts and the explosive Eagles offense on Sunday. “I told the defense today we didn’t do a good enough job against Justin,” Gannon said Tuesday.

“We have to execute a lot better than what we did because Jalen is also a guy who can extend plays. “They’re explosive when he moves, and then he can also push it and roll it, and he’s a tough tackle, so we have to do a much better job of keeping him in the hole than we have to keep him in. Doing well and perform at a high level defensively to give themselves a chance to win.

” The head coach added that there were some good things against Fields at times, but ultimately the execution and some of the things Arizona was building just didn’t go the way he thought it would. Fields’ nine carries for 97 yards and a touchdown (in addition to his 170 yards and one TD on 15-of-27 passing catches) was proof of that. But Fields and the 6-9 Bruins are nowhere near Hurts and the 11-4 Eagles team looking for a return trip to the Super Bowl. Hurts is putting together arguably his best season as a pro.

Through the air, he completed 65.5% of his passes for 3,636 yards and 20 touchdowns. His 13 interceptions are really the only blemish on Hurts’ resume through the air. He’s also an absolute problem down the field, gaining 576 yards and an NFL-high 15 targets on 147 carries.

Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson has all the MVP hype right now, but Hurts himself has put together a worthy campaign that shouldn’t be overlooked. For the safety of Budda Baker and the rest of the defense, nearly 1,000-yard rusher D’Andre Swift will lead the way in stopping the run game and keeping Hurts in the pocket to avoid long plays at all costs. Easier said than done.

“He’s a QB that has it all, he can do it all,” Baker said Wednesday. “He throws inside the pocket, but outside the pocket he’s very accurate, can throw across his body, strong enough to break tackles and create explosive plays in the run game, but he’s also on the field with his head. wants to throw up. “Compared to Justin Fields last week, he was a little crazy to run, Jalen Hurts does a little bit of both.”