The feeling gnawed at him the previous two weeks, that lousy taste of losing a football game – no, two of them – and for someone as competitive and as successful as Jalen Hurts, it becomes the driving force.
And with Hurts, the sixth-year Eagles quarterback, who is already a superhuman competitor, piling on two consecutive losses put him on a certain kind of edge. The time ticked slowly on the way to Sunday's kickoff in Minnesota, so when it arrived, he was zeroed in. Beyond zeroed in.
Locked in to the ultimate degree.
Hurts then went out on Sunday and had, literally, a perfect game: He completed 19 of 23 passes for 326 yards and three touchdowns. He averaged a whopping 12.2 yards per pass attempt. He was cool and efficient and explosive, and when the Vikings' vaunted blitz came, Hurts adjusted and hit right back.
In the very critical 28-22 Eagles victory, Hurts became the third Eagles' quarterback in team history to compile a perfect 158.3 passer rating. All he cared about, though, was getting the victory that raised the Eagles' record to 5-2.
"That's all I can think about throughout these last two weeks, having opportunities to finish the game, to finish the fourth quarter, I really think this is the first time finishing the fourth quarter and finishing the second half," Hurt said. "Those things come up, and that's important in this game. [I] think definitely there was some fire there, but within that fire, you have to be the calm, focus on executing your job. And that's all I was reiterating to the guys out there, bigger than just myself and the way it looks.
"It was a team effort, defensively and then offensively, with the guys that stepped up showed up in those moments."