MINNEAPOLIS -- As quarterback Jalen Hurts made his way into the visitors locker room following the Eagles' 28-22 win over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, he shouted, "We ain't f---ing losers no more."
Hurts said he played with "some fire" following back-to-back losses to the Denver Broncos and New York Giants, and that was evident to teammates as he threw for 326 yards and three touchdowns and ended with a perfect 158.3 passer rating -- just the third Eagles signal-caller to do so.
"He's got so much swag," left tackle Jordan Mailata said. "When he's in control, you can see a look in his eye."
Hurts said that during the team's slide all he could think was the opportunities to finish down the stretch in games. The Eagles were dead last in yards per play (3.9), score percentage (24%) and punt percentage (53%) in the second half this season entering the game.
Philadelphia flipped that script against Minnesota as Hurts threw for 240 yards and a pair of scores in the second half. He averaged 20 yards per pass attempt over that span, the highest rate in the second half by a quarterback with at least 10 attempts since Kirk Cousins in Week 11 of 2016 (10.3 YPA), according to ESPN Research.
The Philadelphia offense got off to a hot start in the third quarter, with Hurts finding DeVonta Smith for a 79-yard touchdown off of play-action on the Eagles' opening series. Smith identified a vulnerability in the Vikings' defense when the Eagles went under center and told whoever would listen at halftime that the team could take advantage of it.
"Smitty basically saw something and was like, 'I'm telling you, it's there.' KP [offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo] trusts him, we called it and we hit it," running back Saquon Barkley said.
Smith finished with a career-high 183 receiving yards on nine catches. A.J. Brown posted four catches for 121 yards and two scores.
The Eagles ranked 30th in passing offense entering Week 7 in part because they had trouble getting Brown and Smith going. That changed in a major way Sunday: Hurts went 13-of-17 for 304 yards when targeting his wide receivers in this game, the second-highest yardage total in his career.
"The thing was to come in and establish the run, that's what we wanted to come in and do, and the game just flowed the way it did," Hurts said. "We were able to be efficient in the pass game, KP was very timely, and I think we were able to doctor up some things on the sideline and work through some things, but those guys made big-time plays. Smitty had a hell of a day. Tough. Size ain't nothing to him the way he plays. It was good to see."
The Brown-Hurts connection in particular has been lacking, but they were on the same page against the Vikings, including on a game-sealing 45-yard fourth-quarter reception on 3rd-and-9 that was the result of a check at the line of scrimmage.
The Eagles appeared to benefit from the mini-bye following their Thursday night loss to the Giants, which included a Monday offensive meeting where players and coaches offered one another feedback.
Those efforts didn't produce immediate results for a ground attack that still isn't firing on all cylinders, but an aerial display such as the one they showed Sunday should help loosen things up on that front for the Eagles, who are now 5-2.
"I think definitely there was some fire there," Hurts said of his performance. "But within that fire you have to be the calm and focusing on executing your job."
As Hurts finished his thought, his phone rang.
"See, when you win, everyone wants to call you," he said.