Hurts taunts Simmons after walk-off TD lifts Eagles past Titans — SkimNews
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- Jalen Hurts taunted Titans DT Jeffery Simmons postgame — 'You started that s---, I had to finish it' — in response to Simmons' preseason directive to reporters to 'make Jalen Hurts be a QB' and stop his scrambles.
- Darius Cooper caught his first NFL touchdown on the 3-yard walk-off pass from Hurts with nine seconds left, a play originally drawn up as a pick route for DeVonta Smith that converted after Smith lost his footing.
- Hurts finished 26-of-37 for 264 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions, improving to 59-25 as a regular-season starter and pushing the Eagles to 2-0.
- The Eagles played without RB Saquon Barkley (stinger), TE Dallas Goedert (knee), and LG Landon Dickerson (knee) along a reconfigured offensive line, and trailed by three with six minutes left after Hurts' second interception.
- Jeffery Simmons walked back his comments after the game, saying 'He's a Super Bowl MVP. That wasn't no shot at Jalen,' explaining his strategy was to keep Hurts in the pocket and eliminate scrambles.
- Nick Sirianni cautioned that 'the battle of words or revenge' 'lasts about two minutes in a game' before 'the fundamentals take over, the situational awareness takes over' — even as Hurts openly engaged in the trash talk.
- The Cooper touchdown marked Hurts' first career go-ahead passing score in the final minute of regulation or overtime.
Why it matters: Philadelphia improved to 2-0 with a comeback win despite three injured starters and two Hurts interceptions, with the game-winner going to an unproven receiver who had never scored in the NFL — a result that showcases offensive depth beyond the Barkley/Goedert core. Sirianni's postgame framing reframed the moment as validation of team fundamentals over personal vendettas, a notable coaching posture given that Hurts publicly embraced the trash talk rather than rising above it.
Ask SkimNews
