Philadelphia Eagles coach Doug Pederson confirmed the obvious: Jalen Hurts will be the starting QB in Week 15 versus the Arizona Cardinals.
After playing coy following Sunday's victory over New Orleans, Pederson declared Hurts the starter Monday.
"After going through the film and really looking back even to last week and the preparation and everything, I'm gonna continue with Jalen this week as the starter," Pederson said.
Hurts completed 17 of 30 passes for 167 yards and a TD in Sunday's 24-21 upset win over the NFC's top team. The QB's dual-thread ability was a difference-maker in his first start taking over for Carson Wentz. Hurts carried 18 times for 106 yards.
Hurts became the first quarterback since at least 1950 to throw a touchdown pass and rush for at least 100 yards in his first NFL start, per NFL Research.
More importantly, Hurts didn't kill his team with untimely sacks or horrific interceptions, which had become Wentz's bugaboo this season. The rookie QB didn't take a sack against the Saints. A late fumble was the lone blemish in his first start.
Pederson pointed to the overall team play as the main reason for sticking with Hurts.
"You know, I was thinking of a lot of things. Quite honestly, I was thinking of Carson, but I was thinking about the rest of the team and how the rest of the team played in the game," he said. "Jalen did, after looking at the film again today, Jalen played well. He was a big part of the success we had on offense and obviously helping us win that football game, but there were a lot of other great individual performances on both sides of the ball. I think of Miles Sanders, I think of Josh Sweat, Javon Hargrave. Fletcher Cox had a big game, big sack. We had two defensive takeaways in the game.
"So there were a lot of positives coming out of the football game and I didn't want to say it was all about one guy. You guys know me and my answers. I've always been about the team and really that was a team win yesterday."
After the game the rookie played against one of the best teams in the NFL, there was no way Pederson was sending Hurts back to the bench in Week 15. Monday's announcement confirmed the obvious decision.
