Jalen Hurts never squanders an opportunity. In his first NFL start Sunday, Hurts sliced through the New Orleans Saints' vaunted defense.

Hurts finished his day throwing for 167 yards and a touchdown while adding 106 yards rushing. He's the first player in 70 years to post such a stat line in his first NFL start.

"It was a new experience for me, for sure, my first NFL start out there," Hurts said postgame. "I'm excited that I was able to do it with this group of guys, with this team."

Hurts played well enough for Eagles head coach Doug Pederson to name him the starter moving forward next week against the Arizona Cardinals. He'll be taking on the man he took over for at Oklahoma a year ago, Kyler Murray.

The Eagles are now in the driver seat with control of its 2020 Playoff future. With the Cardinals, Dallas Cowboys and the Washington Football team left on the schedule, if the Eagles win out and get some help with a New York Giants, Philadelphia could find itself the NFC East Champion with a home game in the 2020 NFL Playoffs.

After a season of struggles for former second overall pick Carson Wentz, the second rounder took over and created a spark that completely changed the energy and appearance of the Philadelphia Eagles squad.

"We went into this week – a lot of stuff has been piled on this football team all season, negatively, positively, a lot of injuries, different things have really piled up," Pederson said postgame. "Sometimes you look for an opportunity to just sort of jumpstart things, right? Kind of almost reset a little bit. You do things -- and obviously Jalen got the start this afternoon, and I thought overall, there were some good things and really, kind of gave us a spark as a team that I was looking for, and I think we were looking for as a team."

Hurts is always an exciting player to watch. If he can keep up the excitement on the field and stack it into wins, the future will be bright for Hurts.

Now for our honorable mentions:

  • Tua Tagovailoa, Dolphins: 28-48 passing for 316 yards and two touchdowns plus six rushes for 24 yards and a touchdown
  • Derrick Henry, Titans: 26 rushes for 215 yards and two touchdowns plus two catches for seven yards
  • Calvin Ridley, Falcons: Eight receptions for 124 yards and a touchdown
  • Irv Smith, Vikings: Four receptions for 63 yards and a touchdown
  • Levi Wallace, Bills: One tackle and a game-sealing interception
  • Dalvin Tomlinson, Giants: Three tackles, two for a loss including a sack.
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Be sure to tune back into tide1009.com each Tuesday to see the Bama Pro of the Week throughout the NFL season.

Week 1: Josh Jacobs

Week 2: Jedrick Wills

Week 3: Derrick Henry

Week 4: Jonah Williams

Week 5: Josh Jacobs

Week 6: Derrick Henry

Week 7: Landon Collins

Week 8: Isaiah Buggs

Week 9: Tua Tagovailoa

Week 10: Jedrick Wills

Week 11: Derrick Henry

Week 12: Derrick Henry

Week 13: Tua Tagovailoa

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