The Eagles’ decision to go with Jalen Hurts as their starting quarterback looked like a wise one in Atlanta on Sunday.
Hurts threw three touchdowns and ran for 62 yards in a 32-6 win over the Falcons.
The Eagles won one of the four games that Hurts started as a rookie, but they’ll win a lot more if he continues to play the way he did on Sunday. He capped the first drive of the game with a touchdown pass to Devonta Smith and then threw another to Dallas Goedert with two seconds to play in the first half. His final score went to Jalen Reagor in the fourth quarter and put things even further out of reach for the NFC East club.
Smith had six catches for 71 yards in his NFL debut and Hurts completed multiple passes to seven different receivers over the course of the afternoon. Miles Sanders had 113 yards from scrimmage and rookie Kenneth Gainwell chipped in a rushing touchdown in his NFL debut.
The Falcons were hoping for a better start to the Arthur Smith era, but the team’s offense settled for field goals on two first half trips into the red zone and never found any more momentum over the rest of the afternoon. Matt Ryan was 21-of-35 for 164 yards while being sacked three times and first-round pick Kyle Pitts had a quiet four catches in his debut.
Things don’t get any easier for Atlanta next week as they’ll face the Buccaneers. The Eagles will try for 2-0 against the 49ers.