Charles Goren (no relation to Robert Goren, the fictitious NYPD detective portrayed by Vincent D'Onofrio in Law & Order: Criminal Intent), who for decades wrote bridge columns for the Chicago Tribune news syndicate, which includes the New York Daily News, created numerous characters for his columns, each with his own personal quirks.
One of them was named "Trump Coup Tommy," a player who was mediocre at best, except under one circumstance: When he was in the role of declarer in a hand in which the trump suit broke unfavorably; e.g., when Tommy and his partner (the "dummy") held eight trumps between them, while his opponents held four trumps in one hand and one in the other, or even all five in one hand and none in the other.
In such situations, Tommy displayed an uncanny knack for overcoming such bad breaks to bring home the contract.
Which brings us to Jalen Hurts.
Most of the time, Hurts is at best a mediocre quarterback, lacking the arm strength of the likes of Justin Herbert or Josh Allen, and also holding the ball too long, leading to his getting sacked far more often than the quality of his offensive line would suggest that he should.
But give Hurts a streak to break or a trend to buck, and he instantly becomes Johnny Unitas.
His last three games serve as a par excellence example of Jalen's savant-like skill:
In Week 8, the Eagles traveled to Cincinnati, where they had never — repeat, never won — to take on the Bengals. Not only that, but the Eagles went into the game 0-14 against the spread lifetime versus Cincy, regardless of where the games were played.
The Eagles emerged with a 37-17 victory — and since they opened as 2 1/2-point underdogs, they easily covered the spread.
They then returned home to take on the Jaguars. Going into this game, the Eagles had been shut out in the first quarter for nine consecutive games dating back to late last season — but it took Hurts and the Eagles a mere four minutes and 32 seconds to put the proverbial kibosh on that with a 20-yard touchdown pass from Hurts to Saquon Barkley.
Next on the list was a visit to AT&T Stadium, aka "Jerry World," in Arlington, Texas, where the Eagles had lost six in a row by a combined margin of 217 to 118. Granted, the Cowboys were without Dak Prescott — but the Eagles didn't need to spank them as they did, 34-6.
(Hurts will have one more chance to flex his jinx-busting muscles — on December 1 at Baltimore, where the Eagles are 0-2-1 lifetime and have not beaten Baltimore/Cleveland 1.0 on the road since 1991.)
On Thursday night, the Eagles will host the Washington Commanders, who they lead by a half game in the NFC East. Since this is the first meeting between the two teams, the pressure will be on the Eagles, because a loss will likely mean that Washington will sweep the head-to-head series, guaranteeing them the tiebreaker.
But during their current 5-game winning streak, the Philadelphia defense has allowed 200.8 yards and 13 points per game, with 10 takeaways and 19 sacks.
After gaining just 242 total yards in a 28-27 loss to the Steelers on Sunday, Rookie of the Year lock Jayden Daniels and the Washington offense will face another tough test on Thursday night — and if they fail that test, they will likely be fighting for a wild card berth in the NFC the rest of the season.
And with Jordan Mailata slated to return any day now — maybe even in time for Thursday night's game — right now, it's really sunny in Philadelphia indeed.
Leave a Comment