ARLINGTON, Texas – Jalen Hurts walked the bench and punched the hand of every defensive player after the Eagles forced a field goal following his fumble.

“Did you see that?” Hurts said.

It was the second time the defense kept the Cowboys out of the end zone after the quarterback turned the ball over in short order of the second quarter. Hurts had earlier thrown an interception in the end zone and Dallas marched all the way to Eagles territory before linebacker Zack Baun forced a fumble on the 3-yard line.

But Hurts’ giveaway on a Micah Parsons strip sack resulted in the Cowboys gaining possession just 20 feet from pay dirt. The Eagles had dominated, but were only up 7-3 at that point. A touchdown would have given Dallas an unthinkable lead and, above all, hope.

Not like Jalen Carter & Co. had something to say about it. They held off the Cowboys — with defensive tackle running back Rico Dowdle in the backfield for a loss on third down. And after Hurts thanked the defense for its support, he drove the Eagles the other way for a touchdown en route to an eventual 34-6 thrashing of Dallas on Sunday.

“We’re all in it together,” Hurts said of a defense that, all told, forced five turnovers. “I don’t have any pride or anything to do with admitting my mistakes. I made a mistake and it hurt the team. But I was grateful to them. They stood behind me.”

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It wasn’t really a tale of two halves for Hurts. He made some good throws and runs before his series of struggles in the first half began. And of course, he engineered the seven-play, 84-yard drive that he capped with a 14-yard touchdown pass to tight end Dallas Goedert after evading a free rusher just before the break.

However, in the Eagles’ first five possessions, Hurts had two turnovers and was sacked five times. And while not all of those setbacks were entirely on the quarterback, they were partly due to the shortcomings he has shown in his five-year career: holding the ball too long, missing open receivers and failing to secure the football.

Hurts’ counterpart, Cooper Rush, was unlikely to upset the Cowboys even if Baun, Carter and the defense had not gotten any closer to the goal line. But if Dallas had reached the end zone after both turnovers, the atmosphere in the Eagles’ locker room, even after winning at AT&T Stadium for the first time in seven years, might have been different.

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But Hurts also did his part. And his response to adversity not only showed his grit and mental toughness, but all the skills that – when he’s playing at his best – make him one of the tougher quarterbacks to defend in the league.

“Momemtum is an illusion in a way, because it can end and start at any time,” Hurts said when asked how he managed to shake off his rough patch. “And so we treat each play as its own.”

On the touchdown pass to Goedert, DeMarvion Overshown had a clear lane to Hurts. But the quarterback eluded the Cowboys’ flashy linebacker and rolled to his right before hitting his tight end, who had been working back on the scramble drill.

“It was either get the ball out or I make the play,” Hurts said. “I chose to play and Dallas made a great catch.”

In the second half, after the Eagles went three-and-out on their opening series, offensive coordinator Kellen Moore highlighted Saquon Barkley in the run game. The running back damaged his elbow trying to recover Hurts’ fumble, and he was not on the field for the Eagles’ subsequent touchdown-scoring possession.

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But driving Barkley and his backup Kenneth Gainwell on the ground has played a major role in the offense’s success since the bye. Hurts wasn’t asked to do as much in the passing game and as a result, he played his most consistent football since 2022.

However, Moore dropped Hurts 21 times in the first half – far more than in the previous four games. Barkley, on the other hand, had just six carries. The Eagles had escaped their recent winning formula and Hurts was struggling.

But with Barkley and Gainwell taking the load on the second drive after halftime, the offense moved to the Dallas 5. The pain came in spades on third down, though, when he once again extended the play and eventually caught rookie receiver Johnny Wilson found. zone to give the Eagles a 21-6 cushion. Holding the ball gives as much as it takes.

“I thought he did a lot of good things,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said of Hurts. “Obviously it didn’t start the way we wanted it to start. But there’s something to be said for guys who can bounce back and play a really good game after things don’t go well early. We want some of those plays back, he wants some of those plays back.

“But great job dealing with adversity, keeping his head down and continuing to work. I tell you all the time: he’s a winner.

Hurts is indeed a winner. The Eagles are now 7-2 on the season and in first place in the NFC East ahead of a showdown with the 7-3 Commanders on Thursday night. And in all of the 26-year-old quarterback’s regular-season starts, he was 41-19, for a winning percentage of .683.

Those are the only numbers that matter in the end, although he gets it done in the stat sheet as well. On Sunday, Hurts completed 14 of 20 passes for 202 yards and two touchdowns and rushed seven times for 56 yards and two more scores.

And maybe he had done all that with a sore ankle. Hurts was not listed on the Eagles’ injury report last week, but he was limited on Wednesday on what the Eagles described as “rest.” When asked about it two days later, Sirianni first said he was “dealing with the ankle” before a team spokesperson said anything.

ESPN reported that Hurts had been dealing with a “mild ankle problem” for a few weeks. A team source would only describe his condition as “leg pain,” and that it was no different than what most players experience at this point in the season.

“I’m doing good,” Hurts said after the game when asked about the ankle. “Did it seem like it hurt today?”

That didn’t happen, but that wasn’t a denial either. Regardless, Hurts looked more mobile than last year. As long as he can limit turnover.

The interception came in the end zone on a pass from Goedert. Cornerback Trevon Diggs interrupted a throw that was a touch behind. But the bigger mistake, as Hurts acknowledged, was missing a wide-open Grant Calcaterra on a wheel route.

And during the fumble, Hurts only had one hand on the football, even though he was about to put it away before Parsons knocked it away.

“I totally own that,” Hurts said. “I was very aware of what was going on during the (interception). He made a great catch. And the other one just caught me at a bad time. Had one hand on the ball. I have to protect the ball better.”

The sacks weren’t all on the quarterback. The Eagles’ offensive line had early issues with some simulated blitzes from Dallas defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer. It’s hard to blame Hurts for squinting, but he tended to panic at the sight of an opponent’s jersey instead of keeping his eyes on the field. He has now been sacked 26 times and at the highest pace of his career.

Hurts is apparently as hard on himself as anyone. He was put on the microphone for the Jaguars game last week, and after connecting with receiver DeVonta Smith for a spectacular pitch-and-catch touchdown, tackle Lane Johnson noticed something strange about Hurts.

“Hey, you’re smiling,” Johnson said. ‘Are you having fun? It’s good for you.”

Hurts’ response: “Not really.”

The stoic quarterback may not reveal much to the public, but his teammates see him every day all season. Johnson said Hurts’ gesture to the defense after their goal-line stop on Sunday was not unusual.

“He does that so many times during the week,” Johnson said. “We see how resilient he is to criticism and pressure.”

And making mistakes. Everyone has them. It’s how you respond that matters most.