Nick Sirianni coached so poorly that only top player Jalen Hurts could save him.

Hurts led a fourth-quarter touchdown drive that absolved Slick Nick of the second deadly coaching sin: greed. Sirianni left nine points on the field as he chased a hypothetical twenty. He twice attempted to convert fourth downs instead of making short field goals, then opted for three failed two-point conversions.

“Situationally we could have done better. We could have performed better,” Hurts said afterwards, trying to save his coach again.

Thanks to Hurts, the Eagles defeated the Jaguars 28-23, their fourth straight win, and moved to 6-2.

Hurts plays so well that sometimes you don’t even notice him. His passer rating is 128.9 over the past four games, with six touchdowns. He’s in a hurry for six more. He hasn’t been perfect, and he hasn’t been productive (he’s averaging just 211 yards per game), but he hasn’t needed productive perfection.

“He’s been efficient,” right tackle Lane Johnson said. ‘He’s done a good job. Of drowning out distractions. We have a lot of attacking additions, and that means we don’t ask too much from any one player, namely that he has to play ‘Superman’ football.”

» READ MORE: Doug Pederson’s Jaguars tenure on life support; LeSean McCoy honored by Saquon Barkley’s Eagles

Hurts finished 18-for-24 for 230 yards, with two passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown. He took three sacks, but only one was ill-advised, and it’s almost always better to take a sack than force a pass or run through defenders. For the fourth game in a row, he didn’t turn the ball over.

“Jalen has done a great job taking care of the football,” Sirianni said. Again. Hurts hasn’t turned the ball over in four games, and the Eagles have won all four.

Not that he doesn’t make plays.

His 18-yard touchdown run gave the Eagles a 22-0 lead in the third quarter. His 46-yard, fourth-quarter bomb to DeVonta Smith set up the winning touchdown, and when he heard a compliment about his deep ball skills, Hurts smiled and seemed to choke up a little:

“That’s the first time I’ve heard that. … They say I can’t do it.’ Never believe them when they tell you they don’t hear their critics.

He threw that pass with more hope than confidence: “That’s one I struggled with all week in practice,” Hurts admitted.

In any case, that play set up Hurts’ 25-yard tear to Smith in the back of the end zone on third-and-22. That was a move of faith.

“I didn’t have a good view of DeVonta,” he admitted, “but I knew where he would be.”

The TD made it 28-16 halfway through the fourth and that was enough. That’s the key with Hurts. If he does enough and doesn’t try to do too much, he will give the Eagles the best chance.

“Honestly, I don’t like it,” said Josh Sweat, who had two more sacks. He’s conceded five in the last five games, but he wants more chances: “He’s taking up bloody time!”

The Eagles had the ball for 38 minutes on Sunday, almost twice the Jags’ time of possession. They have won the TOP battle in the last three matches.

Incredibly, Hurts wasn’t Sunday’s star.

Saquon Barkley recorded his fifth 100-yard rushing game and his third in a row, with 159, and two scores, one on the ground, one a miraculous 20-yard catch. He was the best player on the field. His signature play came early in the second quarter, when he punched one tackler, spun away from another and then knocked another tackler backwards.

The defense dropped Trevor Lawrence twice, both times by Sweat. The linebackers intercepted Lawrence twice. First, a missed pass ended up in the hands of linebacker Zack Baun, who played brilliantly; Then, with 1 minute, 38 seconds to play, Nakobe Dean made an acrobatic grab in the end zone to seal the victory. On special teams, Sydney Brown forced a fumble in punt coverage, leading to the Eagles’ first first-quarter score in nine games dating back to last season.

Yes, it should have been easier. Sirianni made sure this was not the case; good for drama, bad for blood pressure.

The Birds held on without the services of their best player, AJ Brown, who did not play in the second half due to a knee injury. They held on despite an apparently blatant fumble from the referees and replay officials who went against Barkley; the fumble was returned for a score. They held their own like the great Eagles teams of old held their own.

It was an evening full of nostalgia. The players wore Kelly Green, LeSean “Shady” McCoy got his Eagles Hall of Fame jacket and Doug Pederson, who won the franchise’s only Super Bowl, visited Lincoln Financial Field for one final rout.

Hurts’ play also brought back memories; memories of times gone by, when he didn’t give the ball away, when he managed the talent around him and when he played like a winner, not a hero.

You know. Way back in 2022, when the Eagles went to the Super Bowl — sometimes despite Sirianni.