‘All you need is a crumb:' Hurts searching through the rubble for answers

After yet another loss, after yet another unthinkable performance, after yet another embarrassing collapse, Jalen Hurts was like everybody else.

Searching for answers.

And not finding any. 

A 10-1 start had turned into an 11-6 finish, the Giants had become the latest awful team to embarrass the Eagles. Once again Hurts was powerless to stop the carnage.

After the Eagles finished the regular season with their worst loss to the Giants in 11 years – 27-10 at MetLife Stadium – Hurts tried to make sense of it all and tried to put on a brave face with a playoff game coming up a week from Monday in Tampa.

“Think about weathering it all, man,” he said. “Right now, regardless of what’s going on outside of us, anything external, it’s about controlling what we can. Controlling what we can. 

“I truly believe this team is more than capable of taking advantage of what’s in front of us. You’ve got to do the work and you’ve got to do what you need to do. All you need is an opportunity, all you need is a crumb so we’re going to put our hands on deck to do that. It’s simply win or go home and nothing else matters. Nothing prior matters, anything, none of it. 

“It’s always another opportunity. It’s about taking advantage of the opportunity. Do I think we’ve done a good job of doing that? No. Not as of late. That takes complete ownership of every individual doing that. Now, it’s about finding that deep in our souls and figuring out ways to win.”

So much has changed over the last month and a half and nobody really seems to know how to react to it or deal with it.

Hurts is the one guy everybody in that locker room turns to for leadership and guidance, and he knows he has to put up a brave front if the Eagles are going to have any chance to salvage the season and win a playoff game.

“I’ve talked about the standard for a long time and the standard is to never be compromised because that is something internal that drives you to be the best you can be and do what you’re capable of,” he said. “Who cares how you win in the playoffs? Win or go home. 

“Just winning. Finishing. Situational football. Managing these moments. Executing in those moments. All of that. The beautiful part about it is you’ve got an opportunity in front of us to take advantage of that. 

“Regardless if you fell down five times before, it’s about how you get up for the sixth one, so we’ve got to respond as a team and everybody understands that. Everybody understands that. We can’t waver from that. We can’t waver from what’s in front of us. It’s about the work and that’s what it is.”

The Eagles have won one game since that 10-1 start and that was against the Giants at the Linc when they had to scramble to hold on in the final seconds after blowing nearly all of a 17-point halftime lead.

This time last year the Eagles were rolling off a 14-3 regular season, about to destroy the Giants and 49ers in the playoffs and have the Chiefs on the ropes before losing Super Bowl LVII in Arizona.

Now they’re just scrapping for a first down, a defensive stop, a big play. Something. Anything.

Hurts has spoken all year about finding this team’s identity and after five losses by an average of 13 ½ points, the sad truth is the identity appears to be more about giving up than fighting through adversity.

“I think that’s been something that we’ve searched for and have been searching for,” Hurts said. “We haven’t really had the consistency that we’ve desired as a team and that’s something that we’ve been kind of looking for. 

“We see glimpses of it. We have that conversation all the time where there are moments where you see it and there are moments where it’s like, ‘Oh man, something’s not clicking.’ We’ve got to find a way to be consistent and consistent more often and play at a high level more often. 

“That’s what it takes to win championships. In the end, it’s about how you respond to it, and we’ve got to respond. This is what it is.”

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