INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) – Unable to wrap your hands around the season’s hottest gift?
The Los Angeles Chargers and Philadelphia Eagles feel your pain.
Three turnovers on a single play Monday night unfolded like a white elephant gift exchange.
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts finished the night with four interceptions and a fumble, including a pick that ended the Chargers’ 22-19 victory in overtime.
A wild scenario in the second quarter typified Philadelphia’s frustration.
The Eagles had the ball before the Chargers plucked it away. The Eagles got it right back, before the Chargers yanked it away again.
From the time Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts let go of his pass with 8:28 remaining in the first half, until the ball stopped rolling, it was among the wildest 9 seconds of the season.
Hurts’ second-quarter pass to A.J. Brown was intercepted by Chargers defensive lineman Da’Shawn Hand at the Los Angeles 17-yard line. Hand fumbled at the 24-yard line when he was hit by the Eagles’ Will Shipley. Hurts had the ball return to his hands at the 33 but he fumbled it when he was hit by the Chargers’ Jamaree Caldwell.
Only the Chargers’ Troy Dye was able to secure the ball tightly when he jumped on it at the 43-yard line.
“It was amazing. You just can’t script that,” Hand said of his first career interception in eight NFL seasons. “It’s great football. That’s the moment you think about as a little kid.”
Hurts made history, becoming the only NFL player ever to throw an interception, recover a fumble and lose a fumble on the same play. Adding to the oddity was that the Eagles entered with just eight giveaways all season, tied for the best in the NFL.
“As frustrating as the night was, we had an opportunity to win the game in the end,” Hurts said, when asked specifically about the wild second-quarter play. “I had the ball in my hands, driving down, having everything on our terms. And I didn’t bring it home.”
The Chargers cashed in the madness with a field goal to take a 10-3 lead with 4:55 remaining in the second quarter. But the giveaway game was far from complete.
The three-turnover play was merely part of a stretch when the teams had five turnovers in a span of 11 plays after Hurts was intercepted on the Eagles’ next possession and Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert fumbled the ball away one play later.
“That one stings,” Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said. “At the end of the day we had some turnovers in this game, which is uncharacteristic of us.”
The gift giving continued.
In the end there were eight total turnovers from both teams on the night. The Chargers’ Tony Jefferson delivered the final one in overtime when he intercepted Hurts’ pass at the 1-yard line.
“I didn’t play well,” Hurts said. “Too many turnovers. Lots of opportunities, especially when we get on the other side of the 50. But I wasn’t able to get us in the box.”
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
