Eagles vs. Titans: Jalen Hurts Hits Darius Cooper With 9 Seconds Left for a Week 2 Escape in Nashville

The air temperature in Nashville hit 98 degrees, the artificial turf was measured at 157, and Jalen Hurts had already thrown two interceptions. Tennessee led by three with 1:56 left. So Hurts walked back onto that griddle, marched the Eagles 65 yards in 1:47 and threw a 3-yard touchdown to Darius Cooper with 9 seconds left, and Philadelphia escaped Nissan Stadium with a 24-20 win over the Titans on Sunday.

Cooper, a second-year receiver the Eagles signed as an undrafted free agent in 2025, had never scored an NFL touchdown before that catch. Fitting that the game-winner came from a guy nobody drafted, on a day when nothing came easy for anybody.

Long Drives, Big Swings, Hot Turf

Philadelphia came out looking like it wanted to drain the clock and the Titans' will to live, opening with drives of 15, 11 and 14 plays. The first one, though, ended with Amani Hooker picking off Hurts in the end zone on a throw for DeVonta Smith and returning it 92 yards to the Philadelphia 10. Cam Ward plunged in from a yard out four plays later. Meanwhile, the Titans' sideline staff spent the afternoon spraying water on players' cleats to cool them down.

The Eagles answered with Tank Bigsby's 2-yard run and a 22-yard Hurts strike to Smith with 1:49 left in the half. Joey Slye's 37-yard field goal at the gun made it 14-10 at halftime, even though Philadelphia had held the ball for nearly 22 of the first 30 minutes.

Jake Elliott drilled a 58-yarder in the third quarter, but Ward responded with a 12-play, 69-yard drive capped by his second 1-yard touchdown run, tying it 17-17 with 57 seconds left in the quarter. Then the Titans' defense struck again. Marcus Harris intercepted Hurts at the Tennessee 14 midway through the fourth, Ward found Elic Ayomanor for 41 yards on the ensuing drive, and Slye's 33-yard field goal put Tennessee up 20-17.

DeVonta Smith Did the Heavy Lifting

Smith was the engine all afternoon: 10 catches on 13 targets for 117 yards and a touchdown. On the final drive alone he caught four passes, including a 19-yarder down the left side that got the Eagles to the 3 with 20 seconds to go. Dontayvion Wicks, who finished with five grabs for 74 yards, chipped in a 20-yard catch early on that same possession.

Hurts finished 26 of 37 for 264 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions, and was sacked three times. It was not clean, and he did not pretend otherwise. "I’m not one to harp on the elements, but it was a challenge for us as a unit collectively," Hurts said. "And I’m happy with how we weathered through that."

The Eagles dealt with more than the heat. Saquon Barkley suffered a stinger in his left arm on Philadelphia's first snap and returned to start the third quarter, but finished with just 9 yards on four carries, the fourth time in his career he has been held under 10 rushing yards. Tight end Dallas Goedert hurt his knee in the second quarter.

And then there's Cooper, who played college ball at Tarleton State and grinded his way onto the roster as a rookie. Before the game-winner, he had already made a 23-yard catch on the drive that ended in Harris' interception. Undrafted, unbothered.

For Tennessee, Ward was efficient (13 of 20, 183 yards) and scored both Titans touchdowns. Hooker's 92-yard return and Jeffery Simmons' sack and three quarterback hits gave the defense real juice.

1:47 of Pure Composure

When Slye's kick went through, the Titans had the lead, the crowd and the weather on their side. The Eagles had a quarterback who had already thrown two picks. Hurts responded with a nine-play, 65-yard drive that featured Wicks for 20, a steady diet of Smith and a 4-yard Hurts scramble. Smith's 19-yard catch set up first-and-goal at the 3, and Hurts hit Cooper at the back of the end zone with 9 seconds left.

Ward got one last shot, hit Carnell Tate for 15 yards to midfield, and his last heave fell incomplete with the clock at zero.

Nick Sirianni loved the fight. "They fought and they clawed and they scratched and did anything they had to do to get the win," Sirianni said.

Numbers From the Sauna

• 157: Degrees Fahrenheit on the turf, per the AP. The air hit 98 in the fourth quarter, and it felt like 106.
• 11 of 18: Philadelphia on third down, the main reason it owned the ball for 36:25.
• 10: Points the Titans scored off Hurts' two interceptions.
• 15-4: The Eagles' record in September since 2021, tied with Buffalo for the most opening-month wins in that span, per the AP.
• 6: Straight road openers won by Sirianni to start his career. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, he is the fourth coach to do it, joining Sean McVay, George Allen and Mike McCarthy.

Ugly Wins Count the Same in September

Two weeks, two one-score wins, and the exact same quarter-by-quarter scoring line both times: 0, 14, 3 and 7. The Eagles are 2-0 for the fourth time under Sirianni, the most by any coach in franchise history, per the AP. Hurts, per the AP, is now the fifth quarterback in NFL history to win six straight road openers at any point in his career, joining Dan Fouts, Roger Staubach, Bart Starr and Fran Tarkenton. The Eagles have not been dominant, but they keep finding the final play, which is a habit good teams tend to carry into December. Next up is a Monday night trip to Chicago on Sept. 28.

For the Titans, 0-2 stings. Robert Saleh's first season has opened with two home losses, and Tennessee has dropped its first two games for a third straight year. Saleh thought his team had its moments. "They executed better in critical moments," Saleh said. Ward was blunter. "It’s not a moral victory, it’s a loss," Ward said. The Titans visit the Giants next Sunday.

Nashville Hot, Philly Cool

Nashville is famous for hot chicken, and on Sunday the city served up the football version: a game so hot it hurt, with a finish that made your eyes water. Left tackle Jordan Mailata described the conditions best. "It’s like a very deceiving heat out there," Mailata said. "It just sucks everything out of you."

Everything, apparently, except Jalen Hurts' pulse in the final two minutes.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Postgame quotes as reported by the Associated Press. Additional context from philadelphiaeagles.com.