Philadelphia coach Nick Sirianni thought Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts played his best game of the season on Sunday. He needed to against a Washington Commanders team that was taking the NFC East rivalry seriously.

Washington took a 37-3 beating from the Buffalo Bills last week, but the undefeated Eagles had to go into overtime to down the Commanders 34-31 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

“I think it was his best game this year,” Sirianni said about Hurts. “I have to watch it and see everything, but I thought it was his best game this year. I thought he was clutch. Sometimes quarterback stats and all these different things, you can override anything that’s going on with a quarterback when they make plays when a play is needed. And I thought that’s what he did today. We needed a completion on that third-and-forever, and he got a completion. We needed a touchdown at the end of the game, and he got the touchdown.”

Hurts completed 25-of-37 passes for 319 with two touchdowns and no interceptions and ran for 34 yards on nine carries against the Commanders, who own the only victory over Hurts in the quarterback’s past 22 regular-season starts.

Hurts threw a 59-yard touchdown pass as Philadelphia took its first lead at 21-17 with 7:11 left in the third quarter.

After Washington tied the score at 24-24 on former Alabama running back Brian Robinson Jr.’s 15-yard run with 8:01 to play, Hurts connected with Brown on a 28-yard touchdown pass with 1:43 remaining.

But Washington sent the game into overtime by scoring a touchdown on the final snap of the fourth quarter.

When the Commanders went three-and-out to open the overtime, Hurts converted on fourth-and-1 at the 50 with a Brotherly Shove quarterback sneak and picked up another first down with an 11-yard pass to running back DeAndre Swift.

After Hurts got an intentional-grounding penalty on a pass he threw 40 yards down the middle of the field, he got 9 yards back on a completion to wide receiver DeVonta Smith before Jake Elliott nailed a 54-yard field goal to end the game.

“I think tension, pressure builds character,” Hurts said. “We needed a game like this for us. I jokingly thought to myself, ‘I guess we want to play a little longer tonight.’ I think a win like this does so much for the spirit of a team because winning is not easy. Winning is hard, and it’s hard in this league, and it’s very hard in this division. I think it, in multiple ways, lights a fire for us to continue to do what we want to do. I come up here and I tell you guys how important keeping the main thing the main thing is. The main thing is just to continue to grow and get better every day.

“There are a ton of things to clean up in every phase. Every guy could have done something better out there today. But when you find ways to win in those moments and you persevere and you stick together, that makes a team come together, that makes us stronger together.”

After Washington scored on its first possession, Hurts had two third-down completions that helped Philadelphia do the same.

After the Commanders took a 17-7 lead with 1:39 left in the first half, Hurts made sure Philadelphia got something out of the remaining seconds with a fourth-down run and a 37-yard pass to Smith, which allowed Elliott to kick a 41-yard field goal on the period’s final snap.

Hurts threw the 59-yard touchdown pass to Brown even though Washington defensive end Montez Sweat was flagged for roughing the passer on the play.

Hurts completed his final three passes of the fourth quarter for 49 yards as Philadelphia briefly took the lead again.

“I thought he played clutch,” Sirianni said. “Just clutch, I think that’s the best way to say it, whether it was the overtime drive, whether it was the drive where we scored with about a minute-plus left. We didn’t have a lot of possessions in the first half, and we needed that end-of-half drive to get going. Clutch, I think that’s the best way to say it. I think that’s what he was.”

Hurts didn’t know if Sunday’s performance was his best game of the 2023 season, but the former Alabama standout did know the Eagles got the main thing done.

“Just growing every time I step on the field,” Hurts said. “That’s my goal. Just to get better every opportunity I have. …

“That pressure builds a ton of character. When you put yourselves in those positions, it’s about how your respond. That’ll pay dividends for us in the future.”

The Eagles will take a 4-0 record into their next game against the Los Angeles Rams at 3:05 p.m. CDT Oct. 8 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.