Jalen Hurts was "unfazed" and "in complete control" against the Dallas Cowboys as he led the Philadelphia Eagles to a 6-0 start, said coach Nick Sirianni.
Dual-threat Eagles quarterback Hurts threw for 155 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 27 yards to help protect the last remaining unbeaten record in this NFL season on Sunday.
A meeting with NFC East rivals the Cowboys represented the Eagles' biggest test so far, but they ran out 26-17 winners as Hurts' TD pass to DeVonta Smith early in the fourth quarter ensured there would be no nervy finish.
Sirianni would not have anticipated his QB having any problems regardless.
The Eagles coach, in his second year with the team, is in awe of Hurts' demeanour – that of "great quarterbacks", Sirianni said.
Hurts now has 1,514 passing yards and 293 rushing yards on the year, becoming the first QB in NFL history to surpass 1,500 passing yards and 250 rushing yards while going undefeated over any six-game span.
"The guy's not fazed by things," Sirianni said. "He's got a great demeanour that you see in great quarterbacks.
"There are so many big games in the NFL. It's a huge game, right? Sunday Night Football, division rival, both at the top of the division, and he's unfazed by things.
"That's what I love about him. He just goes and plays the next play – and he made a big play on third-and-four when we didn't have anybody open [on the drive from which Smith scored].
"He made a play with his legs, he controlled the clock, he was in complete control. It was Quarterback 101 by Jalen."
The Eagles are one win away from their best ever start to a season going into a bye, but the first seven weeks of 2021 were very different.
Philly were 2-5 heading into Halloween, before a 6-2 end to the campaign secured a playoff place and set the stage for this sublime stretch.
"I think being 2-5 did a lot for this team," Sirianni added. "Not everybody was involved with that 2-5, I get it, but a big part of the meat and potatoes of this team was involved in that, and they just kept coming to work.
"All we wanted to do was improve daily and get better and get better and get better. You do that by practising harder.
"The best teams that I've been on have the common denominator that they practise hard, they walk-through hard, they meet hard; then you get this trajectory of where you're building and building and building."
The Eagles are not done building, though, with Sirianni considering this a key point in the season.
"Teams are either coming together or they're not and this team is coming together, and they fight each week," he said.
"The motivation of not letting your team-mate down – coach to player, player to coach, player to player, coach to coach – that's just love, right? There is no greater motivation than that.
"This is a close team, and we're going to keep working on getting closer and keep working on getting better."
Lyon are through to their 11th Women's Champions League final after sealing a 5-3 aggregate victory over compatriots Paris Saint-Germain.
The record eight-time winners scored three times in the final 10 minutes of last week's first leg to take a narrow 3-2 lead into the return fixture at Parc des Princes.
However, they were quicker out of the blocks in the second leg, with just three minutes on the clock when Selma Bacha drilled home from range for her first Champions League strike in five-and-a-half years.
Tabitha Chawinga responded before the break to reduce PSG's aggregate deficit to a single goal, but Melchie Dumornay put the tie beyond doubt nine minutes from time, as Sonia Bompastor's side set up a final showdown with Barcelona on May 25.
Data debrief
Lyon continued their dominance over PSG in Champions League semi-final encounters, having now progressed from each of their last four such ties.
The eight-time champions lost their first two semi-finals they contested in this competition, but have now won each of the last 10, and will seek a record-extending ninth title in Bilbao next month.
Alcaraz's pursuit for third straight Madrid Open crown continues by defeating Seyboth Wild
Carlos Alcaraz boosted his hopes of a third straight Madrid Open title as he comfortably beat Thiago Seyboth Wild to reach the fourth round on Sunday.
Back in his home country of Spain, Alcaraz eased to a 6-3 6-3 triumph to set up a fourth-round clash with Jan-Lennard Struff, whom he beat in last year's final.
The first six games of the opening set went to serve, but Alcaraz found a crucial break in the seventh and ninth games of the set to put him in pole position for victory, a lead he would not relinquish as he overcame being broken in the seventh game of the second set to seal his safe progression.
Holger Rune was a surprise casualty as the world number 12 was defeated 6-4 4-6 6-3 by Tallon Griekspoor, though world number eight Andrey Rublev eased through with a straight-sets win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Data debrief
With his triumph over Seyboth Wild at the Madrid Open, Alcaraz has now won 93.3 per cent of his games at the tournament. That is the highest win percentage of any player with at least 10 games played in a single ATP-1000 event since the format was introduced in 1990.
Against Seyboth Wild, Alcaraz won 27 of his 31 first-serve points, also recording 19 winners to his opponent's 10 as he dominated the contest on his way to victory.
Dundee 1-2 Celtic: Forrest brace restores Hoops' three-point lead at SPL summit
James Forrest scored twice as Celtic regained their three-point cushion at the Scottish Premiership summit with a narrow 2-1 victory over Dundee.
Rangers had applied the pressure earlier in the day with a 2-1 win at St Mirren, moving Philippe Clement's side level on points with the Hoops.
Although, Celtic did not twitch with Forrest volleying them ahead on the half-hour mark, before doubling their lead in the 67th minute.
Antonio Portales pulled a goal back for Dundee seven minutes later with his first league strike of the season, but the visitors held on to pull clear at the top once more with five games remaining.
Data debrief
Returning to the starting line-up today, Forrest's double separated the sides as he found the net more than once in a game for the first time since scoring a hat-trick against Hibernian in October 2022.
Celtic have now won their last 10 league matches against Dundee and are unbeaten in 43 meetings overall since a 2-0 defeat in May 2001, only enjoying a longer such streak against Dumbarton (50).
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