Jalen Hurts seems to play his best when the criticism is loudest and the Philadelphia Eagles need him most.
Hurts delivered an almost flawless performance in a 28-22 victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, completing 19 of 23 passes for 326 yards and three touchdowns with a perfect passer rating of 158.3.
So much for the naysayers who still say he’s not a good passer.
Hurts hit A.J. Brown in stride on a beautiful throw on fourth-and-4 for a 37-yard TD and a 7-0 lead.
He threw an even prettier deep ball to DeVonta Smith for a 79-yard TD pass in the third quarter.
Then, with the Vikings mounting a comeback, trailing 21-19 and needing a stop to swing momentum in their favor, Hurts did what he does best. Facing a third-and-13 at the Eagles 27 with 9:09 left, Hurts escaped pressure in the pocket, scrambled to his right and connected with Brown for a 13-yard gain near the sideline to extend the drive.
He finished it off with a 28-yard strike over the middle to Brown for another TD.
Despite leading the Eagles (5-2) to a Super Bowl victory last season and earning MVP honors in a dominant victory over the Kansas City Chiefs, Hurts didn’t get much of a grace period.
Even when the Eagles started 4-0, Hurts and the offense were called out for being inconsistent and predictable. After losses to the Broncos and Giants, the detractors piled on.
They blasted first-year offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo’s scheme and play calling, questioning the team’s inability to get Saquon Barkley and the run game on track and the failure to involve star wide receivers Brown and Smith in the game plan.
Hurts got his share of the blame, of course. Analysts said he’s not reading defenses well. He’s not following his progressions if his first option is covered. He’s not giving his talented receivers enough opportunities to make plays. He’s a great athlete but he’s not an elite passer.
It’s time to give Hurts the credit he deserves. He was spectacular against the Vikings (3-3) just like he was in both of his Super Bowl appearances and other big games throughout his career.
“You don’t have a game like that without the guys around you so I give a lot of credit to them,” Hurts said. “It’s team football in the end so happy to come out here and figure out a way to win a football game. That’s a really good team, a really good defense and it was a challenge. They presented a ton of challenges but we were able to endure and I’m very thankful of that.”
NFL teams continue finding ways to overcome big deficits or waste large leads, depending on the perspective.
Bo Nix led the Denver Broncos to an improbable comeback from a 19-0 deficit to start the fourth quarter and finished with a 33-32 win over the New York Giants in a game that featured two lead changes in the final 40 seconds.
Nix became the first player in NFL history to throw two TD passes and run for two scores in the fourth quarter. Nix and the Broncos rallied from a 17-3 deficit in the fourth quarter in Week 5, handing Philadelphia a 21-17 loss.
Despite the loss, there’s plenty of reason for optimism among Giants fans. Rookie QB Jaxson Dart has invigorated the team. A pair of missed extra points cost them a chance for an upset.
Patrick Mahomes pulled off a brilliant ruse, tricking the Raiders into thinking he was upset that his attempt to draw them offside wasn’t going to work on fourth-and-1 at the Chiefs 40.
“This (bleeping) never (bleeping) works, man,” Mahomes said at the line of scrimmage, fooling the defense into thinking he was about to take a delay of game penalty to set up a punt.
Instead, Mahomes took a snap and handed to Kareem Hunt for a first-down gain. The Chiefs finished the drive with a touchdown to take a 14-0 lead on their way to a 31-0 victory.
It was an excellent call by coach Andy Reid and perfect execution by Mahomes. But the Chiefs (4-3) didn’t need to resort to trickery against Las Vegas (2-5). They should’ve saved it for the playoffs.
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Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) walks off the field after a win over the Minnesota Vikings in an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) tries to avoid a tackle from Minnesota Vikings linebacker Eric Wilson (55) during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand on Thursday helped launch a global effort to fight the spread of online scams that include criminal enterprises based largely in Southeast Asia estimated to bilk billions of dollars annually from victims around the world.
Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime hosted a conference in Bangkok on Wednesday and Thursday culminating in the announcement of the new initiative called the Global Partnership Against Online Scams.
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said in his keynote speech Wednesday that online scams “reveal a deeper problem — a collective vulnerability that no country can address alone.”
The partnership agreement signed by conference participants Thailand, Bangladesh, Nepal, Peru and the United Arab Emirates will include political commitment, law enforcement, victim protection and public awareness and cross-border collaboration, a statement said.
The conference received assistance from the private sector including internet giants Meta and TikTok.
Meta, the corporate owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, presented a threat report underlining the increased use of artificial intelligence by scam networks and protocols the company is using in its attempts to stop scams on its social media platforms.
Social media application TikTok signed on to the conference's closing statement, becoming one of the first private sector members of the partnership. The company on Thursday also said it had signed agreements with major investors to form a new TikTok U.S. joint venture.
TikTok, which primarily focuses on short-form videos is one of the world's most popular social media platforms but has faced challenges from various governments including the U.S. over its Chinese ownership, the European Union over transparency breaches, Canada regarding child protection protocols and data sharing in Indonesia.
Scam centers, which extort money from victims online through bogus investment schemes and faked loved interests, have proliferated across Southeast Asia. Scam victims lost between $18 billion and $37 billion in 2023, the UNODC estimates.
The importance of private partnerships in anti-scam initiatives was stressed throughout the two-day conference in Thailand's capital, which was attended by more than 300 participants from nearly 60 countries.
Brian Hanley, Asia-Pacific director of the Global Anti-Scam Alliance, which TikTok joined this month, explained it will be harder to combat criminal networks without “all the major stakeholders at the table."
“Scams are exploiting, not only transnational boundaries, but also the seams across various platforms from banks, telcos, to social media platforms,” Hanley said.
The alliance describes itself as a collective effort to combat the scam problem by governments, law enforcement, consumer protection organizations and companies involved in social media, cybersecrity and other aspects of the internet.
“TikTok is the one that we’re talking about today, but hopefully tomorrow everyone’s joining,” Hanley said. “We’re starting to get critical mass and momentum as everyone realizes it’s affecting their bottom lines and consumer trust.”
Recent scam center raids in Myanmar, victim repatriation issues in Thailand and the death of a South Korean student forced into scam work in Cambodia have spurred demand for regional action.
Cambodia is known as a hub for scam compounds and has been criticized by its neighbor Thailand, but the two countries are engaged in an armed conflict and Cambodia was not represented at the conference.
Similar pledges to fight scam networks were made by members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in the months leading up to the Bangkok conference.
They include the United Nations Convention against Cybercrime, which more than 70 countries signed in October in Vietnam. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres called the document “a vow that no country, no matter their level of development, will be left defenseless against cybercrime.”
FILE - In this image provided by the Myanmar military on Oct. 19, 2025, soldiers stand next to Starlink satellite internet devices as they seize KK Park online scam center in Myawaddy township, Karen State, Myanmar. (The Myanmar Military True News Information Team via AP, File)
FILE - In this image provided by the Myanmar military on Oct. 19, 2025, soldiers raid the KK Park online scam center in Myawaddy township, Karen State, Myanmar. (The Myanmar Military True News Information Team via AP, File)
FILE - People from China, Vietnam and Ethiopia, believed to have been trafficked and forced to work in scam centers, sit with their faces masked while in detention after being released from the centers in Myawaddy district in eastern Myanmar, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanaphon Wuttison, File)
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul delivers his keynote speech during the International Conference on the Global Partnership against Online Scams in Bangkok, Thailand, on Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Anton L. Delgado)
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul answers journalists' questions during the International Conference on the Global Partnership against Online Scams in Bangkok, Thailand, on Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Anton L. Delgado)
