Fly Like An Eagle
The biggest complaint about Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts is that he isn’t the same player from 2022 when he led the team to the Super Bowl and was a viable MVP candidate until a late season injury sidelined him for two games. One has to wonder if we will ever see the 2022 version of Hurts, but that doesn’t mean that he can’t still be a difference-making winning NFL quarterback.
The Eagles (5-2) have a three-game win streak, and most will scoff at the competition (Cleveland, NY Giants and Cincinnati) all with losing records. One thing people have to remember this year—there are very few great teams in the NFL.
Even the Kansas City Chiefs (7-0) have flaws. The Detroit Lions (6-1) have been anointed as the NFC favorites, but this is a team that still must show it can produce in the postseason. In addition, the Lions loss came to a 4-4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers team. Detroit also competes in the NFC North and those teams are expected to beat each other up all year.
The point is, that the Eagles not only should make the playoffs, but with their schedule, they should challenge for the top seed and the coveted first round bye in the NFC.
The Eagles certainly can if the Hurts from the last three games surfaces. Here is a look at his stats
20-16 win vs. Cleveland: 16-25 passing, 264 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT, 14 carries, 33 yards, 0 TDs, 126.1 passer rating
28-3 win at NY Giants: 10-14 passing, 114 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, 7 carries, 22 yards, 2 TDs, 119.4 passer rating
37-17 win at Cincinnati: 16-20 passing, 236 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, 10 carries, 37 yards, 3 TDs, 132.5 passer rating
With the addition of Saquon Barkley, the Eagles don’t need Hurts to be superman. They just need him to be mistake-free. He hasn’t thrown an interception in each of the last three games, while completing 42-of-59 passes (71.2%) for four touchdowns.
This is the first time Hurts has produced a passer rating of 100 or above in three consecutive outings since last year when he did it for three straight games against Miami, Washington and Dallas. Not so coincidentally, the Eagles won all three of those games.
People may not take the passer rating statistics seriously, but if one looks at the top NFL quarterbacks, they are usually at the top of the passer rating chart. As a comparison, Joe Burrow, who many consider among the top three NFL quarterbacks, had just an 84.7 passer rating against the Eagles.
That is not to conclude Hurts is better than Burrow, but he played better in this head-to-head matchup.
The Eagles won’t face many better quarterbacks than Burrow the rest of the way. The best they will face is two-time MVP Lamar Jackson of Baltimore.
Either way, if Hurts continues to play mistake-free as he gets more comfortable with Kellen Moore’s offense, the Eagles have the ability to beat anybody on their schedule and anybody in the playoffs.
Photo: Jalen Hurts / Courtesy of Philadelphia Eagles
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Author: Marc Narducci
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