The 2024 Philadelphia Eagles are Super Bowl Champions and will forever be remembered for their dominant performance in Super Bowl LIX. They had the number-one defense in the league and the number-one rushing attack, thanks to Saquon Barkley. While Saquon Barkley was the final piece to the puzzle for the Eagles offense, the picture that the puzzle made has yet to truly be admired.
Yes, you have a stout defense taking up one side with photos of Jalen Carter, Zack Baun, Brandon Graham, Darius Slay, and others but at the very center of the photo is one player who has been often overlooked this year. The franchise QB, the leader, the glue that held it all together since 2022, Jalen Hurts.
But who is Jalen Hurts? Why do the National Media and even local media continue to struggle with giving him his credit?
In an era where stats reign supreme and wins are second nature, Jalen Hurts finds himself to be the outcast, the sore thumb, the stepchild to a generation of football where analytics reign supreme. He isn’t your modern-day football version of LeBron James, that just isn’t him. There’s no ego in Jalen’s approach to the game which makes him “unlikable” in the eyes of the media and fans alike.
He’s not chasing the ultimate records for quarterbacks, that’s not what he’s after. He doesn’t care about the spotlight, instead, he would rather just continue to work until you have no choice but to acknowledge him. To Hurts, the main thing has always been the main thing and that’s winning. In five years as the Eagles’ starting quarterback, Jalen Hurts has a record of 46-20.
He started only four games in his rookie season as he pushed Carson Wentz out of the role and ultimately out of Philadelphia. That year he went 1-3 and the team missed the playoffs which led to the firing of Doug Pederson and the introduction of Nick Sirianni.
Since playing under Nick Sirianni, Hurts has made the playoffs in each of the last four seasons with winning records. The Eagles have won two NFC East division titles, two NFC Championships, and now, one Super Bowl. That’s all Hurts does. He’s a winner. He was bred to win and to the disappointment of all his critics, that’s all he cares about.
He’s an intelligent player who operates at the line of scrimmage similarly to Tom Brady and Peyton Manning once did. He puts his weapons in a position to succeed every time. From a 60-yard touchdown run by Saquon Barkley to a 46-yard touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith, Jalen Hurts operates in a way that many other quarterbacks can’t.
But unless you dive into the film and dissect his every move at the line of scrimmage, you won’t see the engineering he does on every drive. You probably can’t see it because you’re looking for the wrong thing. Which is fine but it also means that people need to take a step back and come back to his film with an open mind and fresh eyes.
The big question around the league is where Jalen Hurts ranks among the great young QBs of the game today. While I will agree with many that Patrick Mahomes is in a class of his own, I will disagree with even more folks on the fact that Jalen Hurts is a top-5 quarterback in the NFL. Yes, I said it and I will go a step further and tell you that he is an elite QB as well.
What separates other QBs from Jalen Hurts? Is it Lamar Jackson’s flashy elusiveness in the middle of the field? Josh Allen’s rocket launcher of an arm? Joe Burrow’s accuracy? Or are the over-inflated stats that each of these quarterbacks put up week in and week out as their teams struggle to make it to the ultimate stage that Jalen Hurts has been to twice?
He doesn’t put up the sexy numbers that you want to see every week but that doesn’t mean that he can’t. But what he does do is put his team in a position to win. Even against those quarterbacks that I mentioned above. Jalen Hurts is 15-7 against AFC opponents in his career.
He recently defeated Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes (twice), and Lamar Jackson over the last two seasons. Of that elite group, Jalen Hurts is the only one to outperform and defeat Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl. He’s one of two players, Joe Burrow being the other, to defeat Patrick Mahomes in the playoffs.
In his last four seasons as the unquestioned starter of the Eagles, Jalen Hurts has a record of 45-17 which is a better record than Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, and Josh Allen have during the same period. In comparison to those three quarterbacks, he has the second most passing yards in the last four seasons, the most rushing touchdowns, the third most passing touchdowns, and is tied for the second-highest completion percentage.
So what is the question when it comes to Jalen Hurts? The answers are all in the stats, they’re on the field and now, they’re in the record books for all eternity. You may be able to throw dirt on his name but you have to acknowledge the fact that he’s the Super Bowl MVP of the Super Bowl LIX champions. The same team that dismantled the darling sweethearts of the NFL.
He may not be the LeBron James of his era, but he mirrors several other greats that did what LeBron has struggled to consistently do and that’s win. Michael Jordan won. Derek Jeter won. Kobe Bryant won. Tom Brady won. Jalen Hurts wins.
REUTERS/Mike Segar TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
