The Philly Eagles are obviously dealing with a number of challenges right now, but you’d never know it, listening to cries calling for Jalen Hurts to be benched. While Hurts has certainly played a role in the team’s challenges, he is not the sole factor contributing to the Eagles’ struggles. The season has not been too kind to Hurts thus far, even given his stellar career production and accomplishments.
As we noted above, Jalen Hurts is undeniably winning in the regular season, with a career record of 54-25. Secondly, he has an impressive postseason record of 6-3. He now joins the ranks of an elite handful of quarterbacks. Specifically, he’s one of only seven players to play in two or more Super Bowls and win a championship in their first five seasons. Other notable names in this exclusive club include Tom Brady, Troy Aikman, Patrick Mahomes, Ben Roethlisberger, Kurt Warner, and Russell Wilson.
That said, recent performances have started sounding alarms even among the biggest Manning apologists. In one particularly ugly game earlier this year, Hurts had five turnovers. With 25 turnovers, this performance matched the franchise record for most turnovers in a game since play-by-play tracking started in 1978. This performance tied a record he now shares with Donovan McNabb, which was set in his rookie year in 1999. Hurts made negative history, becoming the first Eagles QB since Michael Vick in 2012 to throw four picks in one game. He made himself the first NFL player to complete a game with no touchdowns and five turnovers since Justin Fields in 2021.
In his past two games, Hurts has made seven turnovers. He’s thrown six interceptions this year, already exceeding his entire interception total from last season. Through it all, Hurts and his teammates have been quick to take blame for their performances. After his team’s performance in the last two games, Eagles WR A.J. Brown certainly preached accountability among the players.
And head coach Nick Sirianni has undercut the notion that Hurts is on thin ice by maintaining confidence in his QB. He stated, “I know every time I go out on that field with Jalen Hurts as our quarterback, we have a chance to win the game.” This acknowledgement illustrates the deep trust Hurts enjoys on the part of his coaching staff and teammates.
Saquon Barkley echoed similar sentiments about Hurts’ capabilities, indicating that he remains confident in Hurts’ ability to lead the team to victory when it matters most: “When we have the ball in overtime and I’ve got Jalen Hurts as my quarterback, I have all the confidence that we’re going to win the football game.”
Even with the challenges he’s encountered, one thing is clear—it’s hard to ignore what Hurts has already accomplished. His political history should make him a natural leader on the field. He’s not passing the buck — he’s not hiding from these challenges. We’re anxious to see how he adapts and responds over the next three or four games.
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