DRAFTING HURTS WAS RIGHT CALL
Jalen Hurts saw the area code pop up on his mobile device on draft night and thought for a moment the numbers represented that other NFL city in Pennsylvania. Nah, the 2-1-5 digits the QB read came from Philadelphia and that meant one thing, the Heisman Trophy finalist out of Oklahoma was about to become an Eagle.
Who knows, had the Steelers snagged Hurts with the 49th overall pick in 2020 and groomed him as a successor to Ben Roethlisberger, maybe they wouldn’t be 3-6 and already playing for next season.
At the very least, Hurts wouldn’t have thrown four touchdown passes against them last month as part of the Eagles’ 8-0 start — the first in franchise history. That record makes Philly the only undefeated team in the NFL.
Hurts, though, fell to the Eagles and in his third season, he is having an MVPtype year — per FanDuel Sportsbook, only Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes and Buffalo QB Josh Allen have better odds to win the award — and boasts a team-record winning streak for starting quarterbacks headed into tonight’s game against Washington.
Hurts has passed for 2,042 yards and 12 touchdowns and has run for 326 yards and six TDs this season. He has thrown just two interceptions while accumulating
a 107.8 QB rating, which is second in the NFL behind Tua Tagovailoa’s 115.9. The Eagles sure weren’t positive Hurts would rise into the ranks of elite NFL players. And they sure didn’t see a perfect season in sight this deep into the season.
Washington coach Ron Rivera said Hurts reminded him of a young Cam Newton, another dual-threat QB in his prime who kept defenses off-kilter. Rivera should know: He was Carolina’s coach when Newton won the NFL MVP award and led the Panthers to the Super Bowl in the 2015 season.
Much like most teams had trouble solving Newton, Rivera’s squad has yet to slow Hurts.
Hurts was 22 of 35 for 340 yards and three touchdown passes, one each to DeVonta Smith, A.J. Brown and Dallas Goedert, in a 24-8 rout in September against the Commanders.
For the Commanders to have any chance of an upset, they will have to pressure and contain Hurts, something that defenses have not been able to do yet this season.