I don’t know what more Jalen Hurts needs to do for the skeptics
Some people can’t recognize a good thing if it falls out of a tree and smacks them in the face.
Incredibly, there are still Jalen Hurts critics out there.
I know, I know, I can’t believe it either, but it’s true. There are still people in the world who believe Jalen Hurts to be a mid quarterback, a mediocre talent propped up by a star-studded roster, nothing more than a system guy who lucked his way into a Super Bowl title.
If you spend enough time on the internet (always a terrific idea), you’ll even find folks pooh-poohing the idea that winning a Super Bowl is all that big an accomplishment for an NFL quarterback.
Jalen Hurts winning a Super Bowl before Josh Allen, Tua, Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, Lamar Jackson and Trevor Lawrence, all of who are superior QBs, just kind of shows how some Super Bowls are truly meaningless.
— Drink More Water | Get More Sleep (@hughart_michael) February 17, 2025
One can only hope the medical community comes up with a medication to treat those afflicted with Hurts Delusion Syndrome.
The truth about Jalen Hurts is actually quite simple.
He is an incredibly good quarterback. He’s elite. He’s a winner. He’s everything you wanted Donovan McNabb to be, but wasn’t. He plays his best in big games, sacrifices personal statistics for team goals, and performs at his very best on the NFL’s biggest stages.
In his two Super Bowl appearances, Hurts was named MVP of one and was the best player on the field in the other. He threw for 525 yards, ran for another 142, completed 73.3% of his passes and accounted for seven total touchdowns in those two games. That 73.3% completion rate is the highest of any QB in Super Bowl history, besting Troy Aikman’s 70.0% in three Super Bowls.
If you’re ranking NFL QBs, Patrick Mahomes is still likely at the top of anyone’s list, but Hurts’ postseason performances have to put him in the top-five. No, he’s likely never going to throw for 4,500 yards in a season, toss 45 touchdowns or lead the league in passer rating, but when you combine his ability to throw as well as run, he becomes one of the most dominant forces in the NFL.
In crunch time, is there anyone else you’d rather have on the field?
Jalen Hurts:
– 20 total TD, 4 turnovers in 10 playoff games
Lamar Jackson:
– 13 total TD, 11 turnovers in 8 playoff games
Joe Burrow:
– 10 total TD, 4 turnovers in 7 playoff games
Justin Herbert:
– 2 total TD, 4 turnovers in 2 playoff games#FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/zbUELZ1zvE
— Lord Brunson tweets (@lord_brunson) February 18, 2025
In the last two seasons, including playoffs, Jalen Hurts is undefeated against:
Matt Stafford (3-0)
Patrick Mahomes (2-0)
Josh Allen
Joe Burrow
Lamar Jackson
He’s 27-10 overall with a 95.0 passer rating in the regular season and 106.4 passer rating in the playoffs.
Elite. pic.twitter.com/hmQbjppfzB
— Alex Smith (@AlexSmithSNY) February 16, 2025
Did Hurts look like a top-five QB for sustained stretches of this season? No, and let’s be honest, 2023 spiraled into an utter disaster, too. There were honest and real reasons to be skeptical of Hurts, even during the course of this Super Bowl season, as the passing game play-calling turned vanilla and the team turned to Saquon Barkley and their rushing attack to lead the way. The team’s star wide receiver was even throwing shade at their ability to throw the football at one point, and there were times when Hurts looked slow to react, held the ball too long, took too many sacks, and was out of sync.
But it’s fair to wonder how much of that was on the coaching and how much was on Hurts. It sure looked like the playbook opened up a bit late in the playoffs, specifically in the NFC Championship Game and the Super Bowl, when the “straitjacket” was taken off. Not coincidentally, Hurts looked like a different passer in those two games.
This isn’t a one-hit wonder. If it was, it would be fair to be skeptical, but Jalen Hurts did this exact same thing two years ago in putting together one of the greatest performances we’ve ever seen from a quarterback in Super Bowl 57.
Do it once, it’s a novelty. Do it twice, it’s a pattern.
One of the areas Hurts excelled in this year was an aspect of his game that is impossible for the casual fan to quantify and perhaps one of the reasons he doesn’t get his due. Without Jason Kelce at center calling protections, that job fell on Hurts’ shoulders. He became not just adept at audibling at the line of scrimmage, but was an absolute beast at it, often times dialing up a long TD run play to Barkley, calling his own number, or taking a deep shot when the situation presented itself.
Remember this play against the Saints in Week 3?
Here, against the Packers in the wild card round.
And on this TD run by Saquon against the Rams in the divisional round.
I found these three examples in four minutes doing a Twitter search. There are countless more.
There can be disagreement about exactly where you would rank Jalen Hurts among NFL QBs, but let’s be intellectually honest about it. Hurts has had stretches where he’s struggled, and it’s fair to point those moments out. There were legitimate reasons to be concerned about the passing game heading into the playoffs. But Hurts has proven, repeatedly, that he can carry the offense when asked to, and doesn’t need or want to pass for 350 yards a game to do it.
It’s hard to let go of a hot take when you’ve got one. Sometimes, you’ve just gotta take your medicine and admit when you’re wrong.
Jalen Hurts is an elite quarterback, and no amount of goal-post moving will change that.
