Jalen Hurts and Justin Fields have each taken the NFL by storm, virtually revolutionizing the way the quarterback position is played.
That’s makes this matchup between Hurts and the Eagles and Fields and the Bears on Sunday so intriguing. Sure, Hurts is having the much better season as he’s the NFL leader in passer rating at 108.4, completing 68% of his passes while also rushing for 686 yards on a team that’s 12-1 and closing in on the top seed in the NFC playoffs.
He’s also a leading candidate for MVP, despite what the Cowboys’ Micah Parsons might think (more on that later).
Fields, meanwhile, has 905 yards rushing, tops among NFL quarterbacks, but his passing isn’t at Hurts’ level as the Bears are 3-10. But some Eagles who were either teammates with Fields at Georgia and Ohio State, or played against him in the college football playoffs, said Fields has the potential to improve as dramatically as Hurts has from last season to this.
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In 2021, Hurts’ completed just 61.3% of his passes and had a passer rating of 87.2 in his first full season as a starter. That’s comparable to this season for Fields as a passer this season, also his first full season as a starter. Fields has completed 61.7% of his passes with a rating of 85.2.
Still, Fields is the first quarterback in NFL history with three rushing touchdowns of at least 50 yards in a season. He’s also the fourth QB in NFL history with a 50-plus yard run and a 50-plus yard pass in the same game. That’s something Hurts has never done.
Eagles running back Trey Sermon played with Hurts at Oklahoma in 2019 and Fields at Ohio State in 2020. Both teams went to the college football playoffs. But Fields had a game for the ages, along with Sermon, leading Ohio State to a 49-28 win over Clemson in Jan. 2021.
Fields completed 22 of 28 passes for 385 yards and 6 touchdowns, despite playing with a rib injury in the second half. Sermon ran for 193 yards that game.
“I just remember everything pretty much clicking for us,” Sermon said. “We both made some great plays. I remember him getting hurt, coming back, throwing touchdowns. It was incredible.”
It’s no wonder that Eagles cornerback Mario Goodrich, who played in that game for Clemson before leaving early with a broken hand, said of Fields: “He just went crazy. He was letting it go, and he was putting it right on the money.”
Hurts has had games like that, too, both in college and the NFL. All of that was on display over the last three games.
Hurts lit up the Tennessee Titans with 380 yards passing on Dec. 4, one week after Hurts ran for 157 yards against Green Bay. Hurts’ rushing total in that game is fifth in NFL history by a quarterback, but only second this season. Fields had 178 yards rushing against the Dolphins on Nov. 6.
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In the Eagles’ 48-22 win over the Giants last Sunday, Hurts threw for 217 yards and ran for 77. Like Sermon at Oklahoma and Ohio State, Miles Sanders also benefitted from Hurts’ running. Sanders had 143 yards against the Packers and 144 against the Giants.
“I was lucky to play with both quarterbacks in college, so I definitely feel like it’s the same scenario here,” Sermon said. “Jalen is a great runner and Miles is a great runner as well. It’s kind of like you gotta pick who you want to stop. If you do, the other is definitely going to have a great game.”
But let’s go back to 2018, when Fields and Eagles’ rookie defensive tackle Jordan Davis were freshmen at Georgia.
That season, Fields was the backup to Jake Fromm. Fields mostly came in late during blowout wins. Fields’ games, essentially, came in practice as the scout team quarterback, often going against Davis and the Bulldogs’ vaunted defensive line.
“The way he’s running all over these defenses (in the NFL), he was doing the same thing at Georgia against our first-team defense.,” Davis said. “That’s what makes him him. He’s a dynamic player. He uses his legs. He has a strong arm. We saw all of that in practice. We knew he would be a great player.”
Fields transferred to Ohio State after that season, which wasn’t a surprise to Davis. After all, Fields wanted to play and it seemed like his path was blocked at Georgia.
“No hard feelings. People leave. It’s just the nature of the beast,” Davis said. “I wish he could’ve been with us when we won the national championship (last season). But at the end of the day, people gotta ball out.”
Fields did that at Ohio State, starting for two seasons, leading the Buckeyes to the college football playoffs each time.
In the 2019 playoffs, Ohio State faced Clemson in the semifinals and lost 29-23. Fields threw for 320 yards, but also had 2 interceptions. He only rushed for 13 yards that day as he was sacked 4 times. Eagles safety K’Von Wallace had one of the sacks.
Wallace was drafted by the Eagles that spring, so he didn’t play in the rematch the when Fields threw for 6 TDs. But Wallace watched that game, saying “I was pissed!”
Then he added: “He definitely got better. He knew what type of defense it was, and he exploited it … (The 2 INTs in the first game) was bad decision making and how he was throwing it. But he didn’t do that the next year. He learned, he got better and he kicked our ass.”
It didn’t work out in the national championship game. Fields and the Buckeyes lost to Alabama 52-24. In that game, Eagles’ first-round pick DeVonta Smith had 215 yards receiving in the first half before leaving with a hand injury.
Fields, clearly affected by the injury suffered against Clemson, threw for 194 yards and ran for 67.
“I’ve been pretty lucky playing with these great quarterbacks,” Sermon said. “We did a lot of the same stuff (back then) that we do now in the offense.”
Will Eagles fall into ‘trap’ game?
It would be easy for the Eagles to look ahead to next Saturday’s showdown with the Dallas Cowboys. After all, the Bears are 3-10.
If the Eagles beat the Bears, then Dallas, they’ll clinch the NFC East and the top seed in the NFC playoffs with the first-round bye that goes with it.
And, of course, there was Cowboys star linebacker Micah Parsons mouthing off about Hurts while Parsons was a guest on Von Miller’s podcast, saying that Hurts benefitting from the “system” and the players around him. Some took that to imply that Hurts isn’t a worthy MVP candidate.
The Eagles downplayed Parsons’ comments, beginning with Hurts.
“I’m worried about the Bears right now,” Hurts said.
Added Eagles coach Nick Sirianni: “(The trap game) doesn’t exist in the NFL. You can lay an egg if you’re not on top of your stuff.”
A closer look at the Bears shows that they will be competitive. Sure, the Bears have 10 losses, but 6 of them were by 8 points or less. The Bears’ best chance, of course, is Fields and the NFL’s best rushing offense. They average 189 yards per game.
But the Eagles should be just as successful, if not more so, against a Bears defense that gives up 146 yards rushing per game and is ranked 29th in points allowed per game.
In other words, forget about the trap.
Score: Eagles 32, Bears 21.
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
