PHILADELPHIA − The MVP potential is easy to see now that Jalen Hurts has led the Eagles to the Super Bowl, where they’ll face another elite quarterback in the Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes.
Both are MVP finalists, but that was hardly the expectation for Hurts when the Eagles and Chiefs last met, on Oct. 3, 2021.
Mahomes dissected the Eagles defense that day, completing 24 of 30 passes for 278 yards and 5 touchdowns in Kansas City’s 42-30 victory. He directed touchdown drives on six of the Chiefs’ eight possessions of the game. The only two times he didn’t was on an interception to start the third quarter and a kneel-down to end the game.
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And yet, Hurts went toe-to-toe with the Chiefs’ star. That was so unexpected back then, considering that Hurts and Eagles coach Nick Sirianni were only in their fourth game together, and Hurts was making just his eighth career start.
“I thought Jalen played a really good game,” Sirianni said Tuesday when asked about his recollections from that game. “And then just to see him, how he’s continued to grow each day since then … He had a great game this day, but he continues to get better. That’s the kind of guy he is. He just strives to get better each day.
“His leadership, his ability to improve each day, you definitely see that, and you’ve definitely seen him improve since that day.”
Back then, Hurts had hardly established himself as a future franchise quarterback. In fact, he had to beat out veteran Joe Flacco in training camp for the starting job.
And there were still many questions about his future with the Eagles.
Up until the game against the Chiefs, Hurts was 2-5 as a starter, throwing for an average of 243 yards per game while completing just 57.8% of his passes. Hurts had thrown for 10 touchdowns and 5 interceptions, and had a passer rating of 86.5.
Compare that to this season when Hurts went 14-1 as a starter, throwing for 3,701 yards while completing 66.5% of his passes with 22 TDs and only 6 interceptions. His passer rating was 101.5, fourth best in the NFL.
But on that night, Hurts showed his future MVP form for the first time, completing 32 of 48 passes (66.7%) for 387 yards and 2 touchdowns. The yardage total is still Hurts’ career high.
Hurts had to throw to keep up with Mahomes, and he did. The Eagles only trailed 28-23 after scoring with 12:42 left in the fourth quarter. They were within 12 points until Mahomes led the Chiefs to the game-clinching touchdown on a 44-yard pass to former Chief Tyreek Hill with 2:30 remaining.
Still, the Eagles had three touchdowns taken away because of penalties, settling for two field goals and a turnover on downs. That’s a 15-point difference.
After the game, Sirianni said: “That’s one of the better quarterback performances I’ve seen, and I’ve been around a lot of good quarterbacks (like) Phillip Rivers and Andrew Luck. He battled. He made good decisions with the football. He got out of trouble when there was trouble. He made good checks. He made good reads.”
But Hurts was hardly satisfied with keeping the Eagles close against the Chiefs, or in playing the best game of his career to that point.
“Look, we lost. We lost,” Hurts said. “We lost the game. Have to do more, have to do better. And this is what I will say: You have every opportunity to learn, every opportunity, everything that you do, you learn from it. And we are clearly not there as a football team because we lost.”
Then holding his fingers together, Hurts said: “But, we are this close, we are this close. And that is something that I believe … We are not a finished product. No player on this team is a finished product.”
It took a while to become that finished product, especially on defense. The Eagles dropped to 1-3 after the loss to the Chiefs, and that was the second straight in which the Eagles allowed 40 or more points. They were in an unheard rut of allowing five of seven opposing quarterbacks to complete at least 80% of their passes.
It wasn’t much better on offense. The Eagles were 2-5 when Sirianni turned over play-calling duties to offensive coordinator Shane Steichen. That’s when the Eagles became a run-based offense.
Hurts thrived. He led all quarterbacks in rushing with 784 yards, and the Eagles won 7 of their last 10 games to finish 9-8 and make the playoffs. They lost in the first round 31-15 to Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
But there were still questions about Hurts as a passer after last season. Hurts completed 61.3% of his passes in 2021 with 16 touchdowns and 9 interceptions. His rating was a pedestrian 87.2.
Hurts dramatically improved this season. No, Hurts isn’t as prolific a passer as Mahomes, who led the NFL this season by throwing for 5,250 yards and 41 TD passes. He was second in the NFL with a passer rating of 105.2.
But the Eagles have won games with Hurts’ passing this season, just like they have with his running. Sure, the Eagles improved the talent around him, adding wide receiver A.J. Brown, who set a franchise record with 1,496 receiving yards, while second-year man DeVonta Smith had 1,196 yards.
And the defense has shown the most dramatic improvement by adding free agents Haason Reddick (16 sacks) and cornerback James Bradberry while trading for safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson. The Eagles finished second in total defense, allowing 301.5 yards per game and eighth in points allowed at 20.2 per game.
But the Eagles can score with anyone this season. They finished third in total offense, averaging 389.1 yards per game, and they were third in points, averaging 28.1 per game. The Chiefs were first in both categories, averaging 413.6 yards and 29.1 points.
Much of that is because of Hurts’ improvement. And the first game against the Chiefs showed that he had that potential.
“We played a good football team,” Hurts said that day. “A team that many say is generationally one of the best. Great quarterback, great players, all that. We have great players, too. We have to put it together, and we will.”
Hurts made sure of it.
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
