How Eagles are enabling Jalen Hurts to have an MVP-caliber season

LANDOVER, Md. − It’s not hard to see why the Eagles stuck with Jalen Hurts at quarterback as opposed to Carson Wentz.

Just look at the last play of the first half.

There were 20 seconds left. The Eagles had tried a quarterback sneak with Hurts on 3rd-and-goal from the 1. The Washington Commanders stopped Hurts, forcing fourth down.

The Eagles were out of timeouts, so the clock was running. Hurts couldn’t spike the ball to stop it. And there wasn’t enough time to get the field-goal unit onto the field.

What Hurts did next not only showed why he is the Eagles’ franchise QB, but why he might be well on his way to becoming the league’s MVP.

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That’s because Hurts calmly got everyone to the line of scrimmage as the final seconds were ticking down − and then he called a play that wasn’t in the game plan.

Hurts got the play off with 1 second left, dropped back and threw a pass to DeVonta Smith in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown as time expired. The Eagles led 24-0 on their way to an easy 24-8 win Sunday.

“We kind of put ourselves in these situations all the time,” Hurts said. “When there is a situation where communication is maybe not the best … they expect me to make it work with something that I know will put us in an advantageous position to execute the play.

“That was one of those plays.”

Then look at Wentz on the other side. He was sacked 9 times. As soon as the pressure came, he would panic, start running around the pocket, only to get engulfed by Eagles pass rushers. The Eagles, of course, knew this, from seeing Wentz for five seasons, including his ignominious final season in 2020.

And it’s something the Commanders are seeing now. Head coach Ron Rivera didn’t mince words when asked to evaluate Wentz’s performance.

“I think he could’ve played better,” Rivera said. “I mean, that’s the truth.”

Or as Eagles cornerback Darius Slay put it: “We just tried to take away his first read as quick as we can, and make him make another decision fast … You look up, and every time he’s running for his dear life.”

The difference is that Hurts can run for his “dear life,” exude calmness and pick up first downs. Wentz exudes panic, frustration and often confusion.

But there’s another difference: Hurts is simply that good, but good luck getting Hurts to admit that.

For the third straight game, all Eagles wins, Hurts said his performance “wasn’t up to my standards.” After all, the Eagles didn’t score in the second half for the second straight week.

Hurts was still darn good, even MVP-like. He threw for 340 yards and 3 TDs, one week after throwing for 333 yards. He threw deep twice to Smith, connecting for 45 and 44 yards. He threw over the middle to A.J. Brown. And he made plays to tight end Dallas Goedert.

You’ll be hard-pressed to find a quarterback playing any better, or in more control, than Hurts right now. He has completed 67.4% of his passes through three games, with a passer rating of 106.8, which ranks fifth in the NFL.

In fact, Hurts’ play is reminiscent of the MVP-type of season that Wentz was having in 2017 when he led the Eagles to an 11-2 record before tearing his ACL.

Hurts is having that kind of season because he has talent all around him. On the aforementioned fourth-down play, the Eagles got down to the 1 yard line when Hurts threw a 44-yard bomb that Smith climbed up over his defender to snare, only to come crashing down on his back.

“I recommend nobody do that,” Smith said with a laugh about the hard fall.

Smith had a career day with 169 yards receiving. It came two weeks after Brown had his best career receiving day with 155 yards. And that was interspliced with a steady game from Goedert, and with Quez Watkins’ speed leading to two defensive pass interference calls.

It’s no wonder that Brown brought out the Batman cape, purchased on Amazon for $9.99, after Brown scored on a 9-yard slant late in the second quarter. Brown admitted that he didn’t even know what Hurts was trying to tell him when Hurts was giving him hand signals before the ball was snapped.

But Hurts was clearly making an adjustment based on what he saw from the Commanders’ defense.

“It was a good check at the line,” Brown said. “I didn’t really know what he was saying. I’m glad I ran the right route. He was checking the protection. I had never seen that (signal) before.”

This is what it’s like when everything is working.

Smith was shut out in the Eagles’ opener for the first time in his career, including four years at Alabama. Since then, Smith has had 249 yards receiving in the last two games.

He twisted his body to haul in a 45-yard bomb while falling out of bounds to set up the Eagles’ first score, a field goal to start the second quarter. He caught the 44-yarder, and another for 31 yards to get the Eagles deep in Commanders’ territory.

None of this surprised Hurts.

“That’s who he is,” Hurts said. “By the eyes, he may be a little sly, but he plays like a big boy, and he is.”

Go ahead and try to stop the Eagles’ offense.

Focus on Brown, and there’s Smith, lighting up a defense. Focus on Smith, and there’s Brown running roughshod through the secondary. And there’s Goedert and Watkins, and so on.

On this day, it was Smith. His philosophy is simple when it comes to catching 50-50 balls.

“My ball or nobody’s,” he said.

Hurts, of course, gave him the chance, just like he has with the other receivers.

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How Eagles are enabling Jalen Hurts to have an MVP-caliber season

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