PHILADELPHIA − It was the fourth day of Super Bowl week media availability, and Eagles safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson was asked for the gazillionth time about what it will be like defending against Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl on Sunday.
“I’m tired of answering this question,” Gardner-Johnson said.
The questioner tried again. Gardner-Johnson shook his head and said, “Not gonna answer.”
One more time. What makes Mahomes different from other quarterbacks?
Suddenly, Gardner-Johnson perked up, and he attacked the answer as if he was about to intercept a fluttering ball over the middle.
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“He’s the best quarterback of our era, and he’ll probably be one of the next best next to (Tom) Brady when it’s all said and done for him,” Gardner-Johnson said. “Just going to the biggest stage for the third time in (four) years, I think the only other one do it was Brady. So you understand that you’re going against the next potential GOAT of the sport.
“He measures you against the best players, and you see where you stand. Not just championship-wise, but mentality-wise. Can you stand on the field with the best player in the world? Going out there and playing against him, it makes you increase your game to another level.”
The Eagles have a quarterback like that, too.
It might seem hard to fathom when Mahomes led the NFL with 5,250 yards passing and 41 touchdowns this season. And when Mahomes can throw from every arm angle imaginable, and even some that aren’t.
The Eagles run to the Super Bowl has shown that Jalen Hurts is every bit at that level, but in a different way. And this is why Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham called Hurts and Mahomes “the future of the NFL right now.”
Then he added: “The young guys are taking over right before our eyes. You got the GOAT (Brady) that just retired. And now you got two young quarterbacks playing against each other. And they could be playing each other for years to come and battling − one on the AFC side and one on the NFC side.”
It’s easy to see why.
Early in the season, Hurts called himself “a triple threat,” saying: “You have to be able to kill them with your legs at times, make the throws when you need to in the passing game, and kill them with your mind and with what you see and how you react.”
Hurts has done all that all season long.
And yet, you still hear the comments from NFL players like Dallas’ Micah Parsons, who called Hurts “a system quarterback.” Or from an assortment of San Francisco 49ers players, who believe they would have beaten the Eagles in the NFC Championship game on Jan. 29 if their quarterback, Brock Purdy, hadn’t gotten hurt early in the game.
There was even this ridiculous comment from 49ers kicker(!) Robbie Gould: “If you make Jalen Hurts play quarterback, you’re going to have a pretty solid day on defense.”
But really, Hurts and Mahomes are great quarterbacks because they don’t “play quarterback,” at least not in the traditional sense of the word.
Gould didn’t mean his comment that way, and Hurts certainly didn’t care when asked about negative comments about him.
“I had a purpose before everybody had an opinion,” he said.
Then Hurts looked out at the rows of media from his press conference podium and smiled: “I know y’all liked that one.”
But to understand Hurts’ greatness is to understand that there are different ways to achieve it. Sure, Hurts won’t throw for as many yards or as many touchdowns as Mahomes does.
Hurts threw for 3,701 yards and 22 touchdowns this season. But Hurts also ran for 760 yards and 13 more touchdowns. His 35 total TDs are tied for the most in Eagles history.
Hurts’ record this season, including playoffs, is 16-1. Only Joe Montana, in 1984, has gone 17-1 in a season that culminated in a Super Bowl victory. Brady went 17-1 in 2007, but the one loss came in the Super Bowl.
“I think there are a ton of different ways to achieve greatness in the NFL,” Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert said. “Patrick Mahomes does it in his own way, backyard football. He’s a thrower, he throws from different angles.
“I think Jalen throws the ball incredibly well. But I think the biggest thing for Jalen is his legs, and him being able to extend plays and make big plays off-script. Obviously, both of them are incredible quarterbacks. It’s going to be a matchup that everybody has been waiting to see. It should be a lot of fun.”
And this is why you should get used to seeing this for many years to come. Hurts is 24 years old, and Mahomes is 27.
Of course, getting here is old hat for Mahomes. In his five seasons as a starter, beginning in 2018, the Chiefs have gone at least as far as the AFC Championship game, and this is his third Super Bowl in four seasons.
No wonder Mahomes laughed when he was asked if Hurts reminds him of himself early in his career.
“I’m not that old!” Mahomes shot back.
Then he added: “I think the best thing about Jalen is the way he works. He goes to work every single day, and you can see it. He gets better and better every single year. And that’s what we’re all striving to do is get better and better. I’m better than I was when I was at that point in my career.”
That’s true by any metric. In completion percentage, Hurts went from 51% in the final 4 1/2 games of the 2020 season when he replaced Carson Wentz, to 61% in 2021 when the Eagles rallied from a 2-5 start to make the playoffs, to 66.5% this season.
But it’s not just the numbers. It’s the reasons behind them. Hurts’ Eagles teammates believe in him. It’s why center Jason Kelce didn’t retire after that disastrous 2020 season, when the Eagles went 4-11-1, fired head coach Doug Pederson and traded Wentz.
He has said then that he believed in Hurts and the direction the team was going in.
Even Mahomes has seen this.
“You can see how those guys follow him,” Mahomes said. “They’ll do whatever they can to help that guy succeed. Obviously, he can do all the physical stuff. He can run and he can throw, and do a lot of different types of stuff. But the work ethic is what will get you through, and I think that he’s in the top tier in that.”
So it comes down to this. And here, Gardner-Johnson deserves the last word. After his initial reluctance to talk about Mahomes, he’s now riffing on Hurts and Mahomes, and what it means for the future.
“It shows the diversity in the game,” Gardner-Johnson said. “Not everybody is looking for the pocket passer. These guys are different, and I think the world is going to see how different they’re going to be. I know (the media) don’t gotta face him and guard him.
“But just the thought of taking yourself out of the players’ shoes, and just understand these are two of the best players in the world at their position.”
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
