Like everyone else, Hurts wasn't good enough down the stretch

There are a lot of reasons for the Eagles’ collapse over the last couple months. The defense forgot how to tackle or cover. Offensive play calling was predictable and mundane. Turnovers, penalties, mistakes, missed assignments. You name it.

And we have to include Jalen Hurts in that conversation.

He wasn't awful. He just wasn’t good enough.

In 11 games through the Bills win, Hurts had 29 total touchdowns and 10 interceptions, 68 percent accuracy and was averaging 245 passing yards per game with a 94.9 passer rating. 

In seven games from the 49ers on, he had nine total TDs, five INTs, completed 62 percent of his passes, averaged 202 yards per game had and an 81.4 passer rating.

Maybe it was injuries. Maybe it was play calling. Maybe it was not enough weapons. Maybe it was a little bit of everything. But the fact remains that the Eagles are only going to go as far as Hurts takes them and he was pedestrian down the stretch.

“We've had a ton of opportunities to do great things and we haven't taken advantage of them,” Hurts said after the Eagles’ season ended in Tampa Monday night. “The reality is we have to be better, and that starts with me.”

Hurts’ stats vs. Tampa looked fine – he had a passer rating over 100, didn't have any turnovers - but the slow start and inability to make plays vs. Tampa’s blitz were glaring, and a lot of his numbers were hollow, coming after the game had been decided. 

Nick Sirianni, asked post-game how Hurts handled the blitz, responded: “We scored nine points.”

He quickly backtracked, adding, “The better way to say that is how do you think the coaching staff and all the players handled the blitz tonight, because it’s not just on one person.”

But the blitz is only one issue. Hurts down the stretch this year just didn’t have the mojo he had last year and to an extent for the first half of this year.

He wasn’t losing games but he wasn’t doing enough to help the Eagles win games.

“In this league you have to be able to find ways to win in a ton of different ways,” Hurts said. “I feel like for a time there, we were doing that and we were doing that at a high level. We were winning a lot of games and we weren't playing to the level we thought we should be playing to. And then kind of got in a hole in the back end and really couldn't pick ourselves out of it.”

Whoever is coaching this team next year and whoever is running the offense and whoever is calling plays has to get Hurts back to where he was last year and early this year, when he was a legit MVP candidate.

The Eagles can't be great unless Hurts is great. 

The potential is always there with Hurts. This is a guy who won 29 of 32 starts from the middle of 2021 through the middle of 2023. He set career highs in touchdown passes and passing yards this year and generated the 2^nd-most combined rushing and passing touchdowns in the league this year.

And you know nobody will out-work him between now and training camp.

“I think a time of self reflection in the offseason for sure, diving deep into that with the guys and reassessing everything and growing from it,” he said. “My No. 1 message is just to use every moment as an opportunity to learn and grow. You know, it may not show now but it'll show. …

“Obviously we took a turn this year and things didn't end the way we wanted, but it’s simply not our turn. It’s not our turn. We got a taste of it last year winning the conference championship and having an opportunity to play in the Super Bowl. It wasn't our turn then."

There will be a lot of changes in the NovaCare Complex, but when the 2024 season opens on Sept. 10, Hurts will be the quarterback for the fourth year in a row. That's a given.

“I'll just continue to learn to be the best leader I can be for this team and for this organization but a ton to learn from," he said. "A ton to learn from. Learn from it and have an opportunity to do it again. I told those guys in there, as crazy as it is, you have to be able to use it to your advantage and find a positive out of this negative. Turn that negative into a positive somehow.

“We've had the opportunities. We've had the crumbs. We've had everything at our disposal. But it wasn't our turn. I can accept that. I think we can accept that knowing that the sun will rise tomorrow and there will be another opportunity to attack it. 

“It's going to be tough watching (the playoffs) and not (being there). It's all over, but we'll learn from it. I know I'll learn from it. I'll give it my all and do my best.”

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