The Eagles finally asked more from Jalen Hurts and he delivered in a big way

This was a different Jalen Hurts than the one we’ve seen lately.

This was Hurts driving the ball downfield. This was Hurts throwing the ball more than 20 times. This was Hurts freed from the shackles of the run-first formula that’s been working so well since the bye week.

The Eagles knew they’d likely need more from the passing game to get past the Commanders in Sunday’s NFC Championship Game, and Hurts responded with a masterful performance in the Eagles’ 55-23 win at the Linc.

“I guess he let me out of my straight jacket a little bit today,” Hurts joked after the Eagles advanced to their second Super Bowl in three years.

“It’s not a matter that we can’t. It’s just a matter of if we do. It all comes down to how we execute. Comes down to our approach and everyone being on the same page and playing with good rhythm and ultimately finding a way to win. 

“I think the beautiful thing about this sport, about this team, and for me, from my vantage point, (is) how we’ve been able to evolve over the years since I’ve been here, finding ways to win in multiple ways. It’s a great help when you have a defense like that turning the ball over, playing hard, playing ferocious, and flying to the ball. We just need to find it in us to muscle out one more.”

One of the biggest questions surrounding the Eagles during this late-season run has been whether the passing game would be there when the Eagles needed it, and Hurts answered Sunday with a resounding yes.

He completed 20 of 28 passes for 246 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions for a ninth straight game. He also rushed for three touchdowns. His 110.1 passer rating gave him five career games over 100, and only 13 quarterbacks in history have more.

His 12.3 yards per completion was his highest since Week 10 in Dallas and highest by an Eagles quarterback in the postseason since Nick Foles' 13.3 mark against the Patriots in Super Bowl LII eight years ago. 

Hurts is quietly having a terrific postseason. He’s completed 70 percent of his passes for 505 yards, with three TDs, no interceptions and a 105.0 passer rating.

But after throwing for just 131 and 128 yards against the Packers and Rams, he functioned at a high level Sunday in a more wide-open passing attack, throwing his 2nd-most passes since the bye week.

Hurts seemed to appreciate a bigger focus on the passing game but said as long as the Eagles are winning he really doesn’t care how much he throws the football.

“I don’t play the game for stats,” Hurts said. “I don’t play the game for numbers (or) any statistical approval from anyone else. And I understand that everyone has a preconceived notion on how they want it to look or how they expect it to look. 

“Winning, success, is defined by that particular individual, and it’s all relative to the person. And what I define it as is winning. So the No. 1 goal is always to come out here and win.”

A week from Sunday, Hurts will become the fifth quarterback to start two Super Bowls before his 27th birthday when the Eagles face the Chiefs at the Superdome.

He’s the first Eagles quarterback to reach two Super Bowls, and his five career playoff wins trail only Donovan McNabb’s nine in franchise history.

Since Sirianni’s plants growing underground speech, Hurts has won 48 of 63 starts. He’s lost 15 games since October of 2021. And one of them was the last Commanders game, when he left the game with a concussion after just 12 plays.

“Failure has to be used as a source of pain to go take that next step, and there’s always learning opportunities in everything,” Hurts said. “It’s human nature to be ignited by the shortcomings. It’s just a natural thing.”

Hurts played Sunday while dealing with a knee injury that he suffered in the win over the Rams and he also said post-game that he was sick.

You couldn’t tell he was compromised in any way from the way he played. 

“It was challenging, it was challenging,” he said. “In some ways exhausting.”

Since the bye week back in September, Hurts has 33 combined touchdowns and three turnovers.

That’s bonkers.

Post-game Sunday, Nick Sirianni spoke glowingly about Hurts and the way he’s carried this team and done whatever he’s been asked to do.

“I don’t want anybody else leading this team at quarterback other than him,” Nick Sirianni said. “He’s a winner. Again, he deals with so much criticism which just blows my mind because of the questions I have to answer. I don’t look too much into that. The questions I have to answer it’s just like, ‘Man, this guy wins.’ He’s won his entire life.

“That’s more important. Winning at quarterback is more important than any stat that you go through. I’m sure it’ll be the same thing. ‘Oh, he’s got great players around him.’ Well, you tell me a quarterback that’s won like this that has bleep around him. 

“It doesn’t happen, right? Talk about Joe Montana. Who is he throwing to? Oh, Jerry Rice. So, these guys have been so good at this position have had great players around them. Whether it’s Brady with the defense early on in his career or (Julian) Edelman or Gronk. I mean, you don’t win in this game unless you have great players around you. You don’t win consistently unless you have great players around you.”

And Hurts has won consistently and routinely throughout his career. He’s now 51-23 in his career as a starter and 40-11 over the last three seasons. He’s won 13 straight games that he’s started and finished going back to Week 4 in Tampa.

His 51 wins are tied with Dan Marino for 6th-most in NFL history by a quarterback before his 27th birthday.

“It kind of blows your mind,” Sirianni said. “He wins. He’s a winner. I don’t want anyone else leading us other than Jalen Hurts. I’m proud of the way he went out there and battled today and played today. He doesn’t care about anything other than winning, and I know that and that’s selfless.

“It’s amazing how much doubt there is sometimes. I can’t quite comprehend it because it doesn’t look like what people think it should look like. But the guy has been clutch. He’s won a ton of football games. ‘But you ran for this many yards.’ We don’t care how we win. We don’t care. If we rush for 300 and pass for one and we win, great. If we rush for one and pass for 300, great. Who cares?

“We’ve just continued to win. He’s just continued to win.”

Tune in to Mission 59 specials leading up to Super Bowl LIX on NBC Sports Philadelphia, presented by Toyota.

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