Noise Around Jalen Hurts, Despite NFC’s Best Record, is Absurd and Unfounded
Jalen Hurts is being discussed right now as if he is the problem with the Philadelphia Eagles. That idea collapses the moment you apply a shred of context, logic, or memory. The Eagles are 8-2, tied for the best record in the conference, yet there are reports that are claiming the quarterback is ignoring the playbook, going off-script at times, and causing friction inside the building. This narrative is reckless, irresponsible and unsupported by the most important data available.
Just the Facts
The facts tell a different story. Hurts has a 22-3 record in his last 25 starts and finishes. He has 58 total touchdowns and just three interceptions with a quarterback rating of 110 over that span. He threw a perfect game against the Vikings a few weeks ago then followed that up with a 141.5 QB rating and a blowout win over the Giants three weeks ago.
He threw seven touchdowns and zero interceptions against the Vikings and Giants coming off a bad loss to New York prior to the Minnesota game and he’s won two moe games since, against two playoff teams from last year that won 25 games combined, Green Bay and Detroit respectively.
He also came within a fumble of winning two Super Bowl MVP trophies in the last three years.
This is not a quarterback who needs to be replaced, this is a quarterback who needs to be respected. But it is Philadelphia and around here you’re not happy unless you’re pissed off about something.
The Eagles might be the gold standard of most dysfunction, winning operation in the league and I wrote that last year before they even went on their Super Bowl run. But the ts chaos works for them because Hurts not only holds it together, but he also is a master of blocking it out. The idea of running him out of town is latest, greatest and loudest of the apparent Nova Care whispers and they are utterly ridiculous. The alleged discourse is incongruent with reality even before this week. Now it has drifted into full scale frenetic hysteria.
Blaming Hurts Alone for the Offensive Struggles is Misguided
The Eagles have scored twenty six total points over their last two games. They have plummeted from a top eight scoring offense to the middle of the league. Defenses have spent months studying their every move. The transition from Kellen Moore to Kevin Patullo at offensive coordinator has been uneven. The receivers have shown visible frustration. The offensive line is banged up which makes their rythm inconsistent.
Arguments exist for every one of those factors but the argument for blaming Hurts exclusively is weak. The truth is Hurts wasn’t great against the Packers and was bad against the Lions. He’s earned the right to be human. I’m not quite sure what the fan base expects of him. He was never Tom Brady or Patrick Mahommes. He’s never been that type of elite. But since he’s been an Eagle he’s been one of the best game-managers to ever live and his record reflects that. All quarterbacks are game-managers. That’s what they do. They manage games. Not sure where along the way that term gathered a negative connotation. My favorite though is when I hear that win-loss record isn’t a quarterback statistic. Right, because there are much more important things along a QBs stat line than wins and losses.
Dianna Russini of The Athletic, who’s just doing her job, is now reporting that people inside the organization are frustrated with Hurts this season and are questioning whether he is executing the offense the way Nick Sirianni and Patullo designed it.
Conversations erupted that Hurts might be freelancing, changing plays, or ignoring reads. The speculation gained momentum because the offense has lacked tempo and timing this season.
The city reacted instantly on sports talk radio and hey, why not? Mob-mentality overreaction is a right of passage in this town. It doesn’t matter if the story is accurate or not. If a know-nothing ham and egger talking head says something insanely ridiculous with 50,000 watts behind it, then go with it right? Everybody else does? Why waste time going through the logical progressions of a story to see if it holds weight when it’ss easier to just react emotionally?
The reality is far more nuanced.
Birds Insider Raises a Question, but Not a Verdict
On the Verizon Postgame Show after the 16-9 win over the Lions Sunday night, Eagles’ insider Derrick Gunn wondered this aloud:
“How much of what is practiced is actually being carried into the game in terms of the quarterback executing what they spent three or four days drilling”
These are valid questions, not conclusions. The offense looks choppy and out of sync. That does not automatically mean the quarterback is sabotaging the structure.
Seth Joyner Pushes the Hardest Narrative About the Quarterback
Former Birds’ Linebacker Seth Joyner said he spoke with a source inside the building and heard there is “consternation” around Hurts. He said there are plays practiced throughout the week that change in the game. He referenced the first Giants matchup, claiming Hurts threw an interception on a route he had not thrown in practice. Joyner said Devonta Smith confirmed that “1 and 11 made the change on their own.”
Joyner then said, “That is borderline insubordination.”
This is a powerful accusation, but it also requires perspective. Elite quarterbacks occasionally modify routes or adjust to leverage when they see an advantage.
Hurts has done it before in critical moments that resulted in game winning or sealing plays. He is not a reckless improviser. He is a controlled decision maker who has earned a measure of autonomy.
People pointing to one early throw to Jahan Dotson as damning evidence are blowing things way out of proportion. One early interception is not a career turning point. It is a single decision in a single game. Hurts has earned the right to trust what he sees. Oh, and by the way it’s his only interception of the season through 10 games.
The Entire Operation Appears Disjointed but Hurts Remains Steady
The Eagles are dysfunctional in a way that only a winning team can be. The offense sputters. The receivers get testy. The line is banged up. The play calling lacks consistency and imagination at times and yes, Hurts at times doesn’t release the ball quick enough or at all. The defense is carrying everything right now. The product is slow-developing, uneven, and maddening, yet the team is still elite as a unit at 8-2.
Hurts is the common denominator in that success. His voice, his presence, and his command stabilize a team that often looks like it is fighting itself. The calls to blame him or replace him ignore the basic truth of the sport. At the end of the day he makes enough big plays at big moments to win the close games that they’ve won this year.
Quarterbacks who are 22-3 in their last 25 starts with fifty eight touchdowns and three interceptions do not get replaced. They get supported. They get protected. They get trusted and at season’s end they get exhaulted.
Hurts delivered a perfect game a month ago and a 141.5 rating three weeks ago. He threw seven touchdowns and no interceptions in those eight days. His highs are not ancient history. They are recent evidence of who he is when the operation around him functions correctly.
The Eagles need adjustments, not upheaval. They need grinding, not panic. They need alignment, not finger pointing.
In the big picture Hurts is not the problem, he is the reason this chaotic, dysfunctional winning machine keeps winning.
Vikings Coach Calls Out Players After Loss to Bears
In the final two minutes of the game, J.J. McCarthy overcame an abysmal day as a passer to lead the Minnesota Vikings on a 10-play, 85-yard touchdown drive to take the lead from the Chicago Bears with 50 seconds remaining.
What followed was what linebacker Blake Cashman called “soul-crushing.”
On the ensuing kickoff, Bears returner Devin Duvernay cut across the field to find a wide-open lane to the right sideline and for a 56-yard return into Vikings territory. The return set up a 48-yard field goal to clinch a 19-17 win for the Bears, who also claimed sole lead of the NFC North division with the Week 11 win.
Special teams coordinator Matt Daniels did not brush off that play lightly.
‘Guys Got Greedy:’ Vikings Coach Matt Daniels Calls Out Players for Botched Kickoff
ESPN’s Kevin Seifert reported that Daniels, in his weekly news conference on Tuesday, November 18, said that “guys got greedy” trying to make a play on the game’s final kickoff.
Ivan Pace Jr. and rookies Austin Keys and Tai Felton were the players who abandoned their lanes in what was a devastating play to the Vikings’ season.
“I’ve been in the league now eight years, played football a long time in this league,” Daniels said. “I’ve never felt the way I felt after that football game. Never.”
Daniels went on to attest that Duvernay did nothing special to beat the Vikings, who ultimately beat themselves on the pivotal play.
“Because you just look at the play, what happened, and again, you just rather get beat a different way and just rather lose a different way. If they took that ball up the sideline and hit it on us, I would be able to live with that. But it was tough,” Daniels added.
“I mean there was no disrespect or anything, a lot of respect for what the Chicago Bears and their unit, Devin Duvernay, all this and that. But I mean it could have been anybody’s son, If you got a son or anybody. All he did was just catch it and run back to the field, and everybody just kind of got washed inside. It wasn’t anything that they did more so than a lack of us maintaining our leverage and keeping the football inside shoulder.”
Should Matt Daniels Be Fired? Kevin O’Connell Clears the Air on Special Teams Blunder
The Vikings special teams unit has beenas polarizing this season.
While they are Pro Football Focus’ No. 1 special teams unit this season, there has been serious blunders that have swayed the outcome of several games.
Returner Myles Price ranks second in both punt return yards and kickoff return yards — a testament to the entire unit.
However, this is a bit of a byproduct of the Vikings offense ranking 32nd in time of possession. Price’s yards per return hover just above league average.
The Vikings kickers have been a strength of the unit this season with Will Reichard graded as the No. 3 kicker in the league by Pro Football Focus. Punter Ryan Wright also ranks second in punts inside the 20-yard line.
The unit has performed well but, with many developing talents on special teams comes a penchant for playmaking. Price tried to fight for every yard in a Week 10 loss the Baltimore Ravens and fumbled twice, one which the Ravens recovered.
Head coach Kevin O’Connell addressed the sense of urgency to make a play, especially with the Vikings’ back and against the wall this season, and did not fault the special teams players.
“Our coverage unit has been one of the premier units on our team all season long. In those moments, I think you’ve got to trust your guys to to be at their best,” O’Connell said. “I think there’s an element to it too where guys want to win so bad, they want to win that down so bad for the sake of the team that the discipline of what is my job on the play (gets lost).
“I think there’s some of that going on um throughout our team. and and you know, it’s a better problem to have than trying to find the fight and trying to find the guys that will will play physical and hard for 60 minutes. We have that box checked.”
