By the numbers, quarterback Jalen Hurts is still one of the best in the NFL. Without him, the Philadelphia Eagles would not be the contender that they are now (no, a one-point loss against the Atlanta Falcons doesn’t change that, at least not yet).
The Eagles have had their issues so far this season, particularly with their pass rush. It’s been an issue going all the way back to 2023—there has to be some improvement on that front. But the team has managed even with that weakness. What really needs to change? Hurts’ game-changing turnovers.
Hurts Is Still a Terrific Quarterback
As mentioned, Hurts is still one of the best quarterbacks in the business. Among quarterbacks with at least 50 snaps this season, he is eighth out of 30 in terms of composite expected points average (EPA) and completion percentage over expected (CPOE) with a score of 0.136. Basically, he’s very efficient and makes the Eagles a better football team. He is elite.
We don’t need advanced stats to tell us that Hurts is among the NFL’s best, though. That much is apparent with the basic eye test. He can break off soul-crushing runs to a defense, is an accurate passer, and effectively puts the ball in the hands of his best receivers so they can make a play. Sure, he’s expensive with an average annual value (AAV) of $51 million through 2028, but he gets the job done. And to a very high degree.
With all that praise aside, Hurts has a turnover problem. And he has going back into last season.
Hurts’ Mistakes in 2024 Have Taken Away from His Greatness
Specifically, we can start with his Week 1 affair against the Green Bay Packers. On his first possession of the season, he threw a pretty needless third-down interception from his own end zone that was returned to inside the red zone to set up Green Bay for easy points. It wouldn’t be entirely fair to blame him for his next drive, but he fumbled a snap (once again deep in Philadelphia territory) and set up the Packers for more easy points. He wasn’t done there, throwing yet another needless third-down interception, this time in the opposing end zone to essentially take three points off of the board in what was then a five-point game.
The Packers did almost nothing to take advantage of these errors, putting up just nine points in the process (all field goals). You do the math—had the Eagles’ defense not stopped the bleeding, a 34-29 win could have realistically become a loss. And for what? Two interceptions that really didn’t need to happen and a fumbled snap (that, again, wasn’t totally on Hurts)? Against that kind of opponent, it just cannot happen.
Hurts was looking strong in Week 2 against the Falcons, but the Eagles turned an almost guaranteed win into a one-point deficit against them with 34 seconds and two timeouts to spare in the fourth quarter. That wasn’t really his fault—he was playing well.
Starting at the Falcons’ 30-yard line and only needing a field goal for a win, all Hurts needed to do was gain about 25 yards to give Jake Elliott a chance to kick the winner. And with that much time and two timeouts, this was a realistic hope for Philadelphia. After looking dangerous with an early first-down completion and 27 seconds still showing on the clock with a timeout, a win seemed more probable than a loss. On the next play, he threw a double-coverage interception—ball game.
Hurts threw six interceptions in 15 games when he finished runner-up for the league’s MVP award in 2022 and won 14 of those 15 contests. He already has three interceptions and a loss this season.
It’s not rocket science—turning over the football is bad. When he threw 15 interceptions last season, that’s when one of the most turnover-elusive quarterbacks in the NFL became the opposite. No, not even a talented Eagles team can make up for this. Nobody can be perfect, but sometimes you have to pick your battles. His turnovers nearly cost the Eagles a win in Week 1 and his turnover in Week 2 sealed their fate in an otherwise still-winnable affair.
Can Hurts Overcome This?
In 2023, Hurts had a couple of eerily similar mistakes as he did against Atlanta, effectively costing the team a win. Against the New York Jets and Seattle Seahawks, two other late interceptions were thrown and gave the Eagles a one-score loss when neither defeat really had to happen. All blame can’t be placed on a quarterback (and that’s not the goal here), but an interception being wiped off of the board in both those games would have given them not just the NFC East title, but a first-round bye week. Yes, the Eagles would have moved right on to the Divisional Round had they won both of those games.
Once again, Hurts is one of the best in the business. When he isn’t turning the ball over, he’s an MVP candidate. But since he was legitimately in the conversation to win it, he has thrown the ball to the other team way more than before.
The question here is simple: Can he return to his old form? Can he keep the ball out of his opponent’s hands? Because, if he can, he’s objectively a top-5 quarterback. And maybe even higher.
The talent in this player is inspiring, because you know he has the ability to be better. Can he limit his interceptions from here on out?
We’re only entering Week 3, which is the good news about all of this. The Eagles are tied for the NFC East crown at 1-1 and they beat one of the tougher opponents on their schedule—the Packers.
There’s a lot of time for Hurts to avoid having a Jameis Winston-esque 26 touchdown and 26 interception campaign (the latter threw 30 of each in 2019). But some improvements will have to be made. Can Hurts reach his potential?
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