So, not everyone is on-board with Jalen Hurts for MVP.
The Dallas Cowboys mouthy linebacker Micah Parsons sure isn’t. Parsons went on The Voncast podcast with two-time Super Bowl champion Von Miller and had plenty to say about Hurts and the Eagles.
Parsons questioned the source of Hurts’ success. Is it Hurts or the overall team, Parsons asked … then answered.
Meanwhile, Miller was either egging him on or trying to point out the Eagles’ strengths. When Miller asked if Hurts would be the MVP, Parsons said: “He’s good. He’s good.”
Not exactly a ringing endorsement.
FROM THE VONCAST:
Parsons: When you look at the Eagles, is it Hurts or the team?
Miller: I think it’s a little bit of both, man.
Parsons (laughing): It’s system and team.
Miller: I think it’s a little bit of both, man. Because they got a great offensive line, which helps Hurts. Hurts has A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. They have a good running game.
Parsons: Miles Sanders …
Miller: The scheme that they have …
Parsons: O-line … I mean, bruh.
Miller: This Eagles-Cowboys [game] coming up, ain’t it?
Parsons: Yeah, it’s coming up. I’m not trying to make no enemies. I just love the game so much. And I understand it so much that, like, I can’t — when things are off, I just can’t like hold it in. I almost gotta say something.
Miller: You’re right. They’ve got a great team, great defense.
Parsons: But everyone has their own opinions.
Miller: So, Jalen Hurts is MVP?
Parsons: He’s good. He’s good.
Miller: They got him for the MVP race with Patrick Mahomes. His stats and what he’s been doing with the numbers that he’s putting up are MVP-worthy. Just like what Patrick Mahomes is doing.
PARSONS, TRANSLATED
Let’s examine what Parsons said. He didn’t trash Hurts but he’s deflecting — praising the offensive line, the wide receivers, Miles Sanders, the scheme.
Parsons is a great player, only in his second year. He might not know everything he thinks he knows about football. He might not like that the Cowboys are sitting at 10-3, two games behind the Eagles’ 12-1 with only four games to play.
We don’t know Parsons’ intent. To rattle Hurts? (That’s not happening.) To rattle the Eagles? (Ditto.) To try to add some juice to an already big game? (Doubt it.)
Hurts is having a historic season — and defeated Parsons’ Cowboys in October. Usually, players tread cautiously when talking about an upcoming opponent, especially having lost to the same opponent already.
Hurts is rightfully the oddsmakers’ betting favorite to win the MVP but Parsons suggests the success is from the system and other factors — everything but the quarterback.
This isn’t the first time a Cowboy took a swing at Hurts. Before the Eagles’ 26-17 win, Dallas defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence was downplaying what Hurts had accomplished through the first five games.
- “All you need to write is he hasn’t played the Cowboys yet, so we don’t know how good he is,” Lawrence said.
Against Dallas, Hurts completed 15-of-25 passes for 155 yards — both numbers below his average. He threw two touchdown passes. He gained 27 yards on nine rushes.
Hurts’ most impressive stat was this: 1-0.
NEXT MEETING
Of course, the Eagles and Cowboys play in Arlington, Texas, on Christmas Eve. Dallas desperately needs to win that game to have any hope of a home-field game in the playoffs.
Does this kind of talk fuel some kind of intense hatred between the teams? Does it inspire players?
Gotta say it doesn’t, really. These teams already are rivals and they look forward to these games every year.
Both teams know what they’re playing for and how important the game is. I can’t imagine Hurts playing any differently because Parsons decided to script some bulletin-board material. Parsons might have ticked off the Eagles’ offensive line but I can’t imagine his words bothered Hurts.
ATTITUDE CHANGE
For most of their lives, Philly fans of a certain age had the little jealousy thing going for America’s Team. We despised Landry, Lilly, Staubach, Dorsett, Pearson, Aikman, Emmitt Smith, Irvin — and I’m sure I’m missing some of our favorite Cowboys.
Not anymore. Dallas’ last Super Bowl was after the 1995 season. The Cowboys haven’t been much of a factor in the years since, winning only four playoffs games since their last Super Bowl.
Philly dominated the NFC East through the Donovan McNabb years. They’ve won a Super Bowl. If there was kind of football inferiority complex because of Dallas, that has long disappeared.
In 1980, when the Eagles went to their first Super Bowl, I swear most of the excitement was because Philly beat the haughty Cowboys in the NFC title game. When the Eagles lost to the Raiders in the Super Bowl, the consensus was that the Eagles’ real Super Bowl was beating Dallas and they had nothing left for Oakland.
I don’t buy that, either, but it’s an interesting theory.
Hey, 10 more shopping days until Christmas Eve.
