Super Bowl LVII may have been a loss for Philadelphia, but the Eagles left Arizona with one massive win — their quarterback.
At 24 years old, Jalen Hurts was poised and confident. He dominated the field, playing the best game of his career. And, despite becoming the runner-up to both MVP titles, he was the greatest player who suited up to fight for the Lombardi Trophy.
Hurts wasn’t only an exceptional leader during the 2022 season, but Sunday’s game solidified him as the future of the Eagles’ franchise.
JALEN HURTS PLAYED HIS BEST CAREER GAME
Super Bowl LVII began with Kansas City deferring, giving Philadelphia’s offense the first shot. On their opening drive, quarterback Jalen Hurts scored the first touchdown on a one-yard run.
Eight seconds into the second quarter, Hurts threw a 45-yard pass to wide receiver A.J. Brown. With a continued seven-point lead, Hurts dropped the ball on the Eagles’ following drive as he was trying to shift it between his hands. Ultimately fumbling it, Chiefs’ linebacker Nick Bolton returned it for a touchdown. But, that didn’t stop Hurts.
The quarterback remained calm, taking the ball back and running it into the end zone for four-yards. Philadelphia went into half-time 24-14.
Despite the inability for Philadelphia’s defense to keep up in the second half, Hurts did what he could to keep the Eagles alive. With less than six minutes of game time remaining, the Eagles were down by eight points. The quarterback scored a third rushing touchdown on a two-yard run, and successfully completed a two-point conversion.
Hurts finished with 304 passing yard and one passing touchdown for a 103.4 passer rating. He completed the most rushing yards (70) by any quarterback in Super Bowl history, and tied Terrell Davis with three rushing touchdowns.
Pro Football Focus graded Hurts’ performance as the second-highest among quarterbacks in the Super Bowl since 2016. With a 92.2, he only stands behind former Eagles’ player Nick Foles by 0.1.
Following Philadelphia’s tough loss, Patrick Mahomes praised Jalen Hurts, stating, “If there was any doubters left, there shouldn’t be now. I mean, the way he stepped on his stage, and ran, threw the ball, whatever it took for his team to win. I mean, that was a special performance I don’t want it to get lost in the loss that they had. I mean, ever whenever we got all the momentum in that game, and we went up eight points in the fourth quarter for him to respond and move his team down the football field and run in himself in a two-point conversion, it was a special performance by him and I mean, you make sure you appreciate that when you look back on this game.”
THE FUTURE LIES IN THE EXPERIENCE
Despite being completely crushed by the loss, Hurts held his head high and is now focused on the future.
“You want to cherish these moments with the people that you’ve come so far with, your family, your loved ones, your teammates, your peers, everything that you do it with and do it for,” Jalen Hurts stated. “I’m so proud of this team. I would say I’m so proud of this team for everything that we’ve been able to overcome. Obviously, we had a big-time goal that we wanted to accomplish and we came up short. I think the beautiful part about it is everyone experiences different pains, everything experience different agonies of life, but you decide if you want to learn from it. You decide if you want that to be a teachable moment. I know I do.”
Not even a week later, Hurts has already watched the game back, reviewing plays with his coaches. As for the 2023 season, he has plans to better himself and his teammates, and only has his mind focused on one thing — winning.
“…You decide whether you want to learn from them or not,” Hurts stated. “I really believe that and that is something that I control and that is something that every individual in this organization controls and how we want to respond from it and to it.”
After playing his best career game in his best career season, the All-Pro and Pro Bowler has a monumental career to look forward to.
“I’m going into year four hungrier than ever, starving for more. I want to challenge myself to be the best quarterback, leader, and man I can be for my teammates and this city, so maybe the next time around we can finish it off the way we want to.”
