Jalen Hurts' 5 Worst Games in 20 Career Starts

The worst start in the career of the young Eagles QB was easy to identify, but what were some others?

Every NFL quarterback has his share of ups and downs, so Jalen Hurts is no different.

The Eagles’ still-developing QB has started 20 games and will enter just his second year as the starter this fall.

Recently, SI Fan Nation Eagles Today examined Hurts' top five games.

RELATED: Jalen Hurts' Top 5 Games after 20 Career Starts

Here is a look at his five worst games:

Oct. 10, 2021, at Carolina

This was a win, but it was the special teams that bailed out Hurts and the offense.

Specifically, it was Jake Elliott’s season-long 58-yard field goal and TJ. Edwards’ blocked punt, recovered by Shaun Bradley with less than four minutes to play, that helped set up the winning touchdown.

The 21-18 victory didn’t quite tell the full story of Hurts’ play. Though he rushed for two touchdowns, including the game-winner with 2:38 to play, the QB threw for 198 yards and an interception and had just 30 yards rushing. 

He had a fumble that went out of the end zone as well for a safety that gave the Panthers a 15-3 lead with 2:26 to play in the third quarter. His passer rating was 62.7.

Jan. 3, 2021, at Lincoln Financial Field

This was the game the Eagles were alleged to have tanked – alleged at least by New York Giants fans who could have made the playoffs had the Eagles beaten Washington on this day.

Instead, the Football Team, as they were known then, beat the Eagles 20-14, a win some believe would not have happened had Doug Pederson not pulled Hurts out after three quarters and inserted Nate Sudfeld.

Maybe Hurts would have led a comeback, but he had played poorly during his time on the field in what was his fourth career start after taking over for the benched Carson Wentz.

Sure, Hurts ran for a pair of 6-yard touchdowns, and 34 yards in all, but he completed just seven of 20 throws for 72 yards with an interception. He finished with a passer rating of 25.4.

His interception led to one of Washington’s scores when the WFT took over at Philly’s 32 and settled for a field goal. But the three points came just over two minutes after Washington had taken a 7-0 lead. The turnover helped dig the hole deeper at 10-0.

Sept. 27, 2021, at Dallas

Don’t be fooled by the 326 passing yards Hurts put up in a 41-21 loss on Monday Night Football, because 115 of those, along with one touchdown pass, came after the Cowboys took a 34-14 lead with 11:34 to play in the final quarter. 

In other words, garbage time.

Hurts’ struggles came early, throwing an interception on this third pass of the game.

Then, on his third throw after halftime, Trevon Diggs intercepted it and raced 59 yards down the sideline for a pick-six to give the Cowboys a 27-7 lead with just over 14 minutes still to go in the third quarter.

Though he finished with an 86.1 passer rating, Hurts had just 30 yards rushing in a game that was over before much of his damage was done.

Jan. 16, 2022, at Tampa Bay

This was Hurts’ first playoff start and it showed.

He missed open receivers and was often too late to find the open receiver. The Bucs’ defense was overheard telling each other on the sideline that the QB can’t read defenses.

Perhaps it’s harsh to put this at No. 2 since the playoffs are a different animal, but the QB didn’t fare much better earlier in the season when the two teams met on Oct. 14 and the Bucs raced to a 28-7 lead late in the third quarter before holding on to a 28-22 win.

In that game, Hurts was 12-for-26 for 115 yards and a passer rating of 55.8.

In the rematch, with the stakes higher, Hurts finished with a 60.0 passer rating on 23-for-43 passing with 258 yards and two interceptions.

It should be noted that afterward, Hurts turned up in the interview room wearing a boot on his right foot, which later required surgery.

Nov 28, 2021, at New York Giants

The three-interception game led to a 13-7 loss.

The game where Hurts suffered a foot injury that would impact his play the remainder of the season before needing offseason surgery.

Those interceptions, though, whew. This was a team the Eagles should have beaten, a team once again on a road to nowhere and one that would fire its head coach, Joe Judge, a couple of months later.

The ghastliest pick of the three was the one at the end of a first half that saw the Giants lead 3-0 when, with eight seconds to play and facing a third-and-one from the NY 1, Hurts ran around rather than opting for a quick-hitting play to save time for possibly a field goal or another crack on fourth-and-goal at the 1. 

After killing most of the eight seconds by scrambling, Hurts threw it to a Giants defender.

Hurts’ passer rating was 17.5, a career-low. He was 14-for-31 with 129 yards passing and just 31 yards rushing.

It was, by far, his worst game as a pro.

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.