Philadelphia Eagles QB Jalen Hurts Firmly in MVP Race Ahead of Late-Season Gauntlet

The second half of the Philadelphia Eagles' season hinges on quarterback Jalen Hurts, who has prevented a Super Bowl hangover and is in back in the MVP mix

PHILADELPHIA – Say what you want about the Philadelphia Eagles' secondary’s need to improve, the linebacker corps that is short-handed again after Nakobe Dean’s latest injury, or the coordinators, OC Brian Johnson and DC Sean Desai, needing to be better in play-calling or wherever.

What the second half of the season comes down to is Jalen Hurts.

The quarterback is the biggest reason there was no Super Bowl hangover. He just wills the Eagles to win and pulls his teammates along with him, even more so now that he is playing through a bone bruise in his knee that many quarterbacks may have been tempted to take a seat and wait for it to heal.

Not Hurts. There is great veteran leadership on this 8-1 team but Hurts makes everything go.

Don’t believe me, here are some convincers, just in case they are still required at this point:

• Hurts is just the fifth quarterback since 1950 to win 25 games in a span of 27 regular-season starts. The other four are Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Jim McMahon, and Joe Montana.

• He set a franchise record for most rushing touchdowns with his 33 in the win over the Dallas Cowboys last week. He had been tied with Randall Cunningham, who had 32 in his Eagles career from 1985-95. Still young in his career, Hurts could put this record way out of reach for anyone else who comes along.

Jalen Hurts / © Bill Streicher, USA TODAY

His next rushing touchdown will set the NFL record for most of those in his four years as a quarterback, pulling him out of a tie with Cam Newton.

• Hurts has been above 73 percent accuracy in three straight games and for the season owns a completion percentage of 68.9, the highest of his career.

Head coach Nick Sirianni’s thoughts on that: “Accuracy is not only where you place the ball and the ball being complete, but also you going to the right place with the football, You could have an accurate throw and not go to the right place with the football and that be an incompletion and not do it in a timely fashion and that be a tipped ball or a sack.

“So, I think it's twofold, it's just him getting more and more comfortable with the plays that he's running and that he likes and knowing where to go with the football accurately and going there in a timely fashion and doing so with good fundamentals and delivering the ball with accuracy.”

• NFL Media has him ranked first in their recent QB rankings, ahead of Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes. Their thoughts: “He's good against bad teams and even better against good teams; against opponents with winning records, he is now 10-0 since 2022 and 12-1 including playoff games (his lone loss came in Super Bowl LVII).”

How many hearts were in fans’ throats when they saw him struggle to get back to his feet late in the second half after DeMarcus Lawrence inadvertently hit him low?

Lose Hurts, and, with all due respect to backup Marcus Mariota, the Eagles’ season would suddenly be on life support.

Hurts was the runner-up MVP last year. He’s back in the conversation again this year, and A.J. Brown probably deserves to be in the conversation, too.

Hurts, though, makes sure Brown gets what he gets, so putting the receiver ahead of the quarterback doesn’t make sense to me.

In a weekly poll conducted by NFL correspondent Rick Gosselin, a question heading into Week 10 was asked of media representatives who the MPV was at the midpoint of the season, Hurts received 55 of 180 votes to easily distance himself from the pack. Hurts also received my first-place vote. Brown received 10 votes.

“I think Hurts tends to be underrated but he is the quarterback of the team with the best record,” said former Hall-of-Fame voter Vito Stellino. 

“And so far, he has overcome the fact that Super Bowl losers often struggle the next year. With the Eagles' schedule tougher in the second half, it remains to be seen if he deserves the honor at the end of the year.”