Jalen Hurts My Leader in the Clubhouse for MVP, but 5 Games Remain

It's a difficult race to handicap with Week 14 on deck, but, right now, it has to be the Eagles quarterback, and here's why

PHILADELPHIA – The chants at Lincoln Financial Field have begun – MVP, MVP, MVP.

They are directed, of course, at Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, and they won’t be heard again until next year, though the fans who faithfully follow the Eagles on the road will likely be heard from, too. The next time the home crowd will be heard making those chants, however, won’t be until next year.

Not next year, next year, but next year as on Jan. 1 when the Eagles will return home again after playing three straight games on the road.

Maybe by then, the chants will grow even louder.

Hurts is in the mix, but so are Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen.

Mahomes is the best quarterback in the league, at least in this writer’s opinion, and, right now, Allen is third.

The Bills QB has thrown 11 interceptions and is completing 64.1% of his throws. That’s not to say Allen won’t be able to make a run for this thing over the final few weeks.

It’s a tough call, this MVP race because Hurts is just a different QB cat.

Some things about him this season:

• He became the first NFL player to run and pass for 150-plus yards in the same game, doing it against the Packers when he ran for 157 and threw for 153.

• Since 2000, only four NFL quarterbacks have posted 29+ total touchdowns with five-or-fewer giveaways through 12 games: Hurts (2022), Mahomes (2020), Drew Brees (2018), and Aaron Rodgers (2011 ad 2014).

• With Hurts at the helm of the offense, the Eagles have produced 450+ total yards and 5+ TDs in back-to-back games for the first time since Weeks 10 and 11 in 1981.

• Since Week 8, Hurts leads the NFL in total TDs (17), passing TDs (14), and passer rating (118.8). In that span, he has completed 69.4% of his passes, including a league-high nine touchdowns of 20-plus yards with only one interception in 173 attempts.

• Of his 20 touchdown throws, 11 have come outside the red zone.

• He is the quarterback of a team that won 11 of its first 12 games

Will any of those stats matter to the voters when the MVP ballots are due?

The traditional stats favor Mahomes.

He’s the one with all the passing yards (3,808 yards) and touchdown throws (30) with an additional two touchdowns on the ground and 283 more yards there.

Mahomes does have eight interceptions to Hurts’ three, but he has attempted 469 passes to the Eagles QB’s 243.

Hurts completion percentage is better, 68.1% to Mahomes’ 65.7%, but, again, Mahomes throws more.

Still, Hurts’ completion percentage is a vast improvement over the 61.3% he had last year, and, to me, that was the one thing that needed to improve above all else.

Here are three numbers that have Hurts ahead on my MVP scorecard:

• 11 - wins

• 3 - Interceptions

• 29 - Total touchdowns with 20 passing and nine rushing

Of course, it’s subject to change and Mahomes can still be the guy, with Allen possibly coming on strong on the outside.

For now, Hurts is my leader in the clubhouse.

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.