Heading into their matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs, most observers expected that the Eagles would try to run the ball down their opponents’ throats to come away with a 40-22 win in the Super Bowl. The rushing attack was the strength of their offense throughout the year, and quarterback Jalen Hurts had been occasionally erratic — especially against teams that brought the blitz.
The theory went, take the game out of Hurts’ hands and put it on Saquon Barkley’s back. But the Eagles didn’t need to do that. And coming into the game, Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie had confidence that his quarterback would be up to the challenge.
“Going into this game, it was the least of my worries. I knew he would play great — just as he did two years ago,” Lurie said, via PHLY. “You worry about almost everything. That’s one thing I didn’t even worry about. I just said, ‘We got the quarterback.'”
As it turns out, that confidence was well placed.
Hurts went 17 of 22 for 221 yards, two touchdowns and one interception, and he ran 11 times for 72 yards and another score against Kansas City on Sunday night. That performance earned him Super Bowl MVP honors. In the previous Super Bowl against Kansas City, Hurts had gone 27 of 38 for 304 yards and a touchdown while chipping in 70 yards and another three end-zone trips on his 15 carries, putting together one of the best games of his career.
“He’s 26, incredibly clutch, he knows what correlates with winning,” Lurie said of Hurts. “Sometimes it’s through the ground game. Sometimes it’s through the passing game. You gotta be able to do both. They did a really great job against Saquon today, but Jalen’s a great thrower of the football, a quick decision-maker when he needs be. And he has the clutch gene.”
Hurts has been the Eagles’ starter for four seasons, and he has gone to the Super Bowl twice and won it once. He is, as Lurie said, 26 years old, and has plenty of football ahead of him. And there probably won’t be too many people worrying about his potential performance in a big game anymore.
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Author: Jared Dubin
February 10, 2025 | 7:10 pm
