No player gets more scrutiny than Jalen Hurts. Despite doing little else besides winning for the past 3 seasons, he has been the constant subject of national talk show segments, picking apart his play. Just this past week people claimed he could never be on the same level as a Josh Allen, or a Lamar Jackson. As recently as 2 weeks ago people confidently claimed the Eagles couldn’t win with him. Now what.
Not only did Jalen Hurts lead his team to a Super Bowl win. Not only did he go through Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs to do so. Not only did he do so in blowout fashion, But he won Super Bowl MVP in the process. Something you think would quiet his haters for good.
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Jalen Hurts Proves He Belongs… Again
It was not one of those performances where they just give the QB the MVP because he is the QB either. 3 total TDs, over 200 total yards, and only 5 incompletions. Besides for the one mistake, he was perfect. He went up against the guy many think could one day dethrone Tom Brady to become the next GOAT, and outplayed him, again.
It is worth remembering how great he was in the last Super Bowl. It was one of the greatest performances by the losing QB ever in a Super Bowl. His defense let him down that time. But this time he was backed up by the best defense this franchise has ever seen, and maybe the best the NFL has ever seen.
Hurts deserves credit for how unselfish he has played this season. Many elite QBs might have an issue with the team going to such a run-heavy attack. He didn’t often get the chance to show how great he is. But in the last two games, as Hurts himself said, he was let out of the straight jacket. And that was when he reminded everyone he is one of the league’s best QBs.
People said he was carried by Saquon Barkley. But Saquon was mostly shut down. The Chiefs did a good job stopping the Eagles run game. It fell on Hurt’s shoulders to carry the team over the final hurdle. And that is exactly what he did.
He is only the 3rd QB to ever beat Patrick Mahomes in the playoffs. it is Tom Brady, Joe Burrow, and Jalen Hurts. He is only the 2nd QB to beat Mahomes in the Super Bowl.
There are going to need to be some apologies. Chase Daniel, Dan Orlovsky, Phil Simms’ son, James Jones, Emmanuel Acho. A lot of former players who get paid to talk sports showed a lot of disrespect to Jalen Hurts. But Hurts never flinched, he never complained, he just kept his head down. He knew he would get a chance to prove them all wrong. When the chance presented itself, he didn’t blink.
Hurts likes to say the work is not done. For now, it is done. They will have to get back to business eventually. He will get the chance to get a 2nd, a 3rd, and so on. But for now, he can celebrate, and everyone else can start writing their apologies for ever doubting him.
Josh Allen just won the league MVP, but Jalen Hurts won the MVP that matters. Don’t let anyone ever claim he is not in that class with Allen, Jackson, or Burrow again. he just proved he is in a class they can only hope to reach soon.