Jalen Hurts recent honor is merely a small step towards larger goals

At the risk of sounding a tad superstitious, we knew that this would happen, but we didn’t want to say anything for fear of a jinx. The Philadelphia Eagles‘ QB1, Jalen Hurts, has been named the National Football Conference’s Offensive Player of the Month. He’ll tell you that it’s of no consequence and that it doesn’t matter, but it does. Individual honor is a result of team success, and even though the Birds still have the majority of their schedule to play, you can’t ask for a much better beginning to the campaign.

Philly has earned three wins in as many weeks to kick off the 2022-2023 NFL regular season, but larger goals are within reach. Those are the goals that Jalen, his coaches, and his teammates are fixated on. This team wants to win its division. They want to win in the postseason. Sure, individual accolades are fun, but team goals will always take precedence.

If you could ask Jalen Hurts about all of this, that’s exactly what he’d tell you (or something along those lines). The Birds are one of only two unbeaten teams. The Miami Dolphins are the other. Their quarterbacks are huge reasons for their success. Let’s talk about the guy holding serve in the City of Brotherly Love for a second.

Jalen Hurts is growing as the complete quarterback, and it’s fun to watch.

We’re beginning to see the fruits of all of that hard work, but the task is only beginning. There’s still money on the table. It’s about the destination, not the journey, and the rent is due every day because hungry dogs run faster. Hurts, with each passing week, has improved in at least one area that we use to evaluate good quarterback play. With each throw or scramble, he’s found ways to silence the doubters.

The story is well-known. The Philadelphia Eagles, seemingly already having their franchise quarterback in Carson Wentz, saw fit to invest a second-round selection during the 2020 NFL Draft into another. The move was heavily criticized at the time. It may turn out to be one of the wisest decisions that Howie Roseman ever made as we’ve seen improvement during each year that has followed.

Jalen Hurts completed 52% of his passes in 2020 en route to a 1-3 record as a starter and a QBR of 33.8. In 2021, he went 8-7 as the starter and led the Eagles to a postseason appearance. Meanwhile, his completion percentage rose to 61.3%.

So far, in 2022, he’s been lights out, again showing week after week that he’s improving in the important measurables. In Week 1, the Detroit Lions elected to attack him with the blitz. In Week 2, the Minnesota Vikings sat back and played coverage. Both strategies failed.

In Week 3, versus the Washington Commanders (gosh, that’s a dumb name), QB1 embarrassed Carson Wentz in what was supposed to be billed as a duel between Philadelphia’s new franchise signal-caller and the man that he replaced.

So far in 2022, Hurts has completed 67.3 percent of his passes while throwing for 916 yards and four touchdowns versus only one interception. He’s also picked up an additional 167 yards while scoring three more times as a scrambler.

Things are just beginning. The NFL regular season is a marathon, not a sprint. The Eagles have the horses to make a huge run, one of the most important being the guy wearing the Number 1 jersey. This may turn out to be a special season after all.