Reasons for giving Jalen Hurts the MVP trophy over Patrick Mahomes

Jalen Hurts isn’t beating his own team by being careless with the football.

The most significant statistical difference between Jalen Hurts and Patrick Mahomes so far has been the fact that Philadelphia’s star has thrown fewer touchdown passes and his 25 total TDs are five less than Mahomes’ impressive number (30). Patrick also has accumulated 702 more total yards than Jalen. Yards gained from scrimmage typically won’t hurt an MVP campaign, but it’s hard to ignore that Patrick is on fire and has been a statistical machine.

Here’s what’s working in Jalen Hurts’ favor. He isn’t throwing as many interceptions. He has five fewer picks than Mahomes, three picks compared to eight to be exact. Jalen’s problem has been that he’s fumbling much too often. He’s credited with placing the ball on the turf eight times though he’s only lost two. None of Mahomes’ four credited fumbles have been recovered by the opposing team.

Pro Football Focus tracks turnover-worthy plays from quarterbacks, and the Eagles’ captain finds himself second in the entire NFL in the category after 12 weeks of action. That isn’t bad when we’re discussing a man who just eclipsed 30 regular-season starts as a professional.