In Week 7, Jalen Hurts completed ten of 14 passes en route to 114 yards passing and a 119.3 quarterback rating. He threw a touchdown pass. He didn't turn the ball over. He notched a 68.5 QBR.
The Philadelphia Eagles' offensive signal-caller also notched 22 yards on seven carries and scored two TDs on the ground. He's etching his name into the NFL's history books. He didn't have a bad day leading Philly to a 28-3 lead before taking most of the fourth quarter off.
Wins are wins they say. Whoever coined that phrase probably wasn't from the City of Brotherly Love or an Eagles fan. The NFL's most loyal fan base cares as much about how wins are tallied as they care about the wins themselves.
That said, some of the takeaways are about what Jalen didn't do and the throws he missed. That isn't uncommon. That has been the case all season and since his promotion to starting quarterback.
People are talking though about his performances and how they might dictate future offensive success (or limit it) if similar showings and decision-making continues.
Trust us. This is very interesting stuff we are finding.
Must read: Eagles whose stock is soaring following Week 7 win
Recent X's and O's studies of Jalen Hurts' game have produced intriguing
We'll say it again. Jalen deserves credit for his performance these past two weeks. He managed the game well in Week 7. He showed improvement from Week 4 to Week 6.
Philly didn't distance themselves far enough from the Cleveland Browns on the scoreboard to appease a demanding fan base, but QB1 was good enough in Week 6. Most importantly, the right team won, and he protected the football.
There are two sides to every coin though. Discussions continue about whether or not Jalen is improving or regressing. If we're being brutally honest, conversations about poor field vision continue.
He doesn't see receivers when they're open, nor is he anticipating what will be available based on what the defense is giving him. And, when he does find the open receiver, he's delivering the ball far later than he should.
In our quest for X's and O's breakdowns, we found some very good analyses from sources that do excellent jobs of providing such.
Check out That Franchise Guy and Jackson Krueger Sports. You tell us. How do you feel about what you're seeing here?
It isn't all bad. Sometimes, Jalen hits the bulls eye. Sometimes, he looks like that MVP candidate we saw in 2022 and the earlier stages of 2023 (all the way up to the overtime win vs. the Buffalo Bills). Occasionally, you get a rep like this.
4th down: One of the single best reps in Jalen Hurts entire CAREER
— Eagles Eric (@EaglesXsandOs) October 21, 2024
1. Reads AJ first, gets jammed
2. Moves to TE on crosser, bracketed
3. Moves to Dotson, bracketed
4. Moves BACK to AJ late, tight window
5. Scrambles for 1st and finishes with power pic.twitter.com/cxt6SacNhd
He was also rated one of the top three NFL QBs vs. pressure in Week 7, so what are we to make of this?
Here is how every QB fared when being Pressured in Week 7 👇 pic.twitter.com/q7ZPXq8DJk
— The 33rd Team (@The33rdTeamFB) October 21, 2024
We won't swing the gavel. We won't exonerate QB1 of wrongdoing or pronounce his sentence. We will leave that up to you, but here's what we will say. We are most certainly worried.
The burst is gone. He doesn't execute the run-pass option very well anymore. That was one of his strengths. He was paid based on the expectation that he would improve. Unfortunately, he has regressed in too many of the areas where we judge NFL QBs.
Still, even with that being said, we have seen him answer issued challenges. He has proved the doubters wrong on many occasions dating back to his time at Oklahoma.
The quarterback position is the toughest to play in all of sports. Even the great ones struggle at times (see Aaron Rodgers).
We've seen Jalen Hurts shine on the grandest stage in all of sports when coached properly. We believe that guy is still in there somewhere and nothing that we are seeing is unfixable.