49 minutes ago, tuffstuff07 said:

There was going to be chunk plays in that game due to the conditions the corners were playing off 5 to 10.yards to make sure they could get the tackle and not slip and get beat 

Couple of those big plays were in the run game. 30 and a 20

1 minute ago, we_gotta_believe said:

Not to mention the grip on a slick ball probably was an issue when throwing anything deep like that. What normally would've been a D+ game by Hurts, might get bumped to a C- because of the conditions. Still not a good game, but good enough to win under the circumstances. 

I would actually give Hurts somewhere between a B- and a B given the circumstances, situational playcalling and dropped passes.  No turnovers, in blizzard like conditions, his TD run and a win in a divisional playoff game has to bump him to at least a B-.  Then add the other factors I mentioned, his performance was around a B, imo 

1 minute ago, we_gotta_believe said:

Both were perfectly timed swim moves, leaning on hand fighting instead of a brute force bull rush or beating the OL to the spot with a quicker first step. I'd say that was almost all technique actually.

As I said, very little technique initially and late of the snap. Kids a heck of a player

Just now, Ace Nova said:

I would actually give Hurts somewhere between a B- and a B given the circumstances, situational playcalling and dropped passes.  No turnovers, in blizzard like conditions, his TD run and a win in a divisional playoff game has to bump him to at least a B-.  Then add the other factors I mentioned, his performance was around a B, imo 

I think that's being a bit generous. He played worse than he did against GB.

8 hours ago, Joe Ball said:

Oh mine as well, probably the best TE in DAL history. Just no HC experience, or next level coaching experience at all. Supposedly Jerry wanted him to be groomed by McCarthy, but McCarthy decided to just move on instead. Jerry looking to find that next Dan Campbell.

Part of the Campbell allure is how much of a wildcard he is with a microphone.  Witten is a bumbling buffoon in those situations.  Apparently he’s had success at the HS level, but just from what we saw of him in the booth, him being that ‘rah rah’ guy in a room of other adults seems far fetched.  

6 minutes ago, Wentz_Era said:

I’m not trying to place myself anywhere…there’s a lot to criticize Hurts for but it’s getting over the top now that we inch closer to a shot at the big dance.   I stated the truth in that post…he’s shown this year that he needs competition for his job.  He’s still the best QB on the roster right now…

IMO, this is a conflicting statement.

A team is 1 game from the SB and the qb "needs competition for his job.”

If those 2 things held true for any team in any city with any qb, it’s going to be the talking point with intense criticism.  

5 minutes ago, HazletonEagle said:

Just to be clear since everyone keeps saying AJ dropped a TD, he never reached the end zone.. so I'm not sure how you guys think that catch results in 6 points for us,  or a TD for Hurts stat line. 

Had Hurts thrown the ball correctly instead of the accidental back shoulder,  then it could have been a TD. But,  it wasn't. That's 6 more points Hurts left off the board. 

We’ve seen AJ Brown make that play over and over again.  Had he not scored it would have been 1st and goal from the 1.  1-2 tush pushes later a TD. 

Just now, Ace Nova said:

We’ve seen AJ Brown make that play over and over again.  Had he not scored it would have been 1st and goal from the 1.  1-2 tush pushes later a TD. 

He didn't drop a TD. Hurts did not throw a would be TD there. Should have,  but didn't. Facks

9 minutes ago, eagle45 said:

Not to be a broken record, but everyone cycling through the blog at different time points should be exposed to this factoid:

Devonta Smith and AJ Brown have been less productive in the playoffs this year than Thrash and Pinkston have been in any 2 game playoff stretch of their 7 game playoff career together...and it's a fairly large gap too.

Part of this is Hurts. The other part is them leaning into what their strengths are. They’ve fully embraced that Saquon is what makes this offense go. They only want to keep Hurts in the 20-25 pass attempt range. They’ve been able to get that formula the past two games because the defense has held up. If it doesn’t, then they have issues. But I give Nick and Moore credit because they are getting Barkley the ball and not forcing anything with Hurts. They know. 

1 minute ago, eagle45 said:

IMO, this is a conflicting statement.

A team is 1 game from the SB and the qb "needs competition for his job.”

If those 2 things held true for any team in any city with any qb, it’s going to be the talking point with intense criticism.  

The Baltimore Ravens WON the Super Bowl with Trent Dilfer at QB... and let him leave via free agency the next month.  And he was signed as a backup by the Seattle Seahawks, not as a starter anywhere.  

 

It is unusual, but its not unprecedented.

1 minute ago, HazletonEagle said:

He didn't drop a TD. Hurts did not throw a would be TD there. Should have,  but didn't. Facks

Semantics.   He either scores a TD on that play or it results in a TD 99% of the time with this team. 

1 hour ago, Swoop said:

This play is obviously AI.

I've been told this team never has open players because Kellen Moore is the antichrist

One thing i noticed yesterday that i hadn’t a lot before (and Hurts actually used it), was every pass play had a safe outlet.  Nearly every pass play that Saquon or Gainwell didn’t stay in and commit to blocking they ran a Texas or angle route.

I don’t get the Hurts hate after this game. It was a bad weather snow game. What are yall expecting? lol

 

9 hours ago, eagle45 said:

Just want to reiterate the appalling nature of this statistic.  Thrash and Pinkston were the Eagles starting WRs for three playoff games for the Eagles in 2001, two in 2002, and two in 2003.  We know their story.

The AJ Brown / Smith duo, through 2 playoff games in the 2024 playoffs, has been less productive than Thrash and Pinkston were in any 2 game stretch of their playoff appearances…and it’s not close.

 

That’s because McNabb was light years better than Hurts in every regard. A prime Donovan with this roster would be smoking teams left and right. It’s unarguable. 

1 hour ago, eagle45 said:

Nolan Smith is getting credit, but not enough.

Absolutely. I was over the moon getting Carter, and then to ALSO get Smith the same night??? Yes it took him a while, but Smith is a cerebral player and the light turned on for him this season. Keep Milton Williams and add a high draft pick to the EDGE rotation and this line is gonna be wrecking fools for years to come. 

8 minutes ago, eagle45 said:

IMO, this is a conflicting statement.

A team is 1 game from the SB and the qb "needs competition for his job.”

If those 2 things held true for any team in any city with any qb, it’s going to be the talking point with intense criticism.  

Maybe so…but the closer we get to the SB, the bigger the conversational gap between the two sides is going to get because every game the past few weeks has increased in importance.  I don’t blame people at all for digging in and continuing to harp on ‘you can’t continue to beat good teams playing like this’.

He was by no means good yesterday, but the weather was a huge factor.

Matt Stafford went 24-44 for 324 and 2 TDs. Why are we grading on a curve for Hurts playing in the same conditions?

9 minutes ago, HazletonEagle said:

He didn't drop a TD. Hurts did not throw a would be TD there. Should have,  but didn't. Facks

Yeah facks. Brown should have caught it for sure. Worst case it would have been on the one. 

15 minutes ago, we_gotta_believe said:

I think that's being a bit generous. He played worse than he did against GB.

I personally thought the GB game was worse, I think his play was overshadowed by how beyond terrible Love actually was that game.  I might be giving him too much of a pass this week because of the weather though.  I said it a lot yesterday, and it ended up being true for both games yesterday.  That was an all time classic football game.  

Can we just be happy to be in the nfc championship? After week 4 I thought no way in hell was that possible.

1 minute ago, bpac55 said:

Matt Stafford went 24-44 for 324 and 2 TDs. Why are we grading on a curve for Hurts playing in the same conditions?

Uhh because Hurts isn’t and never will be a Stafford. The sacks were bad. The rest was fine. We are asking him to manage the game and not turn the ball over. 

13 minutes ago, HazletonEagle said:

He didn't drop a TD. Hurts did not throw a would be TD there. Should have,  but didn't. Facks

That play, AJ looked like he lost his footing trying to turn while transferring the football in not so ideal conditions.  Honestly the throw looked fine..AJ should have just secured the ball.

4 minutes ago, DrPhilly said:

Yeah facks. Brown should have caught it for sure. Worst case it would have been on the one. 

Well... worst case it would have been dropped or even worse knocked up in the air and picked off like what happened with Jeffery in the SB.  

50 minutes ago, Ace Nova said:

I still do not understand to this day why they don’t run the tush push with either Barkley or Gainwell.  Both those guys should be able to run it successfully. 

I’d actually look at the ravens doing it with mark andrews. Andrews is big and can be a physical runner. I’d say goedert but im not sure i want more hits on him as hes injury prone. 

6 minutes ago, bpac55 said:

Matt Stafford went 24-44 for 324 and 2 TDs. Why are we grading on a curve for Hurts playing in the same conditions?

He also did most of his work on the last two drives when the weather was slowing down a bit and the Eagles were focused on running out the clock. They both were struggling the majority of the game. 

As always the truth is somewhere in the middle. Yes Hurts held on to the ball too long, again. Yes the weather affected everyone's play. Yes the OL had a relatively poor pass blocking day. Yes Hurts is in charge of pass blocking coverage calls. Yes even if the right coverage was called some guys flat out whiffed their assignments (Becton had a few). Yes there were some bad drops. Yes Hurts' legs were a big part of us winning. Yes he missed some open guys, especially in the middle of the field as is his MO. Yes Hurts avoided to biggest cardinal sin in playoff football: turnovers. 

I get it, it was a poor passing performance. But completely blaming Hurts and completely exonerating him are both pretty silly stances IMO.