Jalen Hurts in the Playoffs

[time2rock]

Obviously not Jalen's best game yesterday.  Curious to see what you all attribute that to ... was he just rusty from having not played in 3 weeks, Green Bay has a very good defense as well (they are ranked 5th overall), or he just isn't all that great of a QB.  

[Portyansky]

Did he struggle though? He did exactly what he has been doing... protecting the ball, using his legs, and making the correct call/play/pass when it matters most. No one will convince me otherwise but AJ was not anywhere near 100%, if this was a regular season game he would have skipped it.

[time2rock]

7 minutes ago, Portyansky said:

Did he struggle though? He did exactly what he has been doing... protecting the ball, using his legs, and making the correct call/play/pass when it matters most. No one will convince me otherwise but AJ was not anywhere near 100%, if this was a regular season game he would have skipped it.

6 for 13 for only 39 yards passing in the first half ... I'd say he struggled.  But I will edit the poll to add that option.  

[Portyansky]

15 minutes ago, time2rock said:

6 for 13 for only 39 yards passing in the first half ... I'd say he struggled.  But I will edit the poll to add that option.  

And then he went 7/8 for 92 in the 2nd half. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[brkmsn]

I felt like Moore was the one struggling (during the stretch where the offense sputtered). After seeing Hurts get 8 seconds to find a guy in the endzone, the packers defense adjusted to blitz-heavy and we failed to adjust until the 4th quarter. 

[UK_EaglesFan89]

He struggled no doubt but he didn’t turn the ball over and he made the odd play when it was needed. I’m sure some of it was rust but he’s also not an elite QB and we know that. But he’s a winner and if we lean on this defense and the run game then this team has a chance.

[B3]

Kind of need multi-choice on this one.  I don't think he is elite... I think at times, he can be elite at certain things.  He was definitely rusty.  I'm just happy he didn't turn the ball over.  I'd like to see a few more shots down field.  We have elite receivers who will go get the ball.  Chances are we'll get a pass interference call.

[Mike030270]

I want to say 1

[UK_EaglesFan89]

6 minutes ago, Mike030270 said:

I want to say 1

I want to say 1, 2 and 3 to be fair. I think all 3 are accurate.

[Mike030270]

5 minutes ago, UK_EaglesFan89 said:

I want to say 1, 2 and 3 to be fair. I think all 3 are accurate.

Looking at their stats I don't see how they're a top 5 defense

[brkmsn]

10 minutes ago, B3 said:

  I'd like to see a few more shots down field.  We have elite receivers who will go get the ball.  Chances are we'll get a pass interference call.

I think this is what led to the streak of incompletions (throw-aways). We failed to give him time to throw when the blitzing began and the play calls were after chunk plays. We should have adjusted to some quick throws or more runs.

[EagleJoe8]

Hurts started 6 for 6 with a dart to Dotson for the TD, then cooled off for a bit. That doesn’t sound like rust. Sounds like GB adjusted and it took Hurts awhile to adjust back. I’m glad he’s not turning the ball over and he’s been excellent at ball security since the bye, but I do wish he’d play more like he did against the Steelers more consistently. 

[gregbwfc1]

Could have an option 5, all of the above 😄.

He wasn't good but importantly, he didn't turn the ball over.

[EaglesAddict]

Hurts obviously needs to play better...much better...than he played yesterday.  I think what we saw was a combination of QB play and offensive play-calling/game plan being out-of-sync.  There were at least a few times when the Packers blitzed and we just had no hot route (how often have we historically seen heavy pressure only to see the receivers running down field on long developing plays?)  Hurts made a good read and an "ok" throw on the Goedert TD, but that type of play feels rare.

I don't buy much into the rust factor.  I also don't think Hurts is an "elite" QB and that, combined with a decent Packers defense and what I mentioned above are my reasons why he didn't play well.  Hurts is a "plus QB", meaning he's better than average but not elite, and what we saw yesterday is firmly within the realm of what we routinely get from him.  At times we get a lot better, most times we get a little better, and once in a while a little worse.

A wildcard reason for the offensive performance yesterday is Brown's knee.  He seemed fine...reading a book and all that crap...but how does he only get 3 targets and 1 catch in a playoff game?  That...is really odd.  And this offense just never looks the same when Brown isn't involved.

 

[jsdarkstar]

Missing time impacted his timing with his receivers. Missing wide open guys clearly shows his timing was off. A full week of practice should help. It better because The Vikings are a tough team. He will need to play at his best. If he plays against the Vikings the way he did against the packers we may not be able to overcome it.

In the 2nd Quarter he literally could not even complete a pass like 3 drives in a row. That's a problem. 

[time2rock]

1 hour ago, Portyansky said:

And then he went 7/8 for 92 in the 2nd half. 🤷🏻‍♂️

You were saying …

 

[ThinkGreen]

The Eagles protected the ball and didn't fall for the Packers' game plan. Love had over 200 yards passing. They lost.

[kiwinavega]

There´s a case to be made for all four of those options. I think he was rusty in the first half, I think the Packers D is decent, I don´t think he´s an elite QB (he´s probably top ten, but not top five which I would say is elite status), and he did what he needed to do. No turnovers, two TD passes, managed the game. 

It wasn´t a stellar performance, but it didn´t need to be. With our roster we don´t need hero ball. We need someone to manage the game, keep the game on time and keep the chains moving.

[EmeraldArcher7154]

Hurts isnt elite. He has 1 outlier season of excellent play. Something isnt clicking with him and moore and its going to need to be adressed in yhe offseason. Its what will keep them from the sb of they dont make it

[Godfather]

QB1 is ass

[NOTW]

2 hours ago, time2rock said:

Obviously not Jalen's best game yesterday.  Curious to see what you all attribute that to ... was he just rusty from having not played in 3 weeks, Green Bay has a very good defense as well (they are ranked 5th overall), or he just isn't all that great of a QB.  

You should edit the option in the poll from he's just not "elite" and change to "just not that great" or something. No one should think he's elite except a couple delusional homers. 

 

[The Norseman]

I see a lot of people saying that he protected the football and didn't give up a turnover yesterday, which is true.  But if he continues to stand in the pocket for 10 minutes he's going to take hits from behind.  We saw it happen a couple of times yesterday and it was just blind luck that he didn't get stripped. 

I have zero confidence that he can protect the football moving forward if he doesn't get rid of it faster. 

We already lost one super bowl due to him being strip sacked, lets not make it two.   

[NOTW]

I think one of the problems with Hurts is the hope and illusion that he's going to be great. He's not going to be a top 5 QB. We have to let go of 2022. After 2 full seasons we can see that season was an outlier. 2023 his numbers were actually close to 2022 in many aspects expect the awful amount of turnovers. He's not elite or great. But he's also not the worst QB in the league like some people say. He's average most games but has a couple games here and there that are great, has some flaws, shows flashes at times, his running ability helps contribute. He doesn't let mistakes bother him, he shakes them off and can get himself out of slumps at times. But he's inconsistent. Which makes it unreliable. 

The problem is the rest of the offense is elite, and we have to be honest that the offense should be dominating more, putting up more points, being more prolific in the passing game. Of course, if the team wins and can win a SB this way that's great. But with elite O line, WRs, RB and a decent TE room a top 12 passing QB would have the offense dominating a lot more. 

I'm wondering about Moore, if it's hard for him to adjust play calling to whatever version of Hurts he's getting. He's had to work with the backup QBs in recent games and unsure of Hurts practice status in the protocol. Then he sees the TD drive and all looks good. But they didn't adjust to the blitz well enough - which happened in previous playoff years also.

[NOTW]

Just now, The Norseman said:

I see a lot of people saying that he protected the football and didn't give up a turnover yesterday

I've defended Hurts plenty (also criticized him). But it's sad that the standard is so low that we have to celebrate the QB not turning the ball over. It's great that he overcame that problem. But he has to improve as a passer big time.

[The Norseman]

2 hours ago, NOTW said:

I've defended Hurts plenty (also criticized him). But it's sad that the standard is so low that we have to celebrate the QB not turning the ball over. It's great that he overcame that problem. But he has to improve as a passer big time.

I'm not sure I agree that he's overcome that problem.  Statistically, he hasn't turned the ball over recently, but his style of play makes it near impossible for him not to.  I don't care who you are, if you're regularly taking unexpected blindside hits as a QB then you are going to cough up the ball.  Unless he gets rid of the ball faster, it's just a matter of time.  

All that being said, I do agree that he needs to find rhythm within the passing game.  He's always been streaky.