An under-rated aspect of Jalen Hurts' game has helped revive Eagles' offense

Jalen Hurts threw the dagger in the Super Bowl, now the long ball is a regular part of his arsenal.

By Reuben Frank • Published November 6, 2025

Jalen Hurts has improved in a lot of areas. More accurate than ever. Throwing fewer interceptions than ever. Fumbling less than ever. Now in his sixth season, he’s playing better than ever.

And then there’s the deep ball. He's throwing it better than ever.

Through Week 8 going into the bye week, Hurts was tied for the NFL lead with six completions of 40 yards or more as well as three TDs of 40 yards or more. He was also second to Patrick Mahomes with 11 completions of at least 30 yards.  Five of those six deep balls have come in the last four weeks.

Coming into this season he averaged a 40-yard pass every 54 attempts. This year he’s at a career-best 36 percent.

Hurts has always thrown a pretty good deep ball. From 2021 through 2024, his first four years as a starter, he had 33 completions of at least 40 yards. That was 8th-most in the league even though he only threw the 12th-most passes.

But this year – specifically over the past month – he’s been better than ever.

What makes Hurts’ success with the deep ball so remarkable is that he’s been throwing deep without throwing interceptions, a rare parlay.

Not only did he lead the NFL in 40-yard completions through Week 8, he led the NFL in lowest interception percentage – one INT in 215 attempts.

If you can hit big plays without turning the ball over, that’s a dangerous combination. Very few quarterbacks in history have ever been this good at both.

According to a Stathead search, at his current pace Hurts would be only the fifth quarterback in NFL history to average at least 7.0 touchdowns per 100 attempts and fewer than 0.5 interceptions per 100. The others are Woodbury’s Milt Plum in 1960, Roman Gabriel in 1969, Tom Brady in 2016 and Mahomes in 2020.  

"I will say this, he's unbelievable at it,” Kevin Patullo said last week. "He does a tremendous job of understanding where to place the ball, seeing the coverage, knowing how to put it in a spot to where it's our guy or nobody, and he really works at it. 

"I know you guys aren't out there the whole time when you watch practice. I mean, he works at it in between periods, during the period, constantly. He's talking to the guys, 'Here's where it's going to be, here's what I'm going to do.’”

In his career including the postseason, Hurts has completed 47 passes of at least 40 yards, with 30 of those going to DeVonta Smith (17) and A.J. Brown (13). The rest have been caught by Quez Watkins (6), Dallas Goedert (4), Jahan Dotson (2), Saquon Barkley (2), Zach Ertz (1), DeSean Jackson (1) and Grant Calcaterra (1).

"I think it's those little extra things as far as him with the receivers and the tight end just being on the same page and working through it and constantly, constantly looking for an area to improve on,” Patullo said. 

"When he gets the opportunity to hit it, he does. I mean, he does a tremendous job. The ball's always catchable. It's fantastic to watch and it opens up a lot of areas in the offense. So, when you can start hitting those, then all of a sudden, the runs start to go and other things start to open up.”

https://www.nbcsportsphiladelphia.com/nfl/philadelphia-eagles/jalen-hurts-passing-career-numbers-patrick-mahomes/694107/

To be fair he may not have a canon of an arm but he does throw a really good deep ball. Sure at times it may be a little behind his receiver or they may have to adjust but he generally does throw a really good deep ball. It’s catchable, it’s in the right place, it’s not a dangerous throw either.

On 11/7/2025 at 2:02 AM, UK_EaglesFan89 said:

To be fair he may not have a canon of an arm but he does throw a really good deep ball. Sure at times it may be a little behind his receiver or they may have to adjust but he generally does throw a really good deep ball. It’s catchable, it’s in the right place, it’s not a dangerous throw either.

There are a ton of guys with a cannon for an arm......who aren't very good QBs or passers. The better trait would be "can he make all the throws"? Hurts can do that. He's shown it.....maybe not as often as other QBs, but the guy wins....

Honestly, I think we are underrating his deep ball ability. I am always amazed at how well he places the ball so the receiver does not have to break stride. He throws a beautiful deep ball that seems to be pinpoint accurate almost every time.

I really hope that people end up appreciating Hurts for the great player he is by the end of his career.