Putting Jalen Hurts' strong finish in perspective

[time2rock]

Putting Jalen Hurts' strong finish in perspective

 

 

 

Reuben Frank

EAGLES INSIDER

Just when you start thinking, "Maybe Jalen Hurts just isn’t the guy,” he does something to make you think, "Maybe he is.”

First half Sunday, he missed a wide-open Dallas Goedert down the field while under heavy pressure, and then he missed DeVonta Smith in the end zone, although Smith claims he slipped.

Second half? Hurts was 7-for-8 for 108 yards, with five of the completions going for at least 19 yards, and he ran four times for 32 more yards, leading TD drives of 85 and 78 yards.

It was his work on the Eagles’ final possession that was truly impressive. With the Eagles trailing 24-17, he went 4-for-4, converted two 3rd downs with scrambles and capped the drive with a game-tying 28-yard TD pass to DeVonta Smith while under furious pressure with six minutes left.

The Chargers then drove down the field and won the game on a field goal with two seconds left.

And for Hurts, the loss overshadows all the positives from the second half.

"I think for me, I always look at it like, ‘What could I have done better to change the outcome of the game?’” he said. "That’s how I look at it all the time. Look at every opportunity you have and take advantage of every opportunity.”

But in the second half and on that final drive in particular, he showed why it’s still too early to conclude he’s not The Guy.

"Yeah, he was a stud,” Nick Sirianni said. "He was a big-time stud. … I think what was really, really impressive - obviously that (touchdown) throw was really unbelievable in the face of some pressure. … That's advanced football right there to be able to see what was going on and to be able to get the communication at the line of scrimmage and everybody be on the same page for a 28-yard score.

"He just was really unfazed by the scenario and just showed a lot of poise. Down seven, everything in his eyes said, ‘Put it on me and let's go. … And he made some unbelievable plays on third down. That play where he jumped over top and did the flip, I think if we had won that game, that would be a play they showed (in) Philly for a long time. He just was really composed in a tight situation. That's what you want out of your quarterbacks. That's what I've seen out of good quarterbacks in my past.”

What about the two first-half misses?

"I was expecting something else (on the Smith misfire) and ended up getting out the pocket and made a throw kind of back peddling,” he said. "Maybe I didn’t need to do that. I ended up leading him too much. It’s just a missed opportunity in my eyes.”

"And then I think about the opening drive to (Dallas) Goedert, I couldn’t really follow through with my throw and couldn’t finish through it. Maybe I could have gotten deeper in the pocket. It’s something I’m going to learn from, but I look at it as a missed opportunity for me regardless of (what happened) late in the game, what that looks like and putting us in a position to go in. It’s about what you didn’t do.”

Overall, Hurts was 11-for-17 for 162 yards, the one TD, no INTs for a third straight game and 62 rushing yards on 10 attempts.

It hasn’t all been pretty, and the consistency still isn’t there, but here we are nine weeks in, and Hurts is on pace to complete 62 percent of his passes for 3,742 yards with 21 touchdowns, 8 interceptions and 933 rushing yards with a 6.0 average.

Not bad.

"Sometimes I forget how young the dude is just because of how he has taken control of the team, taken control of the offense,” Boston Scott said. "Tremendous amount of respect for him. He’s an eraser, and what I mean by that is that when things aren’t right, he makes them right. So utmost respect for that guy and what he’s been able to do week in and week out. He’s a warrior. He’s a winner.”

Asked about the two 2nd-half touchdown drives, Hurts shook his head.

"It’s not about any of that,” he said. "I expect to do those things. I also expect to come out and start fast and do the things I need to do early in the game. We are looking at a potential 10-point differential in the game, maybe 14. So the stuff in the end, I expect that to happen. My coaches expect that to happen. 

“‘What could I have done better from the jump? What are the opportunities that I didn’t take advantage of as the quarterback of this team?’ 

"Good, bad, or indifferent, I want to be better and I have to be better in the end. We have to be better as a group but I hold myself to a very high standard.”

https://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/eagles/putting-eagles-qb-jalen-hurts-strong-finish-perspective

[UK_EaglesFan89]

I would say this was perhaps Hurts best game as an Eagle? He used the middle of the field, he used the left side too. He ran when he needed to but he wasn't always so quick to leave the pocket. He made some great throws and had some great, and key, runs. The misses to Goedert and Smith were bad, every QB has those, and that's always going to be an issue with Hurts but he had a really really good game on Sunday. 

[time2rock]

Quote

Just when you start thinking, "Maybe Jalen Hurts just isn’t the guy,” he does something to make you think, "Maybe he is.”

With the amount of experience he has at this level (and especially considering he played 4 games under one HC/OC and now 9 games under a new HC/OC in year 2), I'm sure that is going to keep swinging back and forth.  The hope is, as he gets more and more comfortable that the pendulum swings more frequently toward thinking he is the guy.  At this point I don't think you can say he is or he isn't the guy ... more time is needed to get a more complete evaluation that is somewhat fluid right now as he is developing.  

[PoconoDon]

First of all I want to draw a distinction between a non-running QB (like Brady, Manning, Montana) a running QB (like Randall or Vick) and a mobile QB (like Wilson or Young). A non-running QB can only win from the pocket because they can barely run at all. A mobile QB wins from the pocket but can run some. A running QB wins with their legs but can throw some. I believe, based on what I see, that Hurts is a running QB. I think he suffers from the curse of the running QB. It always manifests itself through inaccuracy, and he's got a bad case of that.

So how does it happen? Running QB's realize at some point early in their football careers, often in Junior High or High School, that they can run away from trouble, so that's what they do and it works. Their Coaches encourage it and build game plans around their running ability in order to get wins at their levels but at the expense of fully developing them into pocket passers or showing that they can't. I view that as a betrayal by the Coach, but that's JMO. 

It continues in College because the pressure to win is huge, and retraining him is a long, difficult, multiyear project that may not work anyway. They never learn to consistently throw their way out of trouble like the non-running and mobile QB's do and suffer inaccuracy as a result, especially when they are under pressure. Because of this, they are exciting to watch some of the time, but they don't win it all. Not one running QB has ever won a SB, and unless they have an all time great team around them, I doubt one ever will. Good NFL defenses can take away their ability  to run at the NFL level and force them to win throwing with consistent accuracy while under pressure, and that's when they fail, because their instinct is to run.

Those non-running QB's only survive at each level and advance to the next level by beating team consistently from the pocket. That requires great accuracy, even under pressure, and that requirement forces them to master the passing game or prove themselves unable to do so. When they do, you find an elite passer like Brady, Manning, Montana, etc. It's true of the mobile QB's as well like Wilson, Favre, Young, Mahomes, etc. They are usually superior passers who can beat you throwing but who also are a threat to run.

Based on what I've seen over the decades and what I see from Hurts now, I'm pretty sure he's a running QB with a QB2 ceiling. It would be nice if I were wrong on this one, but everything  I see leaves me no longer doubting my guess. I see a QB2.

[time2rock]

23 hours ago, PoconoDon said:

First of all I want to draw a distinction between a non-running QB (like Brady, Manning, Montana) a running QB (like Randall or Vick) and a mobile QB (like Wilson or Young). A non-running QB can only win from the pocket because they can barely run at all. A mobile QB wins from the pocket but can run some. A running QB wins with their legs but can throw some. I believe, based on what I see, that Hurts is a running QB. I think he suffers from the curse of the running QB. It always manifests itself through inaccuracy, and he's got a bad case of that.

So how does it happen? Running QB's realize at some point early in their football careers, often in Junior High or High School, that they can run away from trouble, so that's what they do and it works. Their Coaches encourage it and build game plans around their running ability in order to get wins at their levels but at the expense of fully developing them into pocket passers or showing that they can't. I view that as a betrayal by the Coach, but that's JMO. 

It continues in College because the pressure to win is huge, and retraining him is a long, difficult, multiyear project that may not work anyway. They never learn to consistently throw their way out of trouble like the non-running and mobile QB's do and suffer inaccuracy as a result, especially when they are under pressure. Because of this, they are exciting to watch some of the time, but they don't win it all. Not one running QB has ever won a SB, and unless they have an all time great team around them, I doubt one ever will. Good NFL defenses can take away their ability  to run at the NFL level and force them to win throwing with consistent accuracy while under pressure, and that's when they fail, because their instinct is to run.

Those non-running QB's only survive at each level and advance to the next level by beating team consistently from the pocket. That requires great accuracy, even under pressure, and that requirement forces them to master the passing game or prove themselves unable to do so. When they do, you find an elite passer like Brady, Manning, Montana, etc. It's true of the mobile QB's as well like Wilson, Favre, Young, Mahomes, etc. They are usually superior passers who can beat you throwing but who also are a threat to run.

Based on what I've seen over the decades and what I see from Hurts now, I'm pretty sure he's a running QB with a QB2 ceiling. It would be nice if I were wrong on this one, but everything  I see leaves me no longer doubting my guess. I see a QB2.

I'd say your assessment is pretty much spot on.  I have my doubts about Hurts being "the guy" long term as well.  But that still doesn't make me want to use one (or more) of our premium picks in April to reach on a lesser talent at QB (not meaning lesser than Hurts, but lesser with regard to some of the top prospects that have come out in recent years that would have a much higher ceiling).  I think it is a much smarter strategy from a longer picture POV to use those high picks to add premium talent at other positions (since practically every position needs an infusion of young talent ... we have a need for playmakers everywhere) and worry about QB next year (assuming no one has stepped up by then and demonstrated they are "the guy").  IF we do go QB though, then I am likely leaning toward Pickett being the guy and would hope we could get him somewhere in the mid 1st at the earliest allowing us to (1) use 1 or 2 of the higher 1s on defensive players and (2) not have to use multiple 1s to move up to get him.  

[PoconoDon]

11 minutes ago, time2rock said:

I'd say your assessment is pretty much spot on.  I have my doubts about Hurts being "the guy" long term as well.  But that still doesn't make me want to use one (or more) of our premium picks in April to reach on a lesser talent at QB (not meaning lesser than Hurts, but lesser with regard to some of the top prospects that have come out in recent years that would have a much higher ceiling).  I think it is a much smarter strategy from a longer picture POV to use those high picks to add premium talent at other positions (since practically every position needs an infusion of young talent ... we have a need for playmakers everywhere) and worry about QB next year (assuming no one has stepped up by then and demonstrated they are "the guy").  IF we do go QB though, then I am likely leaning toward Pickett being the guy and would hope we could get him somewhere in the mid 1st at the earliest allowing us to (1) use 1 or 2 of the higher 1s on defensive players and (2) not have to use multiple 1s to move up to get him.  

I'm with you on this. The solution at QB will be found in 2023 or beyond. I'd be thrilled if they move one of those 1st rounders into next year for a crappy team's 1st rounder and then use the other two to find difference makers at other positions. As you correctly say, they need help just about everywhere. The outcome I would hate is trading all 3 for an over the hill formerly elite QB. If the Lilliputian Lawyer does that, I'll probably have to fill a lot of my Eagles time with something else. 

[time2rock]

23 minutes ago, PoconoDon said:

I'm with you on this. The solution at QB will be found in 2023 or beyond. I'd be thrilled if they move one of those 1st rounders into next year for a crappy team's 1st rounder and then use the other two to find difference makers at other positions. As you correctly say, they need help just about everywhere. The outcome I would hate is trading all 3 for an over the hill formerly elite QB. If the Lilliputian Lawyer does that, I'll probably have to fill a lot of my Eagles time with something else. 

That would be equally bad but I can definitely see Howie and Lurie wanting to go that route thinking, "Hey it worked for the Buccaneers when they added Brady ... they won it all!!!"  Nevermind the fact that their roster was much stronger than ours is now.  Does adding someone like Wilson make us a better team?  Yeah, BUT we still aren't going to be legitimately competitive due to such a weak roster elsewhere.  And it only makes us somewhat stronger for a couple of years at best as it seems his best days are now behind him.  They REALLY need to give much more thought to building this thing with the longer road in mind and not just short term building which will lead no where.

And taking a mediocre QB (relatively speaking) in April and being tied to him for the next several years (and therefore passing on opportunities to add much better prospects in a year or 2) would be just as bad for this franchise.  

Unfortunately I have zero faith in Howie and Lurie doing the right thing.  ZERO ... ZIP ... NONE ... NADA ... 

[PoconoDon]

1 hour ago, time2rock said:

That would be equally bad but I can definitely see Howie and Lurie wanting to go that route thinking, "Hey it worked for the Buccaneers when they added Brady ... they won it all!!!"  Nevermind the fact that their roster was much stronger than ours is now.  Does adding someone like Wilson make us a better team?  Yeah, BUT we still aren't going to be legitimately competitive due to such a weak roster elsewhere.  And it only makes us somewhat stronger for a couple of years at best as it seems his best days are now behind him.  They REALLY need to give much more thought to building this thing with the longer road in mind and not just short term building which will lead no where.

And taking a mediocre QB (relatively speaking) in April and being tied to him for the next several years (and therefore passing on opportunities to add much better prospects in a year or 2) would be just as bad for this franchise.  

Unfortunately I have zero faith in Howie and Lurie doing the right thing.  ZERO ... ZIP ... NONE ... NADA ... 

You and me both. It's a shame this fan base has to live in a constant state of hoping against hope.