One thing that was tough to not take away from Sunday night was Jalen Hurts’ performance, which quietly ended up being one of the best stories from Philadelphia’s 40-22 win over the Chiefs.
Hurts quietly had a good night, missing on just five passes while completing 17-of-22 for 221 yards, along with two touchdowns and an interception. He was smart, decisive, and didn’t put the ball in harm’s way, which is something that has plagued Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson in recent postseasons.
You can argue the fact Hurts did throw an interception, but he threw it in a fashion that ended up not hurting his team. It came on a 3rd-and-10 from the Chiefs’ 30-yard line, with Hurts firing a deep ball downfield that ended up being picked off at Kansas City’s 2-yard line.
As a result, it ended up as the equivalent of a punt, and it worked out because the turnover essentially pinned the Chiefs at their own 2-yard line while setting Philadelphia up with decent field position when their defense forced a 3-and-out.
That resulted in a 48-yard field goal by Jake Elliott on the ensuing drive, putting the Eagles up 10-0.
Other than that, Hurts was both patient and decisive, not forcing any bad throws and taking whatever Kansas City’s defense gave him. He was also accurate on a couple of well-thrown deep balls, including an unbelievable 46-yard downfield strike just one play after Philadelphia stopped the Chiefs on 4th-and-4.
That ended up being the knockout blow with the score sitting at 34-0, and give credit to Hurts for coming up with a huge throw at the right time.
“It definitely took a team effort to get us to the point of winning the Super Bowl,” said Hurts after the game. “The only thing I can think about is the amount of effort and work that has been put in over time. We had a focused group of players out there. Offense was able to score points and take advantage of opportunities, just enough to put points on the board. The defensive players played their ass’ off like they have been all year. I think this game is a great testament to our defense.”
Meanwhile, Hurts ended up playing in his second Super Bowl Sunday night, which is somewhere Jackson hasn’t managed to get to so far. Overall, he’s thrown seven interceptions in the eight postseason games he’s played to this point, and he has 11 turnovers total over that span.
For Jackson, those have been costly, and it cost him another shot at advancing against the Bills this past January in the Divisional Round. People will point at the drop by tight end Mark Andrews that cost the Ravens a two-point conversion that would have tied the game, but his two turnovers in that match-up ultimately ended up playing a key role in what turned out to be a 27-25 loss.
In contrast, Hurts has just four turnovers in the postseason, which is clearly the stark difference between the two players. What was noticeable was his patience and decisiveness, with Hurts not forcing the ball into tight situations, as well as taking off and sliding when the opportunity was there and moving the chains.
You can argue Philadelphia’s ground game with Saquan Barkley, but that same argument sort of goes out the window when you take into account that the Ravens had Derrick Henry. Baltimore ended up squandering a similar season from their running back where they likely would have put up a better fight compared to what the Chiefs ultimately did against Philadelphia.
Jackson may continue to put up great numbers in the regular season, and the Ravens may indeed continue to dominate the AFC North. But until he starts playing the way that Hurts has learned to, Jackson may find himself on the outside looking in every February until he figures it out.
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
