Following a brutal loss to the San Francisco 49ers last Sunday, the Philadelphia Eagles and quarterback Jalen Hurts have faced an absurd amount of criticism and backlash for their performance in that game. While no, Hurts and the gang did not show off their best football against an elite team, some of the feedback in the media has reached the peak, of what I can only assume is clickbait and overreaction.
The biggest such offense of this reactionary content comes from NFL Network analyst David Carr, who while usually being a reliable source of credible football analysis, said the following on Tuesday;
"I'd say he's probably better at playing quarterback for the Philadelphia @Eagles, right now he'd be more productive."@DCarr8 emphasizes Marcus Mariota should be the QB1 over Jalen Hurts. 😳 pic.twitter.com/rGgp6WZjIG
— NFL Total Access (@NFLTotalAccess) December 6, 2023
“Clearly, Jalen isn’t comfortable reading through a defense in a drop-back pass scenario, some would say he’s not even good at it. And I think that when you look at this team, you have to have a serious conversation if you’re Philly. And you have to really say, ‘Is it better for us to play Marcus Mariota right now and let Jalen get fully healthy?’ Because I would argue that it does not matter if they’re the number one seed. Because if the 49ers come into Philly again, they do not care.”
It’s fair to argue that Hurts has been a bit cold and it could be due to injury, but to suggest he is playing at a level in which he should be rested or outright benched is a stretch. Hurts even if he is at 75% is still one of the most gifted quarterbacks in the league, which includes as a passer. We have seen even in recent weeks surgical execution of drives by Hurts, routinely leading an albeit talented squad up and down the field.
Jalen Hurts found DeVonta Smith on a perfectly-placed 15-yard TD in the 4th Quarter on Sunday
Here's what made it happen #FlyEaglesFly 🦅 pic.twitter.com/koSksfYXbU
— Fran Duffy (@EaglesXOs) November 29, 2023
Last we saw of Marcus Mariota was his stint as a starter last season, one in which his arm looked all but cooked when attempting to push the ball down the field. While Mariota is certainly a serviceable backup and can operate within this Philadelphia offense especially with a dangerous set of wheels, Nick Sirriani would be a fool to pull the plug on Hurts for any reason beyond critical failure.
QB Marcus Mariota
111 yards rushing (on 13 carries) in his last two games.
Designed rushes (below) + scramble attempts. pic.twitter.com/g1Q1xQFZ3l
— Matt Bowen (@MattBowen41) October 18, 2022
Let’s maybe hold off on such rash overreactions from one game. Hurts has been one of the best quarterbacks in the league on one of the best teams and up until this point was not questioned on his play. There could be so many different layers of factors to why Hurts stumbled last week, up to and including “just having an off day”. It’s unlikely at any point in the future Hurts will be benched, and it is more likely that he may walk away with a MVP trophy at the end of the year.
