August 18, 2026
Jamie Sabau/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Pictured: A good quarterback, as much as people will try to argue otherwise.
Jalen Hurts has already won a Super Bowl – and Super Bowl MVP honors – with one of the championship game's most efficient performances ever.
Two years prior, he orchestrated one of the Super Bowl's outright best performances ever, fell just short, and yet was one of the very few quarterbacks to actually live up to the promise of "He'll be back."
He's a three-time Pro Bowler, has made the NFL's Top 100 list (and considerably high up on it) three times, and though it hasn't all been sunshine and rainbows (far from it), he has led the Eagles to the playoffs in all five of his years as their starting quarterback, at minimum, and looks poised to keep that as their floor once again in 2026.
And he's done so, mind you, with five different offensive play-callers across those five years, and going on six for six.
Put tape over the name, and every fan base and pundit across the league would think that's an unquestioned franchise quarterback who is building up to a Hall of Fame case.
But then peel that tape back, and proceed to watch everyone short-circuit and fall back on a spectrum of trivial criticisms to some astronomical mental gymnastics.
Because, for whatever reason, people can't just bring themselves to admit that Jalen Hurts is a good quarterback, even after five years of sustained success in the league.
They can't fathom that he's better than Josh Allen, or Joe Burrow, or Justin Herbert, or Matthew Stafford, despite the fact that he's gone much further than the first three and that the Eagles always seem to have a way of one-upping the fourth.
Those four aforementioned names always seem to get excuses within the larger national picture, while Hurts gets blame for the shortcomings and even outright dismissal for the successes – he's carried by a loaded roster, protected by a great O-line, covered for by a suffocating defense.
It's been this way for years now. News flash: A good QB needs the rest of the team to be good to be successful.
But here's the latest wave of "yeah, but..." talking points regarding Hurts...
First, Mike Sando, one of The Athletic's senior NFL writers, who had to talk around those two Super Bowl performances as the massive argument enders to even make a point that Hurts isn't as good as anyone else while on Ross Tucker's podcast:
“I don't think anyone above (Jalen Hurts) is trading their quarterback for him…”
— Ross Tucker Podcast (@RossTuckerPod) August 17, 2026
“And there's certainly no one in the league who's like, ‘oh my gosh, we got to play Hurts this week’ necessarily.”@SandoNFL on the Eagles QB: https://t.co/MvQjHES4Ty pic.twitter.com/dlG4AxW8Kf
Right on Q pic.twitter.com/ons19ZR2Hy
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) August 12, 2026
So some context, because I was there when that pick was thrown: This was during a fourth-quarter two-minute drill. So yeah, right away, that is bad because an interception there is a game-ender. But the pick, from my view of it that day, looked more a result of miscommunication on the timing and depth of the route.
Also, Quinyon Mitchell is a really good cornerback. It was a great play by him, and really, the camera probably should've stayed on him.
Also also, Hurts threw an interception in camp. All starting QBs do. It's inevitable. Josh Allen tossed one last week during Bills practice, but didn't catch anywhere close to the same amount of flak because nothing is ever sweet baby boy Josh Allen's fault.
Dee-fense. 😤 pic.twitter.com/YnhJknUt9o
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) August 11, 2026
Don't worry, though, I'm sure he'll throw a couple more of those and even give up a few fumbles for good measure when he's trying to play hero ball in the playoffs again – then get entirely excused for it.
As for Hurts, that above interception clip kind of exists in isolation. So far, he's looked good in camp and has made a lot of good throws and reads (and all while short his two top receivers). He looks faster, and the big names on the Eagles' defense can tell. He has also been doing everything asked of offensive coordinator Sean Mannion's new system, and seemingly without much issue – taking snaps under center, running play action, throwing more and over the middle, and keeping the ball to run. You know, the things many have spent all offseason arguing that he couldn't or even wouldn't do.
The last point isn't tied directly to Hurts, but feeds into the bizarre double standard that's been built up around him, courtesy of Dan Orlovsky on ESPN earlier this week:
"Everyone who hates on Justin Herbert, there's some validity to that he has not played his best ball in the playoffs…but he still got them there" – Dan Orlovsky pic.twitter.com/4znT2yitqv
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 17, 2026
Herbert has been in the NFL as long as Hurts. He went sixth overall to the Chargers in the 2020 draft, while Hurts went in the second round at 53rd overall to the Eagles.
It's been six years and the Chargers haven't always been decimated by injury, and yet Herbert, their immediate franchise guy, is 0-3 in the playoffs, with the Chargers getting trounced thoroughly in each of those games.
Hurts had to take the starting job in the chaos of the Carson Wentz fallout (and remember, there were some no so quiet murmurs on Russell Wilson and even Deshaun Watson at the time), was the leading man for a surprise playoff bid in 2021, an outright championship bid that fell just short to the dynasty Chiefs in 2022, and then came all the way back to topple that same dynasty in 2024 with an all-time thrashing.
So why does Allen get an annual pass? And Herbert, who hasn't done anything, or even Burrow in Cincinnati, who throws to one of the league's best receiving duos between Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins?
And why does Jalen Hurts – a quarterback who actually gets the results and wins that everyone can only wish those above guys would achieve at this point – always seem to get his part in the Eagles' successes shrugged away by fans and national pundits every time he, once again defies all expectation?
Jalen Hurts is a good quarterback. It's OK to say it, and to start holding up a harsher microscope to the perceived elite that many want to believe are above him, and yet only have the individual stats and a ton of playoff chokes to show for it.
SIGN UP HERE to receive the PhillyVoice Sports newsletter
Follow Nick on Twitter: @itssnick
Follow Nick on Bluesky: @itssnick
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports
