More on Hurts

Posted: September 16th, 2023 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 1 Comment »

Jalen Hurts final game in 2022 was a spectacular performance. He was near perfect in the Super Bowl and probably should have won MVP. That set sky high expectations for 2023.

Hurts is off to an erratic start in 2023. Not bad, but not what we expected. This is fine. Defenses adjust to good QBs. It is then up to the coaches and the QB to adjust to the defenses. Patrick Mahomes had some struggles when defenses started playing a lot of 2-high looks. He adjusted and was great last year.

Give Hurts and the coaches time to figure things out.

Let’s also keep some perspective. Hurts has looked good at times. His TD to DeVonta in the opener was a perfect pass on the move. That was a great throw. Hurts was good against the blitz on Thursday.

Against the blitz on Thursday, Eagles QB Jalen Hurts completed 8 of 11 passes for 153 yards and a touchdown (145.1 passer rating). When the Vikings didn’t blitz, Hurts completed 10 of 12 passes for 40 yards and one INT (45.8 passer rating).

Hurts has struggled with decision-making more than anything. Defenses have given him a lot to look at and Hurts has had a tough time making good reads and decisions. That will get sorted out. I was highly frustrated on Thursday when he took a pair of sacks with the Eagles in FG range. Just throw the ball away and kick the FG. That mistake put the game in danger. Nick Sirianni preaches the importance of situational football. Hurts should have known that the one thing he couldn’t do was take sacks.

Sirianni and his staff built a scheme that maximized Hurts and his abilities. Defenses spent all offseason studying that and coming up with ways to handle the Eagles. That’s a huge compliment. Nobody is spending an offseason figuring out how to shut down Daniel Jones. Defenses were genuinely worried about Hurts. He seemed to have an answer for everything. Coaches figured out they had to come up with new and creative ideas.

The Eagles have smart coaches. Hurts is a smart QB. They will figure some things out. The Eagles adjusted in the opener and threw the ball more effectively in the second half. On Thursday the coaches leaned on the run game. They have figured out ways to win even with the offense not playing as expected.

This isn’t like the Wildcat that Miami unleashed in 2008 and it was largely solved in 2009. That was a gimmick that caught people off guard. The Eagles offense last year had huge games running and throwing. They could be explosive and efficient. I’m curious and excited to see how things play out after this.

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Fun nugget for the day…the Eagles have more wins than the Giants have points.

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Jalen Carter got the hype in the offseason, but Jordan Davis is reminding people just how good he can be.

Davis leads the team with 1.5 sacks. He’s 6th in tackles and also has a couple of TFLs. He’s clogged running lanes in both games and been really disruptive.

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Let’s not forget how critical this guy has been.

https://twitter.com/JClarkNBCS/status/1702690422496096472

Elliott has a chance to be the best kicker in Eagles history. David Akers has longevity over him now, but Elliott is a good long distance kicker and a weapon for the team.

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This is the anti-Miles Sanders. I don’t want to slander him too much, but he was frustrating because he wasn’t patient enough and left a lot of yards on the field. Swift went 28-175-1 in his first real action as an Eagle. Sanders had a career high of 144 yards last year. Swift showed you in one game how a RB with patience and vision can thrive in this scheme and behind this OL.

I know a lot of people are excited to see Kenny Gainwell this year. I think Swift showed on Thursday that he’s the guy with the highest upside and should be the feature back.

On the flip side, Rashaad Penny only had 3 carries for 9 yards. There is no question at this point that the coaches are down on him. Penny might be needed this year so let’s not write him off just quite yet, but he better start working his butt off in practice and find little ways to impress the coaches.

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https://twitter.com/JClarkNBCS/status/1703051244334407805

Ugh. Hate that for Avonte. He seems like such a good dude, but just can’t stay healthy. This could be the end of his time with the Eagles.

Mario Goodrich is adequate as a backup, but the team might need to look around to see if there is a good nickel corner on the market.

James Bradberry practiced in the slot at times and could move in there. That would open an outside spot for Josh Jobe. The Eagles have a few days to figure out what they want to do.

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One Comment on “More on Hurts”

  1. 1 Eagles News: Josh Sweat is off to a hot start – Consolidated Financial said at 5:46 PM on September 16th, 2023:

    […] More on Hurts – Iggles BlitzHurts has struggled with decision-making more than anything. Defenses have given him a lot to look at and Hurts has had a tough time making good reads and decisions. That will get sorted out. I was highly frustrated on Thursday when he took a pair of sacks with the Eagles in FG range. Just throw the ball away and kick the FG. That mistake put the game in danger. Nick Sirianni preaches the importance of situational football. Hurts should have known that the one thing he couldn’t do was take sacks. […]