For the second time in three seasons, Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles are headed back to the Super Bowl after the Eagles routed the Commanders 55-23 on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field.
In a rematch of Super Bowl 57, the Eagles will play the Kansas City Chiefs in New Orleans.
After putting up subpar numbers in these playoffs, Hurts broke out against the Commanders. He completed 20-of-28 passes for 246 yards and finished with four total touchdowns. Hurts, who was battling a left knee injury, had his mobility and looked sharp throwing the ball.
Hurts, who is 46-20 as a starter, has talked about stats not being important, and for him, the only stat that does matter is wins and losses.
“I think we need to change our approach to all of this,” he said. “I don’t play the game for stats. I don’t play the game for numbers, any statistical approval from anyone else. And I understand that everyone has a preconceived notion on how they want it to look, or how they expect it to look. I told you guys that winning, success, is defined by that particular individual, and it’s all relative to the person. And what I define it as is winning. So the number one goal is always to come out here and win.”
Following the first two playoff wins, Hurts was criticized by many; however, according to Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni, all Hurts does is find ways to win.
“It’s amazing how much doubt there is sometimes,” Sirianni said. “I can’t quite comprehend it because it doesn’t look like what people think it should look like, but the guy has been clutch. He’s won a ton of football games. ‘But you ran for this many yards.’ We don’t care how we win. We don’t care. If we rush for 300 and pass for one and we win, great. If we rush for one and pass for 300, great. Who cares?
“We’ve just continued to win. He’s just continued to win. I think the criticism is– yeah, whatever. He just wins. I said what I said after the game, and that’s kind of how I feel.”
Sirianni and Hurts have been to the playoffs all four years they have been together, and when asked what it’s like playing for Sirianni, Hurts had some interesting comments.
“He’s done a great job,” he said. “He’s done a great job. I guess he let me out of my straitjacket a little bit today.”
These comments appear to be Hurts trying to be funny, so it’s not a big deal.
Hurts is the first quarterback in franchise history to take the team to the Super Bowl twice. If he can beat the Chiefs in two weeks, he could be the greatest quarterback in team history.
He was great on Sunday, and the Eagles will need him to be great one more time this season to be world champions. Let’s see if he’s up for the test!
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