December 13, 2022
It's Tuesday. The Eagles are 12-1 and have the first playoff spot in the NFL clinched after demolishing the Giants on Sunday.
They're the best team in the NFL right now, Jalen Hurts is a serious MVP candidate, and it's only getting harder to argue any of it otherwise.
You can see it and hear just by what they're saying...
Ask ESPN's Dan Orlovsky who his MVP is, his gut will go with Joe Burrow, but he fully admits that Jalen Hurts is absolutely in the conversation.
Sunday against the Giants, Hurts was placing passes with near-surgical precision into the hands of his receivers. It was lightyears beyond anything he could've done last year.
But now, Orlovsky said, his ball placement is as good as anyone's in the league.
"It's hard for me to justify not having Jalen as No. 1. It really is right now. I can say this about Jalen Hurts: He is the most improved passing quarterback I've ever seen in my life.
...
"He was benched in college five years ago because of it, and then four years ago it still wasn't good enough, and his ability to make really impressive placement throws versus tight coverage right now is as good as anybody in the NFL.
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Look, it's hard for me to not put Jalen at 1. It's hard for me not to put [Patrick Mahomes] at 1, and it's hard for me not to put [Joe Burrow] at 1. I think the next month is going to determine which one of those guys wins it, but Jalen, he's not 2. He's not 2 in that conversation." [ESPN Radio]
The Eagles went into the Meadowlands, beat up on the Giants, then left.
Is it a surprise at this point? For Kyle Brandt, and likely many others, absolutely not.
Are there any holes in this team right now? Also Brandt:
"This is where we're supposed to say 'Yeah, poke holes in this Eagles team because you guys just hype the hell out of them.' And I would love to say 'Yeah, but...' But the best I can come up with is when they get to the playoffs, they don't have a terribly experienced head coach.
"That's the best I got. Maybe they run into somebody like [Kyle Shanahan] or maybe Pete Carroll, somebody who's been around the block a bunch of times, and maybe the day gets too big for Sirianni, but I am reaching, because they have it all going on. They show up in wacky outfits, they have Christmas albums. All the nonsense, all the important stuff, all the fun stuff, it's like a perfect product, and they just don't lose. It's awesome." [Good Morning Football]
Boy does that Washington game, back when the defense couldn't get off the field or stop the run, feel like so long ago now.
Since Week 11 against the Colts and the additions of veterans Linval Joseph and Ndamukong Suh to the defensive front, the Eagles' defense has been locking it down ever since, especially against two of the league's premier running backs the past two weeks in Derrick Henry and Saquon Barkley.
Via NFL Next Gen Stats, the Eagles' pass rush generated a season-high pressure rate against the Giants on Sunday and have led the league in the category for the past several weeks:
The Eagles pass rush continued their hot streak in Week 14, generating a season-high 51.3% pressure rate.
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) December 12, 2022
The Eagles have recorded at least a 50.0% pressure rate in 3 of their last 4 games, and lead the NFL with a 43.7% pressure rate since Week 11.#PHIvsNYG | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/kkeOiwOBy4
Yeah, they've come a long way from that Washington game. Maybe give credit to Jonathan Gannon for that too.
The Eagles are the best team in the NFC to former Bird Chris Long, speaking on The Rich Eisen Show, but the 49ers are right there with them save for the question of Brock Purdy. Dallas is there too, but Long has "trust issues" with the Cowboys.
But Long mentioned that the Eagles were pretty sloppy against the Titans last week, taking a lot of penalties. They still blew the doors off them anyway. There was a major reason why:
The difference between these two teams is Jalen Hurts is playing that good right now, so even when they're sloppy, he's that force. You see him on the sideline. A.J. Brown and those guys are having a blast. They're joking, they're laughing, and they should be, and Jalen Hurts is just sitting there stonefaced. He's just looking straight ahead. That dude has it between the ears, and he's making all the plays on the field with his arm, with his legs, the balls that he's thrown outside the numbers have been gorgeous this year. – A.J. Brown has unlocked that whole thing."
Long went on to mention Brandon Graham and the defense's success of late, along with Miles Sanders reaching 1,000 yards rushing. At this point in the season, Long said, you start seeing what teams are really made of and the Eagles just keep going.
"This is where we start to see who people really are and it looks like the Eagles are even more who we thought they were than we could've imagined which is scary." [Rich Eisen Show]
Maybe the greatest measure of how good Hurts has actually been is that Darius Slay wants to play receiver now.
Slay after the Giants game via CBS Sports' Jeff Kerr (warning for language):
Darius Slay says he’s going to WR and can get 1,500 yards with Jalen Hurts as his QB.
— Jeff Kerr (@JeffKerrCBS) December 12, 2022
“I’m tired of this DB shit.” 😂😂😂#Eagles #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/pj4e3j2UQy
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