With the Philadelphia Eagles having secured their spot in the playoffs with multiple game weeks to spare, the opportunity was there for them to rest quarterback Jalen Hurts to make sure that he was going to be in tip-top shape for when the postseason came around. Hurts had been nursing a concussion over the past few weeks, but he returned in time for the Eagles' 22-10 victory over the Green Bay Packers in the NFL Wild Card Round on Sunday.

Hurts, however, was far from being his best on Sunday night. While Hurts' final stat line wasn't too bad, as he completed 13 of his 21 passes for two touchdowns and no interceptions, the Eagles' offense seemed to be stuck in neutral all game long. If the Eagles faced a team that wasn't as injury-ravaged as the Packers, then they may have had a more difficult time.

Regardless, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni knows that Hurts being on the field and getting the win, regardless of the road it took to get there, is all that matters.

“We struggled a little bit as an offense…We didn’t have the game we wanted to have,” Sirianni said, per Eliot Shorr-Parks of 94 WIP. “[But] Jalen Hurts is a winner. He wins. Nobody can argue that.”

Indeed, nobody can argue that Hurts is a winner, and the Eagles are one step closer to making it back to the Super Bowl after flaming out of the playoffs in 2024. The good news for the Eagles is that they can win even without getting an A-game from their QB1, which speaks volumes to the number of weapons they have on their squad. A ton of credit must go to their defense for forcing many Packers mistakes that kept Green Bay at a safe distance.

Eagles progress to the NFL Divisional Round

Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (26) rushes the ball against Green Bay Packers cornerback Keisean Nixon (25) in the fourth quarter in an NFC wild card game at Lincoln Financial Field.
Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

To say that the Eagles' win over the Packers was ugly would be an understatement. The first half ended 10-0 in favor of Philadelphia, as both teams had execution issues, most notably the Packers' turnover woes.

This is why the regular season matters in the NFL; having homefield advantage sure did help the Eagles a lot in their win over the Packers, and this should play a huge factor once again in the Divisional Round, as they are certain to face a lower-seeded team. The hope now is that this game shakes off the rust that might have been present for Jalen Hurts.