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Look for A.J. Brown to do his thing in Super Bowl 59. And Kellen Moore should be steady despite the Saints' interest. Also, here are some bold predictions for Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts as he leads his team against the Chiefs.
Hurts only topped 250 yards passing four times in the Eagles’ 20 games so far this season. That’s because of Saquon Barkley and the fierce ground attack. And he finished with 2,903 yards in the regular season, ranking a lowly No. 20 in the NFL. He had only 18 touchdown passes.
However, Hurts accounted for 32 scores as he added in the neighborhood of 14 “tushing” touchdowns. Oh, did I write “tushing?” It should have read “tush-pushing” touchdowns because most of the 14 were of that variety.
So with all of these aforementioned numbers, what does that mean for bold predictions in the Super Bowl for Jalen Hurts?
Eagles QB Jalen Hurts will throw for 250-plus yards
The Chiefs boasted one of the best run defenses in the NFL this season, allowing 4.1 yards per carry. That ranked in a tie for fifth-best in the league.
In the playoffs, the Texans rushed for 149 yards. And they averaged 5.1 per carry. The Bills hit them for 147 yards on 32 attempts, 4.6 an attempt. It’s clear the Eagles will run the ball and run it often.
However, look for the Chiefs to concentrate on preventing the home run attack on the ground. They will try to force the Eagles to throw for big play by utilizing a run-blitz mentality.
If the Eagles are going to win, they will need Hurts to make a handful of plays down the field. That will increase his overall yardage total even if he doesn’t have a high number of attempts.
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said he expects Hurts to make plays, according to the Chiefs YouTube page via essentiallysports.com.
“Yeah, well, those receivers have been in the offense now for a while, and they’ve got good tight ends,” Reid said. “They’ve got good receivers, I mean, real good receivers. And they’ve got a running back that, you know, arguably is one of the best in the history of the game.
“Their offensive line has to be good, too. And then their quarterback is dialing it up right now. So, whatever injuries he had early in the season, I mean, he’s playing like crazy right now. So that’s a heck of an offense, another huge challenge for us. The Eagles got there because they’re the best team in the NFC. They’re a great football team.”
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said Hurts succeeds because he puts in the effort, according to nfl.com.
“I always admire the heck out of him for how hard he works regardless of the situation,” Sirianni said. “And same guy every day: his mentality, his worth ethic. We had to win a different way this game, and we did. We showed that we can win multiple ways, and that shows the type of team we have, and the type of selfness we have on our team starting with Jalen.”
Hurts said after the win over the Commanders he appreciated the game plan allowing him more freedom which, “let me out of my straitjacket a little bit.”
Sirianni said the comment came in fun.
“I think he was having fun after the game,” Sirianni said. “You know, we've been winning a couple different ways this year. I think he's just having fun after the game. But I know this. He's said this plenty of times, ‘I don't care how we win, as long as we win. And we do everything we can do to be able to win.' As we've talked a lot, there's been different circumstances of how games have went, and where we've been at late in games, but we've found a way to win and rattle off 15 out of 16. So, again, thought he was having fun with that after the game. Just loved how he went out and executed and prepared for this game.”
Saquon Barkley takes pressure off of Hurts
Life should be easier for Hurts if Barkley does his thing. Here are Barkley’s rushing totals over the last five games, three of them in the playoffs: 150, 167, 119, 205, and 118. Over that stretch he also added seven touchdowns.
With defenses needing to account for Barkley, the passing lanes should be wide open for Hurts. And the fifth-year veteran has shown he can get it done on the big stage. In Super Bowl 57, Hurts connected on 27 of 38 passes for 304 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions. Also, he rushed 15 times for 70 yards and three scores.
That’s enough to keep the Chiefs and their defensive coaches wide awake for the two weeks between the AFC Championship and the Super Bowl.
NFL legend Drew Brees said Hurts can only be successful against the Chiefs if the down and distance says in the Eagles’ favor, according to The Herd with Colin Cowherd via essentiallysports.com.
“If you are in third and long too much in this game, you don’t have a chance right,” Brees said. “Because (Chiefs DC Steve Spagnuolo) is so good at the disguise. And he’s so good at getting an overload and getting a free rusher. Then just in a situation where man you just have to get lucky that you can make that guy (Spagnuolo) miss. Or you can buy enough time in order to find somebody open down the field. You have to stay ahead of the chains against Spags.”
