Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Hurts had to have some déjà vu from his freshman year at Alabama.
It was a record-setting performance by Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts in Super Bowl 57. Hurts threw for over 300 yards, rushed for 70 yards, and accounted for all four Eagles touchdowns (one passing, three rushing). On most nights, this wins games and wins an MVP award.
Unfortunately, Patrick Mahomes was on the other side of the field. And after a slow first half, the Kansas City Chiefs dropped 24 points in the second half on the vaunted Eagles defense and rallied from 24-14 down to prevail in a 38-35 classic.
For Hurts, it was validation for him as one of the NFL’s rising stars. It’s true that the one mistake he did make, an unforced fumble returned for a touchdown by Nick Bolton, was extraordinarily costly, but it was an otherwise phenomenal display of dual-threat quarterbacking.
It’s also a familiarly painful ending for Hurts in a championship game.
No, not the one where he got benched for Tua Tagavailoa.
In his freshman year at Alabama, Hurts led an undefeated Crimson Tide team to a national title rematch against Clemson in the 2016 season. The Alabama defense had only allowed 11.4 points per game up until this point, but had shown some signs of vulnerability against Ole Miss.
Hurts was not a virtuoso as a passer on that night; 13/31 for 131 yards and a 68-yard touchdown pass to O.J. Howard. But he also gave Alabama a 28-24 lead with two minutes left in the fourth quarter on a dazzling 30-yard touchdown run.
All Alabama’s defense needed to do was stop Deshaun Watson and Clemson’s offense one more time in order to secure another national title. The defense only forced one third down (which was obviously converted), and committed a critical pass interference penalty with seconds remaining to set up first and goal at the 2-yard line. By now, you know the rest of the story.
Set Number: SI682 TK1
Alabama only had 2 seconds left to respond and didn’t even recover the kickoff. Hurts had done his part, but the much-praised defense allowed Clemson to rack up 511 yards of total offense and gave up 21 points in the fourth quarter.
On Super Bowl Sunday, Hurts needed a game-tying drive down 35-27 and he delivered the touchdown run and the two-point conversion. The Eagles defense let the Chiefs get into field goal range with only one third down forced, and of course the next third down was the highly controversial holding call that assured Hurts wouldn’t get the ball back with much time left for his own attempt at a game-winner.
Philadelphia’s defense surrendered 6.4 yards per play, the second-highest total allowed all season, and gave up 21 first downs even though the Chiefs ran just 53 plays. The vaunted pass rush failed to sack Patrick Mahomes, they allowed 158 rushing yards (third most all season, including Mahomes’ season-long 26-yard scramble on the decisive series), and didn’t force a single punt after halftime.
It was a tremendous season for Jalen Hurts culminating in both a sensational big game performance, as well as a horrible case of a defensive déjà vu.
