NEW ORLEANS — Jalen Hurts was comfortable sharing the spotlight from September through January.
But on the second Sunday night in February when it mattered most, the Eagles’ quarterback stepped to the forefront and earned the Most Valuable Player Award in Philadelphia’s 40-22 victory against the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX in the Caesars Superdome.
“Jalen just knows how to win,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “He does a great job of blocking out the noise. He’s special.”
Hurts denied Kansas City what would have been the first three-peat in Super Bowl history. He completed 17 of 22 passes for 221 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 72 yards and a touchdown, becoming the fifth player with multiple touchdown passes and a rushing touchdown in a Super Bowl.
Hurts was characteristically humble in sharing the credit for the Eagles’ dominance.
“It took a total team effort,” the five-year veteran said. “The defense played the way they have all year. Defenses win championships, and you saw how they were the difference in the game. They gave us opportunities with short fields, and we made the plays we had to make in order to put points on the board.”
Saquon Barkley joined the Eagles as a free agent from the New York Giants last offseason and greatly enhanced the team’s rushing game by gaining more than 2,000 yards on the ground.
Barkley and the Eagles’ top-rated defense also excelled in three playoff games, while the passing game was inconsistent and Hurts was hobbled by a knee injury sustained in the divisional game against the Los Angeles Rams.
“We’ve been able to find multiple ways to win,” Hurts said.
On Sunday, Hurts led an efficient offense that accumulated 21 first downs and had the ball for nearly 37 minutes by making big plays that staggered the Chiefs.
On Philadelphia’s second possession, he threw completions of 20 yards to Dallas Goedert and 27 yards to Jahan Dotson, leading to Hurts’ 1-yard sneak for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
After throwing an interception with his team in field-goal range on the team’s next possession, he bounced right back by throwing a 22-yard completion to A.J. Brown to set up Jake Elliott’s 48-yard field goal and a 10-0 lead.
“I try to embrace every situation,” Hurts said. “I try to turn every negative into a positive, every weakness into a strength.”
The Eagles also led the Chiefs by 10 points at halftime in the Super Bowl two years ago and wound up losing 38-35. This team kept extending the lead.
The defense chipped in a 38-yard interception return for a touchdown by rookie Cooper DeJean and a Zack Baun interception at the Kansas City 14-yard line, leading to Hurts’ 12-yard touchdown pass to Brown and a 24-0 halftime lead.
On the Eagles’ first possession of the third quarter, Hurts had scrambles for 16 yards and 14 yards and threw a 22-yard completion to Barkley, leading to Elliott’s 29-yard field goal.
Then late in the third quarter, on the first play after the Chiefs turned the ball over on downs at their 46, Hurts launched a touchdown pass to DaVonta Smith for a 34-0 lead.
From there, Hurts managed the game well enough to get two more field goals from Elliott amid Kansas City scores that never threatened the lead.
Hurts’ performance ended a series of disappointments in championship opportunities.
In the Super Bowl loss two years ago, he passed for 304 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 70 yards and three scores.
“As good as it was,” Hurts said Sunday, “it wasn’t enough to win. Sometimes you have to accept that you have to wait your turn.”
As Alabama’s quarterback, Hurts lost to Clemson in the 2016 College Football Playoff Championship Game and was benched in favor of Tua Tagovailoa in the Crimson Tide’s 2017 championship victory against Georgia.
After Hurts transferred to Oklahoma, he lost to LSU in a 2019 CFP semifinal.
“It’s been an unprecedented journey,” Hurts said. “There have been ups and downs, highs and lows. But it’s been a fun ride.”
The ride may be just beginning for the 26-year-old.
“It’s always the beginning until it’s the end. And I’m a long way from the end,” he said.
–By Les East, Field Level Media
