After a Lost Season, Jalen Hurts Faces His Next Passing Evolution

A humorous trend that the Philly faithful have recognized over the last few seasons implies the Eagles will make it to the Super Bowl next year, despite falling short this year. Since Jalen Hurts has taken over the reins, the Eagles have lost in round one three times (2021-22, 2023-24, and 2025-26) and have made the Super Bowl twice (2022-23, 2024-25). It has been a rollercoaster of seasons, the highest of highs in Super Bowl 57 and 59 seasons, as they played on the biggest stage, and the lowest of lows, as the following seasons were a staggering regression.

We have seen the Eagles bounce between peaks and valleys just as much as they have bounced between offensive and defensive coordinators. Some seasons, they have found problems in their schemes and addressed them; others, not so much.

One player has been in the spotlight through all of it, and he’s the one player who seems to be able to handle criticism and work through it.

Hurts comes under more scrutiny than any other quarterback in the league. Whether it’s national or local media, there isn’t a football show nationwide or in Philadelphia that goes a week without a “Jalen Hurts” segment. Despite the constant nitpicking over his quarterback abilities, we’ve hardly seen any of the talk get to him — at least not in the way you think.

Since coming into the league, Hurts has had obvious flaws in his game. He was not a good pocket-passer on intermediate routes. He could not throw the deep ball. He had trouble reading defenses. Last year? He could not thrive against the blitz. This year? He’s not making completions over the middle of the field.

Taking a look at his passing charts according to Next Gen Stats, you won’t see many green circles over the middle of the field, and hardly any between the hashes. It’s been a weak part of his game this season, and was not much of a strength in the previous one, either.

However, two years ago, NFL analysts said the same thing about Hurts’ numbers against the blitz. Not too long later, Hurts led his team to the Super Bowl with a 115.4 passer rating versus the blitz that season. He would have to face off against Steve Spagnuolo, one of the best defensive coordinators in the league. Of course, Hurts and the Eagles routed the Chiefs in that game, and a lot of credit can be given to Hurts’ poise despite the pressure. In 2025, Hurts finished 5th in the NFL in passer rating vs. the blitz with a posted rating of 109.2.

Turnovers were another aspect of his game that needed improvement. In 2023, over the course of 18 games, Hurts threw 15 interceptions. In the two seasons since, he has played in 36 games and has totaled 11 interceptions. The Eagles quarterback changed his play-style slightly to take fewer risks and secure the football more often. However, that has led him to throw less over the middle and more towards the sidelines.

This is the aspect of his game that Hurts needs to improve on, as he did with his poise against the blitz and his safety with throwing the ball. It’s a fine line to draw between throwing over the middle and being risk-free, but for Hurts to take another step in his game, he’ll need to draw it.

We’ve seen him make these year-over-year adjustments that the media has criticized him for, and we’ve seen him do it without giving in to the antagonization. I expect nothing less from him going forward to be comfortable with throwing the ball over the middle and doing it successfully. While there is no word on the Eagles’ future offensive coordinator, Hurts can expect his future play-caller to inspire these types of throws from him.

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