NEW ORLEANS — Jalen Hurts has often been judged by his failings more than his successes over the course of his career.
Getting benched at halftime of a college football championship game. Being forced to transfer from Alabama to Oklahoma just to be able to regain a starting job. Getting drafted in the second round to be a backup and then having his passing prowess questioned as he quickly became a starter and had a successful launch to his NFL career.
All those doubts helped fuel Hurts along the way and now he will be forever known as a Super Bowl MVP.
While Hurts wasn’t asked to do too much on a dominant defensive night for Philadelphia, he came through at nearly every opportunity when he was needed as the calm he has shown throughout his career was evident on football’s biggest stage.
He went 17 for 22 for 221 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for 72 yards and a touchdown in over Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs that avenged a Super Bowl loss two years ago against Kansas City.
Hurts was outstanding in that game, throwing for 304 yards and a TD and rushing for 70 yards and three more scores but could only watch as Harrison Butker kicked a go-ahead field goal with 8 seconds left for a 38-35 win.
Hurts turned that year into a $255 million, five-year contract the following offseason but it didn’t quiet the critics who questioned whether Hurts was holding back the Eagles offense at various points the past two years.
AP @ the Super Bowl
Outside of an early interception against the Chiefs — his first since Week 10 against Dallas — Hurts was nearly flawless against Steve Spagnuolo’s defense.
He converted scrambles when he faced pressure and kept finding open receivers, with his 46-yard deep shot to DeVonta Smith making it 34-0 in the third quarter, providing an exclamation point to a lopsided Super Bowl win.
Hurts also threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to A.J. Brown late in the first half and scored on a 1-yard tush push for the first score of the game, leading to a statistical performance achieved only by Hall of Famer Joe Montana in Super Bowl history.
The two are the only quarterbacks to throw for at least 200 yards and two TDs, rush for at least 50 yards and a score with Montana doing it in Super Bowl 19 against Miami.
Hurts is now just the fourth quarterback ever to lose his first Super Bowl start and go on to win one as a starter later in his career, joining Hall of Famers John Elway, Bob Griese and Len Dawson.
___
AP NFL:
The post Jalen Hurts quiets any doubters with a Super Bowl MVP appeared first on Associated Press.
