Sunday’s Wildcard loss was a tough pill to swallow for the Eagles. It served as a sobering reality of what this team truly is at this moment — a one dimensional offense along with a defense that is devoid of any kind of legitimate talent outside of Darius Slay.
Tampa Bay did a great job containing the Eagles No. 1 rushing attack, limiting them to under 100 yards rushing for the first time since Week 5 in Carolina. In the back of our minds, we all knew there was only one way the Eagles could have pulled off the upset — running the ball effectively and controlling the pace of the game. Jalen Hurts is not equipped to win shoot outs and that was abundantly clear on Sunday.
He finished the day going 23-for-43 (53 completion percentage), throwing one touchdown to two interceptions and posting a passer rating of 60. As Hurts typically does, he missed some wide open receivers throughout the game and his two interceptions were two of the worst plays you’ll see all postseason.
All of the shortcomings Hurts detractors worried about were on full display on Sunday. And his abysmal performance should have us all wondering: Are the Eagles satisfied with this type of play at the quarterback position?
If there’s one thing we know for certain about Howie Roseman and the organizational philosophy, it’s that quarterback will always be the most important position for them. While Hurts did show some improvement throughout the course of the season, he’s consistently been terrible at going through his progressions, seeing the field, and understanding when to just throw it away and live to see another down.
Those things are correctable, but it’s a whole lot easier to coach those type of things up when the quarterback has elite talent. Hurts does not possess that. His accuracy has always been off and he lacks elite arm talent. Any franchise quarterback needs at least one of those traits in order to succeed at a high level, and Hurts has neither.
Whether we want to admit it or not, Hurts’ limitations will ultimately hold this team back from ever contending for a Super Bowl. Sure, there are other holes across this roster, especially on the defensive side of the ball, but they pale in comparison to the value found at the quarterback position.
Roseman will almost certainly explore his options this offseason at quarterback. He would be doing a disservice to the franchise if he just sat on his hands and gave Hurts a blind vote of confidence. That doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll do whatever it takes to grab, say, Russell Wilson, but if you think Howie won’t be on the phone with Seattle at some point discussing a Wilson trade, you simply haven’t been paying attention.
Now, the Eagles aren’t as desperate as some teams are at the quarterback position. Hurts, or Gardner Minshew for that matter, can continue being the stop-gap QB until this team is truly ready to compete for a Super Bowl. They’re serviceable enough in that regard. But the clock’s ticking, and sooner or later, Howie will make his move.