PHILADELPHIA - Earlier this week, Eagles superstar running back Saquon Barkley was asked about his quarterback Jalen Hurts and how the signal caller was progressing through what could have been an ugly knee injury suffered against the Los Angeles Rams in the Divisional Round of the playoffs.
“I’m expecting Jalen to be Jalen,” Barkley said. “He’s gonna show up for it, he’s gonna make plays, he’s a winner, he has that It factor like I’ve said multiple times.”
The “it factor” is finding a way to lead Philadelphia to the finish line and no one has ever done it at a better pace than Hurts.
Hurts is 14-2 as the team’s starter this season, heading into Sunday’s NFC Championship Game against the Washington Commanders, the Eagles' second conference championship tilt in three years.
In Hurts’ four seasons as the Eagles starting quarterback he’s made the postseason four times. Since 2022, he’s 41-12 as the team’s on-field leader, a .774 winning percentage.
Only Kansas City three-time Super Bowl winner Patrick Mahomes has won at a better clip than Hurts over that timeframe and Hurts’ overall career-winning percentage of .697 is seventh all-time behind Mahomes, Tom Brady, Lamar Jackson, Roger Staubach, Joe Montana, and Peyton Manning, QBs who are either Hall of Famers or slam dunks to be in Canton once it’s their time.
Hurts, though is often viewed differently, especially this season due to a less-than-aesthetic passing offense at times which generated a dismal 65 net yards in last week’s victory over the Rams.
Barkley and his 2,329 rushing yards this season, 148 shy of Terrell Davis’ single-season record has usurped Hurts as the leader of the offense to those outside the building.
Inside the NovaCare Complex, Hurts is still the one who has “it.”
"It's something I've heard my whole entire life,” Hurts said Friday. “...I don't know what 'it' is. Keeps people talking. Must be something good."
Whatever “it” is will be on display Sunday against the Commanders and if past is prologue, the math says Hurts, balky knee and all, will steer the Eagles toward a way to win.
