By Edward Johnson
Staff Writer
The Philadelphia Eagles were dominated 27-7 by the Chicago Bears Sept. 28 at Soldier Field, and lost at home in a close game 24-20 to the Los Angeles Rams Oct. 4
For the first four games of the season, the Eagles and their lack of talent in all three phases of football have been getting exposed. Seeing the Eagles struggle this early in the season begs the question; did we overrate Jalen Hurts and the Eagles all of these years?
Hurts went 16-for-25 for 165 yards, adding a touchdown, two sacks and an interception and finished the game with a quarterback rating of 65.
Even worse than that performance was Hurts completing only 12 of 27 passes for 93 yards, and being sacked four times in front of an Eagles fanbase that booed him at the end of a disappointing loss to a Rams team they were beating by 10 points with 6 minutes left in the fourth quarter.
The Eagles finished the game with a total of 68 passing yards and a total of 172 yards total.
The Rams undeniably have a talented roster, but they have struggled to start the season. The Eagles with a home game this early in the season against a team coming in with two of their best defensive players in Myles Garret and Aaron Donald not active, they should have gotten the job done.
What hurts more is getting beat by a Bears team with a backup quarterback like Case Keenum, who is 38-years-old, and playing for his eighth team in 14 years.
That’s not what the Eagles were expecting from Hurts when they decided to trade away Carson Wentz to make him the franchise quarterback.
When Hurts was drafted by the Eagles in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft, there were not a lot of positive discussions being made about his selection.
In fact, many critics and fans were upset with the pick because the Eagles had just given Wentz a four-year, $128 million contract extension, seemingly suggesting he was the future of the team.
Some critics thought it was a smart pick and some critics thought that the Eagles may even convert him to playing at running back, because of his tough running ability and the fact that they already had a franchise quarterback at the time.
Almost nobody expected Wentz to get hurt the following season, or for Hurts to take over the team and play as well as he has for the last six seasons.
His success with the Eagles has silenced many critics who were saying he would be a failure, especially when he helped the Eagles avenge their Super Bowl LVII loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in 2023, to a Super Bowl LIX domination in 2025.
If you’re anything like me, you would have said, “the Eagles only won because they had A.J. Brown.”
Many football fans, especially Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants fans would agree with that statement, while also throwing in Saquon Barkley as well.
Barkley has been a steady contributor to the Eagles in his three seasons with the team rushing for over 3,000 yards and 20 touchdowns.
He was one of the key pieces to the Eagles Super Bowl win with 57 yards rushing on 25 carries and 40 yards on 6 receptions, according to ESPN.
However, Barkley’s play has been inconsistent this year as well. He has recorded two games with more than 80 yards rushing and has had another two games where he hasn’t even gained more than 10.
Even though A.J. Brown had only three catches for 43 yards and a touchdown in Super Bowl LIX, he tallied up 339 receptions, 5,034 yards and 32 touchdowns in just four seasons with Hurts as the quarterback for the Eagles.
Hurts’ record before Brown’s arrival to the Eagles was 9-10 as a starter and he had never made it out of the first round of the wild card.
With Brown, he has made it to two NFC Championship games, two Super Bowls, winning one and has made three Pro Bowl teams.
Brown gave Hurts an option at wide receiver he could easily get the football to. For the four years Brown was in Philadelphia, Hurts played with an edge he’s seemed to have lost.
When he was traded to the New England Patriots this offseason, many speculations were made that Hurts’ play and the Eagles’ offense would be drastically impacted.
Well, it has been. The Eagles have not been the same team for the first four games of this season and Hurts has certainly not been the same quarterback.
Over his first three games, Hurts has posted a quarterback rating of 66 (44 against the Bears) he has been sacked eight times, and has thrown three interceptions.
The Eagles won their first two games of the season, but they were against a mediocre team in the Washington Commanders and a lowly talented 0-3 Tennessee Titans.
They were even a -3.5 favorite to beat the Chicago Bears, until they were embarrassed by a 38-year-old undrafted quarterback. Keenum played like a 19-year-old No. 1 draft pick.
Having two close wins against average teams and losing to another that played without their superstar quarterback puts a spotlight on the Eagles and Hurts they may not want.
The Eagles have been steady contenders in the NFC over the last decade, but have not displayed the promise of a championship team they have shown in recent memory.
It may be time to finally admit that Hurts and the Eagles have been overrated all of these years.
