SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONS! This post needs no introduction. What an unbelievable performance from Jalen Hurts, who silenced all the doubters. LETS GO! [Previously: Eagles-Chiefs Super Bowl Film Review: Vic Fangio’s defense was unbelievably excellent]
You can check out my podcast feed here to hear more from me. If you want to support me further, I have a Patreon linked to my podcast, which really helps me out. I’ll be doing a full All22 video rewatch of the Super Bowl on Patreon!
Offense
I am convinced that Jalen Hurts was not fully healthy this season. I don’t think he’s looked as fast as he has previously, and he’s only 26 years old. In this one, he looked as fast as I have seen him look all season. He had some huge scramble,s and he took off at the right moment. Hurts did what I said he should do a few weeks ago. When the Eagles call 2×2 concepts (which I don’t love, and I’ve explained why before), he doesn’t yet have the ability to get to his backside routes consistently. However, that doesn’t bother me! I am completely happy with him reading half the field and then checking it down or taking off up the field if necessary. He did this really well in this game. It prevented negative plays and sacks and kept the offense in rhythm throughout the game. The Chiefs were focused on stopping Saquon Barkley, and I think they forgot about the ability of Hurts to extend plays. Hurts managed to avoid negative plays, which is very important against this defense. Hurts managed the game and the situation perfectly.
Did anyone else completely lose their mind when this flag was thrown? It was a horrendous call. I loved the aggressive to go for it on 4th down and take the shot to AJ Brown. It set the tone and showed that the Eagles were not scared of the Chiefs’ defense. The Chiefs played a lot of man coverage, and Trent McDuffie lined up over AJ Brown. I predicted the Chiefs would do this and that AJ Brown would beat McDuffie. I was correct!
Trent McDuffie is an excellent (although undersized) corner who may end up on AJ Brown. I think this would be a fantastic matchup for the Eagles, even though McDuffie is good, because I think AJ Brown can physically dominate him at the catch point and the line of scrimmage.
McDuffie is a great cornerback, but AJ Brown is an elite receiver. Brown might be the best receiver against man coverage in the league right now. I know that fans became annoyed with the lack of creativity and reliance on down-the-field throws at times last year, but I have consistently said that I do not mind it. I like this play on 4th down. It is not a 50/50 ball when you have AJ Brown and Jalen Hurts. Hurts throws this ball better than anyone in the league. This should have been a huge gain. I was so frustrated because it was never offensive pass interference. AJ Brown won this rep fair and square.
I am sure we all predicted that Jahan Dotson would make the first big play of the game! This was another great read and throw by Jalen Hurts. He reads the late safety rotation and takes the one-on-one matchup on the outside. The Eagles pick up the blitz perfectly, and Barkley’s block in the backfield is outstanding. Like the defense, this offense was prepared for whatever the Chiefs called.
Dotson’s route here is really interesting. Dotson does not get off press coverage very well. It’s his biggest issue as a receiver. He wins here, though! He runs this route as if he is blocking for a screen on the outside,e and he sucks the outside cornerback in. I would love to ask him if this is something he saw in his film study and planned it. If it was planned, it’s a fantastic bit of game planning! Dotson sells it perfectly. If it’s something that Dotson does on the fly, that’s equally impressive.
I felt excellent about the game after this one. The progression that Jalen Hurts has made as a quarterback since coming out of college is huge. It would be nice if media members spent more time highlighting his progression (perhaps I will write about this soon…) rather than talking about what he doesn’t do well. His progression over the past few years has been huge. This was a smart play.
The Eagles could not run the ball. If the Eagles had lost this game, Philadelphia radio stations would be going absolutely mental. It’s almost incredible how bad the Eagles’ run game was. Saquon Barkley had 25 carries for 57 yards with a 15% success rate. That is absurd! This was one of the best run games of all time, and they just couldn’t get anything going. I’ll get into why later. The run game played a role in the offense’s success despite being ineffective.
However, the Eagles still ended with 135 rushing yards, and much of it was down to the play of Jalen Hurts. I am such a fan of this one. The Eagles are good enough to win in the regular season without getting Hurts hit too much. However, you don’t need to hold back when it’s the Super Bowl. In truth, I think the Eagles did not run Jalen Hurts enough in this game. I would have used him more and Barkley less because it is clear that Hurts was more effective in the run game.
This was the only awful play of the game. Hurts had 1 turnover-worthy throw and 9 big-time throws in this game, which is pretty impressive. But this one was bad. There’s a lot I didn’t like. Firstly, I would prefer the offense to have a check where the outside receiver can simply stop and catch a short hitch route if the outside cornerback blitzes. Instead, AJ Brown goes deep. Hurts correctly identifies the cornerback blitz and takes the one-on-one shot, which is no surprise. Sadly, the offensive line blows their assignment here (I have no idea why Cam Jurgens blocks to his left), and Hurts is hit as he releases the ball. This leads to the interception. Hurts has to throw this as a sack would knock them out of field goal range. I would have preferred something shorter against an outside corner blitz.
However, it was only one play. Except for this, Hurts did a fantastic job avoiding negative plays and putting the ball in harm’s way. And this play wasn’t entirely on him.
Right, let’s get into it. I’ve had a lot of questions about why the Eagles’ running game was so ineffective. I’ve watched every single run from multiple angles, and these are my takeaways as to why…
- The Chiefs’ defensive plan was to stop the run. They were hyper-focused on it. They always had men around the line of scrimmage. When they played two high, the safeties came flying downhill quickly. The Chiefs tackled exceptionally well. Overall, the Chiefs’ defense was outstanding in run defense. You can tell that they spent most of the past 2 weeks watching the Eagles’ running game.
- The Eagles’ interior offensive line could not create much running room. Landon Dickerson was clearly hurt and did not play as well as usual. I noticed in my Patreon rewatch that Cam Jurgens had a few poor reps. I wonder if he played hurt, too. The Eagles’ offensive line could not double the defensive line and get to the 2nd level because the Chiefs were flying downhill so quickly. This was a big issue in the zone running game.
- It was not a schematic problem. The Eagles tried a lot of different things. I saw toss plays, under-center runs with a full back, outside zone, inside zone, counter, QB runs, etc. The Eagles tried a lot of different things. Nothing worked!
- Saquon Barkley didn’t have a ‘magical’ performance. Sometimes, Barkley creates something out of nothing. But he couldn’t in this game. Nick Bolton was excellent at tackling on the open field, and the Chiefs’ defenders flew to the football.
Despite all of these points, the run game played a role in this victory! The early down run game got the Eagles’ offense on schedule. Even if they only picked up 2-3 yards, it didn’t put them behind the sticks. The Eagles’ passing game was more straightforward because the Chiefs’ defense focused on stopping the run. I probably wouldn’t have run Barkley 25 times, but I was glad the Eagles committed to the run. They didn’t become one-dimensional. That was important.
Listen, there’s been a lot of Kellen Moore talk this week. I would have liked him to have stayed as offensive coordinator just to give this offense stability. However, you don’t need to worry about this offense next year. This offense is not schematically brilliant. It feels weird to say this in a blowout, but I wasn’t the biggest fan of the game plan this week. I preferred last week’s game against Washington much more than this one. There were a few nice play calls, but a lot of the offense’s success came down to the ability of Jalen Hurts, AJ Brown, and Devonta Smith. I don’t care who the offensive coordinator is next year – you can still run this. This is almost impossible to stop. This offense has too much talent not to be good.
Honestly, I’ve been frustrated with the passing offense for a long time this season. I think this team will be fine without Kellen Moore.
Here’s another play design that I didn’t love. The Eagles returned to more 2×2 routes rather than the type of plays we saw against Washington, where Hurts had multiple options in his line of vision. There is nothing open here. Hurts make the right decision to get out the pocket rather than trying to do too much. He only took two sacks in total, which was a big reason the offense succeeded. Once again, I didn’t look at this game and think that the Eagles must keep their offensive coordinator. Maybe I’m harsh, but I can only say what I see!
This was probably my favorite offensive play of the night. This is a beauty. You can’t see this too well on the All22, but the Eagles sprinted to the line of scrimmage and snapped this one quickly. They caught the Chiefs’ defense on their heels. The Eagles run every one to the right-hand side and bring AJ Brown in the opposite direction. It may sound simple, because it is! Simplicity in football can be great. The Chiefs’ defenders are caught up in the traffic, and AJ Brown sneaks out to the flat wide-open. This is easy.
If I were coaching Jalen Hurts, I would love to get him to do this more. I think this offense has untapped potential outside of structure. I will always be process > results, and I like the process of this play call, even if it doesn’t work as designed. I prefer getting receivers within Hurts’ line of vision rather than 2×2 concepts, as I said before. Hurts breaks out of the pocket, keeps his eyes down the field, and hits Barkley along the sideline. Although Barkley did not have his best game as a runner, he impacted the passing game.
This is the good stuff. I could watch it over and over again. Since the Super Bowl, I may have watched it at least 50 times…
The Eagles run counter-action upfront, which I have been asking for all season long. The defense sees the pulling guards and expects a run. However, the Eagles are actually running a 3-level stretch play, with Devonta Smith running a deep post route. This play is a split-safety killer and Hurts read the safety rotation perfectly and knows that the deep safety will bite on the Flood route, which means that he will have a shot at the deep post. It’s an unbelievable throw and catch. This play will go down in the Eagles’ history.
Also, on a more random note, watch the Chiefs’ linebackers bite on the play-action. This defense was obsessed with stopping Barkley in the run game.
I’ve saved my rant for last. Let’s talk about Jalen Hurts. Some of the criticism of him as a quarterback has been utterly absurd this year. I’ve been accused of being pro-Hurts this year, but I almost needed to defend him because he faces so much undeserved criticism. He is not perfect. He is not the finished product. He is a 26-year-old who has outplayed Mahomes in 2 separate Super Bowls and just won Super Bowl MVP. He doesn’t turn the ball over very much. He is exceptionally accurate down the field. He’s a massive part of the Eagles’s run game. In my player review of Hurts at the end of 2023, I concluded by saying this…
I think deciding if you have a franchise quarterback is pretty simple. Can I win a Super Bowl with him? The answer with Hurts is yes. How do I know this? I watched him ball out in the playoffs, and I still think he would have beaten Patrick Mahomes in a shootout if James Bradberry hadn’t gotten called for holding on 3rd down. Just ask Josh Allen how hard it is for a quarterback to compete with Mahomes.
This is not an ‘Eagles-Cowboys’ rivalry thing, I promise, but I do find it funny when I see Dak ranked a tier above Hurts. I think on film, you can certainly argue Dak is a better passer during the regular season and at this point in their respective careers. But it’s close and you can’t just ignore the playoffs. That is when it all matters!
I have seen Hurts deliver in the playoffs and on the biggest stage of them all. This is why I’m not worried about Hurts long-term, and I think he played better this season than a lot of people give him credit for.
Ignore some of the nonsense you read online about Hurts. There would have been a lot of General Managers watching this Super Bowl and wishing they could replace their current quarterback with Jalen Hurts. I am so happy for him and so proud of his performance. He’s faced a lot of setbacks in his career, and it’s incredible to remember just how young he is. There are a lot of quarterbacks in this league who are consistently ranked above Hurts yet have never had anywhere near the success that he has had so far in his career. The Eagles are so lucky to have him.
What a season.
SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONS!
Thank you for reading! I’d love to hear your thoughts, so feel free to comment below and ask any questions. If you enjoyed this piece, you can find more of my work and podcast here.
