It’s sad to see how many guys continue to disrespect Jalen Hurts for whatever reason, but it’s getting to be a bit much. That’s exactly what Lavonte David did when discussing how the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defended Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles when they played each other.
This wasn’t just about talent or matchups on paper. It was about a very specific plan to take away what the Eagles do best and force Hurts into a different kind of game. Philadelphia’s offense has been at its most dangerous when the run game is rolling and Hurts is able to operate comfortably off of it. Tampa Bay made a clear decision to disrupt that rhythm entirely.
“Our whole game plan was just give him different looks,” David said. “It was one year when we beat him in the playoffs. We was playing straight cover zero. Cover one and cover zero made him want to beat us. . . . In 2023, the game prior to that, they had a great run game.
“They ran the ball over us . . . So our game plan [for the playoff game] was just, like, you know, we’re gonna make Jalen Hurts beat us, you know, we’re gonna keep him in the pocket, make him make his reads, make him understand what defense he’s seeing and stuff like that, and make him beat us.”
That quote says everything about how defenses view Hurts at times and it was evident against the Buccaneers. It’s not that Hurts is some horrible passer who can’t do anything with his arm, but if he’s beating you in the air and the Eagles aren’t running the football at a high level, there’s a much better chance of beating Philadelphia.
According to Mike Florio, the Eagles will ask Hurts to get better in those areas moving forward.
“Tampa Bay surely isn’t the only team to play the Eagles that way. Few have managed to win 66.6 percent of their games against Philadelphia since Hurts became the starter. With the Eagles breaking in another new coordinator, and presumably installing a McVay-style attack, the franchise is at an inflection point that will require Hurts to do more.
“Whether he hasn’t been asked to do more in the past or has resisted, this year the Eagles will be putting more on his plate. What he does with it will say plenty about whether the 27-year-old Hurts finishes the decade as the team’s starting quarterback.”
To put things lightly, he’ll need to be ready to go.