The Philadelphia Eagles sure are getting their money’s worth out of Jalen Hurts.
The second-year quarterback has put up big numbers to start the year, but the Eagles are now 2-4 in the standings after a loss Thursday night to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
He is simply being forced to carry too much of the load on offense.
Thursday night’s loss was another example as Hurts threw the ball 26 times and ran it 10 times.
Actual running back Miles Sanders only had nine carries.
Jalen Hurts has accounted for 40% of Eagles rush attempts (53 of 132).
That would be the highest rate by any QB in a season in NFL history.
Asking much too much.
— Paul Hembekides (@PaulHembo) October 15, 2021
A Continuing Trend
The Eagles won last Sunday in a game that saw Hurts throw the ball 37 times.
He added nine rushes, while Sanders only had 11.
Go back a week earlier and Hurts ran it eight times compared to seven attempts from Sanders.
For some reason the Eagles are acting like Hurts is peak Lamar Jackson.
And the only reason Jackson is carrying the load so much in 2021 is because the Ravens saw all their top running backs go down with season-ending injuries.
Sanders is a capable runner averaging 4.7 yards per carry this season.
And while Hurts is not a bad runner himself, there is just no deception from this Eagles offense.
Defenses can focus in on Hurts and force him into mistakes given his inexperience in the NFL.
He has only made 10 career starts counting Thursday night.
Is He The Answer?
Some Eagles fans may want to jump up and down after the 2-4 start and declare Hurts as a bust and not the man to lead the Eagles into the future.
That just seems like a difficult determination to make considering he is in fact doing so much on offense.
There is zero balance and given the circumstances he is doing well.
Thursday was his worst game of the season and it came on a short week against the defending champions.
That is a scenario where his coaches should have helped him out much more and mixed up the offense.
I don't know how you evaluate Hurts when the play calling is this bad.
Jalen has played poorly, but Nick isn't giving him a chance to succeed.
— Reuben Frank (@RoobNBCS) October 15, 2021
Nick Sirianni is a young, first-year head coach still learning how to lead a team.
The best strategy for him may be to listen to other coaches around him to get the best out of their offense.
Because if he leads the ship into the ground and can’t even find any basic balance, he may be out of a job sooner than expected.
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