The Philadelphia Eagles have made it to the NFC Championship Game, but you wouldn’t have guessed it by looking at QB Jalen Hurts’ numbers. He’s thrown for 259 yards combined through Philly’s first two playoff games. That has predictably led to questions about whether he’s good enough to push this team to a Super Bowl. Actor and Eagles superfan Morris Chestnut can’t believe how quickly some forget that the QB has already done it once.
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Chestnut was on ESPN’s First Take to provide an Eagles perspective on the upcoming NFC title game, where Philadelphia will host the division-rival Washington Commanders. Chestnut highlighted that while Saquon Barkley has been the best player on the team, Hurts has had success with a litany of lesser backs.
“Jalen has done it with D’Andre Swift, he’s done it with Miles Sanders. In three of his last four years he’s had double-digit wins, so people need to back up off Jalen. Jalen can get the job done for sure.”
While many have criticized Hurts’ play over the past few weeks, Chestnut would point them to Super Bowl 57, where Hurts had a standout performance in a losing effort. Stephen A. Smith tried to use that game as a black mark on Hurts’ resume, but Chestnut wasn’t having any of it.
“If we look at the stats of that particular Super Bowl, I believe Jalen outplayed Patrick Mahomes in that particular Super Bowl… You have to protect the ball but Jalen can’t play offense and defense. But if we look at the stats, Jalen was money. Kansas City did not want to give the ball to Jalen to end that game, they had to drain that clock.”
In that Super Bowl, Hurts threw for 304 yards and one TD to go with 70 rush yards and three scores on the ground, though he did lose a fumble. Patrick Mahomes, meanwhile, threw for just 182 yards but found the end zone thrice while committing no turnovers and chipping in 44 yards on six scrambles. It’s pretty tight, but there’s certainly an argument to be made.
Morris Chestnut, who is famous for roles in cult classics like Boyz N the Hood and Like Mike, actually grew up in California. He became a Philly sports fan after winning a bet with his father on the 1983 NBA Finals: Morris didn’t have to take the trash out for a week if the 76ers beat the Lakers. Dr. J and company came through for the kid, and Chestnut has been bleeding green as a diehard Philly sports fan ever since.
So, he knows a bit about the history of Philly sports. And he clearly came prepared to spar with the likes of Stephen A. and Shannon Sharpe. Molly Qerim even quipped that he might be coming for someone’s job soon at ESPN. That said, Chestnut pointed out that Hurts has had a revolving door at offensive coordinator. That phenomenon has been known to stunt the development of many a promising QB.
“This is what people don’t understand. The one time he had the same offensive coordinator for two years in a row, he went to the Super Bowl and outplayed Patrick Mahomes, who people are saying is the greatest quarterback ever. You have to give this man a chance. This is his first year in this offense. At the age of 26, he’s had four offensive coordinators.”
When Chestnut asked for backup from Shannon Sharpe on how tough it is to chop and change offensive schemes, he got what he was looking for. The former tight end concurred.
Chestnut wants Jalen Hurts and Co. to beat K.C. in Super Bowl
Clearly, Chestnut, and probably many Philly fans, are still bothered by that Super Bowl 57 loss. Even more than just winning Super Bowl 59, they want revenge.
“I wanna avenge the loss against the Chiefs. I felt that we had that game. They returned a fumble for a touchdown, they had a punt return to the one-yard line, so that’s basically 14 points we gave ’em. And I’m not a conspiracy theorist and I don’t make excuses, but the field was a little bit soggy, it was a little bit wet, we didn’t have the right cleats, the sun and the moon didn’t align that day. (Laughs) I wanna see the Chiefs again.”
Whether Jalen Hurts and the rest of his teammates share Chestnut’s desire for revenge remains to be seen. But either way, the Eagles will have their hands full if they make it to the Super Bowl. Neither the Kansas City Chiefs nor the Buffalo Bills are going to be pushovers in the Big Game.
First, however, they need to focus on the task at hand. They will host the Commanders at 3 PM on Sunday, where they will be 6-point favorites on the spread.
