Nick Sirianni Rips 'Bulls--t' Criticism of Jalen Hurts After Eagles' Super Bowl Win

It has become a popular talking point among Jalen Hurts' detractors to suggest that his incredibly talented supporting cast on offense carried him to last season's Super Bowl title.

But head coach Nick Sirianni isn't here for it.

"I think that's bulls--t," Sirianni told Jimmy Kempski of PhillyVoice. "I mean, he plays the most important position in all of sports. And it's the most ultimate team game there is. And what I admire about him is his selflessness of doing anything we need to do to win, whether that's throw—I mean, obviously, anybody who plays quarterback is going to want to throw it 50 times a game—but he will do anything. If he has to throw it 50 times a game, he’s ready to do that. If he has to hand it off 50 times a game, he's ready to do that."

"Like, you don't win with bad players," Sirianni continued. "And it's the same thing, you don't win with bad players if you're a quarterback either. It's a team game. That always bothers me, to be honest with you, when it's talked about that, because it's football. One of the reasons I love football so much is that it takes everybody to accomplish your goals. You name great quarterbacks, you can go ahead and start naming great quarterbacks, I'll tell you their great receivers and their great defenses. You know, whether it's [Tom] Brady with [Rob] Gronkowski or Brady's defenses early on [Patrick] Mahomes with [Travis] Kelce, Steve Young with Jerry Rice, the list goes on and on and on."

Yes, the Eagles have the best running back in football in Saquon Barkley, arguably the top offensive line in the sport and one of the top receiving duos in A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. They also had a fantastic defense that completely dominated the best quarterback in the sport, Patrick Mahomes, during the Super Bowl.

But poor quarterback play can unravel an otherwise talented roster, and NFL history is littered with loaded rosters that didn't win titles. In recent years, Dak Prescott has had plenty of stacked Dallas Cowboys teams and has routinely struggled in the postseason. Ditto for Jimmy Garoppolo or Brock Purdy with the San Francisco 49ers, who couldn't get talent-rich rosters over the hump.

Hurts' passing stats from the 2024 regular season don't look overly impressive (2,903 yards, 18 touchdowns) on paper, but he only threw five interceptions and also rushed for 630 yards and 14 touchdowns. He took fewer chances last season as a passer, recognizing that the Eagles could beat teams in the trenches with one of the league's top rushing attacks. It was an important departure from the 15 picks he threw in 2023, when the Eagles became predictable and overly reliant on a downfield passing attack.

It also shouldn't be ignored that his threat as a runner opens up Philly's RPO package and puts a lot of pressure on defenses when he drops back to pass. If you spy Hurts, that's one less player in coverage against Philly's excellent receiving options. If you don't spy him, you risk him breaking the pocket and rushing for a first down. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

His Super Bowl performance also speaks for itself. With Kansas City selling out to stop the run—they were one of the few teams to stifle Barkley, holding him to just 57 rushing yards on 25 carries—Hurts had favorable matchups on the outside and took advantage, finishing 17-of-22 for 221 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Just as importantly, he rushed for 72 yards and a score, using his legs to pick up several first downs.

This was not the first time Hurts lit up the Super Bowl. In 2022, he threw for 304 yards and a touchdown—and rushed for 70 yards and three scores—in a 38-35 loss to the Chiefs during Super Bowl LVII. He was arguably the best player on the field that night.

He's now 6-3 as a starter in the playoffs, throwing for 1,813 yards, 10 touchdowns and three interceptions to go along with 381 rushing yards and 10 scores on the ground. For comparison, Lamar Jackson has thrown for 1,753 yards, 10 touchdowns and seven interceptions in eight career playoff games, rushing for 641 yards and three scores. He's 3-5 in those contests.

Yes, Hurts has an elite supporting cast—and no, nobody is putting him in the truly elite tier at the position alongside Mahomes, Jackson, Josh Allen or Joe Burrow—but it's hard to argue that he doesn't put his best foot forward during the postseason. He may not put up the gaudy numbers that other quarterbacks boast, but he recognized what the Eagles needed from him and delivered.

In other words, the idea that any other quarterback could be copy-pasted onto Philly's roster and have equal success is quite the leap in logic.