For all the claims about the Philadelphia Eagles’ vaunted “tush push”/”brotherly shove,” supporters and cons should agree that the short-yardage game is common.
Perhaps it’s fitting that its regular ball carrier, quarterback Jalen Hurts, went long on humility Sunday after helping lead the Eagles to their second Super Bowl in three seasons.
“I’ve never been motivated by achieving the personal things, personal goals,” Hurts said. “All these things come when you put in the work, have the right mentality and embrace what the group’s mission is. And the mission is to win. “
Always a capable passer and runner during a resurgent season from teammate and league MVP candidate Saquon Barkley, Hurts shared the spotlight and offensive load in the NFC Championship. Philadelphia’s 55-23 drubbing of the Washington Chiefs certainly signaled to the Kansas City Chiefs that a bid for an unprecedented three-peat in Super Bowl LIwill not be easy.
Hurts’ heroics are a major reason why. While Barkley was busy rushing for 118 yards and three touchdowns—including a 60-yard scoring drive on Philadelphia’s first play—Hurts rushed for three scores and passed for 246 yards and another TD.
The Eagles scored the most points in a conference championship game since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger and left much of the Lincoln Financial Field faithful in a frenzy all afternoon.
However, the bedlam seemingly started with Philly’s XS and OS.
Nodding to coach Nick Sirianni’s offensive game plan, Hurt joked, “I guess he let me out of my Straitjacket a little bit today.”
Hurts suffered a knee injury during the Eagles’ divisional round game against the Los Angeles Rams, creating uncertainty about his health. Hurts later revealed that he was also struggling with illness. He called the practice week “exhausting in some ways.”
A bye week before the Feb. 9 Super Bowl, Philadelphia’s second championship crack at the Chiefs in three seasons, should help ache and the Eagles recover and refresh.
Washington now gets the chance to do the same in a season it hoped would be two weeks shorter.
Four command transfers helped spur the Eagles’ rout, and it’s less than auspicious when a fan base can dissect which one was the biggest backbreaker. Austin Ekeler’s lost fumble in the third quarter with Washington trailing only by 11 can carry that distinction.
Either way, the future of the franchise is especially enticing with the rapid development of quarterback Jayden Daniels. While he came up short in his quest to become the first rookie signal caller to lead his team to a Super Bowl, Daniels shined during the fall and early winter, including during a pair of playoff games at Tampa Bay and NFC Top Seed Detroit.
“We thought we belonged here,” Daniels said Sunday. “It was just another game for me. That’s how I treated it. “
The Eagles may take a similar stand in the lead-up to Super Bowl LIX, but it sure sounds like lip service. Much of the roster was around as Kansas City rallied past Philadelphia for a 38-35 victory in Super Bowl LVII.
Barkley was with the New York Giants then, and a star turn in his first Super Bowl would be a nice cap on his 28th birthday.
Slowing down Barkley will be a significant task for the Chiefs, who also know firsthand the burden that hurting brings. He accounted for 374 yards of offense and four TDs in the previous Super Bowl meeting.
“I don’t want anybody else to lead this team at quarterback other than him,” Sirianni said. “He’s a winner.”
