"I didn’t do my job": When Jalen Hurts owned up to his mistake after Eagles' offensive struggles

The Philadelphia Eagles have made it to the Super Bowl once again, marking their third appearance in the last 10 years. The Eagles have remained one of the most dominant teams in the NFC and finished their current regular season as the top seed. They were on track to finish as the top seed last season as well, but a late regular-season collapse hampered their progress, and they finished second.

This mini-collapse in 2023 started with a loss to the San Francisco 49ers, which cut the Eagles' five-game winning streak and put them at 10-2. Losses to the Dallas Cowboys and Seattle Seahawks put Philly at 10-4 and losing ground.

After the 20-17 defeat at Lumen Stadium, Hurts lamented his performance, which featured two rough interceptions, despite playing the game while ill. He told reporters:

“I was trying to be aggressive in that moment. We had multiple opportunities in the game to open it up, and we didn’t do that. I didn’t do that. I didn’t do my job good enough.”

Hurts also showed good leadership, taking accountability:

“It starts with me. We’ve lost games because I could be better. That’ll change everything, and I accept that.”

The Eagles were leading the game 17-10 when the fourth quarter started. During the fourth play of their first drive, a Hurts long pass attempt to the end zone was intercepted by Julian Love for a touchback.

The Seahawks scored a field goal on their next drive to move closer at 17-13. Seattle then followed it up with another successful 92-yard, 10-play drive for a touchdown, pushing the score to 20-17.

Hurts had the opportunity to respond and secure a victory, but his long pass to A.J. Brown was intercepted again by Love. With just 13 seconds left on the clock, the game was lost for the Eagles.

Jalen Hurts' performance during Eagles vs. Seahawks in Dec. 2023

Jalen Hurts completed 67.6% of his passes with a passer rating of 95.4 in the 2023 season. However, against Seattle, he completed only 54.8% of his passes with a passer rating of 40.1.

However, Hurts is a dual-threat QB, and his rushing performance in this game was particularly strong, despite his illness. He rushed for 82 yards on 13 carries and scored two touchdowns. However, Hurts was disappointed as the Eagles lost a game they could have won.

Worse, while Philly rebounded from the loss by beating NFC East rivals the New York Giants, they then dropped their next two games against Arizona and away to New York, entering the playoffs in poor form. They took this lack of momentum into the postseason, where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers took them own 32-9 at Raymond James Stadium.

Flash forward to now and the franchise has seen quite the reversal, entering the postseason with a 14-3 record and are on the cusp of the Super Bowl after wins against the Packers, Rams and Commanders.