It’s a Philly thing. That’s what Eagles fans can often be heard telling each other this time of year. Often accompanied by a stoic nod. It’s not so bad being an Eagles fan. They’ve made it to the playoffs every year since their Super Bowl LII triumph in 2017. Except in 2020, which was understandable, given it was Jalen Hurts’ rookie year. But he’s made it every year since.

On the flip side, it wouldn’t be unfair to call them perennial underachievers. For all their post-season experience, they’ve won only one Super Bowl. They’ve made it as far as the conference round in only one of those years since. In that year, they made it to Super Bowl LVII. Only to blow a 27-21 lead going into the 4th quarter to lose 35-38 to the Chiefs. Now they have a shot at redemption. But one NBC analyst believes they’ll remain underachievers as long as Jalen Hurts remains their signal caller.

Chris Simms says Jalen Hurts ain’t it

Chris Simms is a former NFL quarterback himself, best known for his stint with the Buccaneers. The NBC Football Night in America analyst became popular for his contrarian stand ahead of the Super Bowl LVII fixture. Speaking on a Sportsradio 94WIP show, he said, “…everybody (was) going, oh, Jalen Hurts is the best quarterback in football. And I went, hey, he’s really good, but the best quarterback in football, like absolutely not.”

He continued to stick it to Hurts while saying it was nothing personal. “..all about football, business. I want to be right. I want to educate the fans.” Keeping his target on the Eagles QB, Simms pinpointed Hurts as the weakest link. He claimed, “I think they’re the best team in football. But even being the best team in football and as talented as they are, it’s going to be hard for them to win the Super Bowl. If the pass game doesn’t pick up, I should say.”

Simms’ thinking might have some grounding in Hurts’ performance in the divisional round against the Rams. After completing his first 6 passes of the game, the Eagles QB failed to complete one for almost two quarters. However, Saquon Barkley being on fire probably had a great deal to do with it. They ground out the result anyway.

If we zoom out a little, Chris Simms was born in New Jersey. A stone’s throw from Philadelphia. Hurts, on the other hand, was born in a different corner of the country, in Houston. He made his way to Philly via three years of college football at Alabama and one at Oklahoma. Always South of the Mason-Dixon line, so to speak. Perhaps Simms simply believes the Philly thing is not something Hurts has in his locker.

That makes it a little hard to believe when Simms claims he has “no deal with Jalen Hurts at all.” The fact that the host has to ask him what’s his deal with Jalen Hurts speaks for itself, doesn’t it? Maybe he is a teenie bit of a Jalen Hurts hater?

Eagles keep a close eye on that boy

“He doesn’t play like a rookie quarterback and we’re not going to treat him like one.” Eagles All-Pro LB Zack Baun knows what’s coming. Red-hot rookie Jaylen Daniels and his Commanders have pulled off two upsets already this post-season. The latter being the scalp of the No. 1 Detroit Lions. DT Jalen Carter adds some praise, “He got them where they at now. A good pick for them guys.”

The Commanders are in red-hot form, winning seven on the bounce. The Eagles know it all too well, being number three on that list. Daniels was just catching fire and registered 5 TDs in that game. DE Josh Sweat acknowledged that by saying, “We saw what happened last time. They’re good on both sides of the ball. It’s going to be tough.”

But they’ll take heart in the fact that the loss came away at Washington. When the two played at the Linc earlier in the season, the Eagles flew out 26-18 winners. Washington will have to overcome that home advantage to make their first Super Bowl appearance since winning it in 1991. Speaking of Super Bowl appearances, remember that loss to the Chiefs we spoke about? Guess how many air miles Hurts had in that game? 304! How about that for a passing game? Add to that 3 rushing touchdowns and a rushing 2-pt conversion. You already know Hurts is bringing it to the big games. It’s not his fault the Eagles gave up 2 touchdowns and a field goal in the 4th quarter. Or that he’s competing in Patrick Mahomes’ era.

Playoff football, by its very nature, involves a degree of luck. How else would you explain, for example, the Bills being good enough to reach 4 consecutive Bowls but not to win even 1? In that way, Chris Simms perhaps got lucky when fading Hurts a couple of years ago and has made it his shtick ever since. There’s no reason to fade a consistent performer to this degree.

Two more games and Jalen could silence his haters for good. But his focus needs to be on his namesake for now. Will Jaylen make Jalen hurt?