Eagles Super Bowl QB Grades: Jalen Hurts No. 1?
The best quarterback in the history of the Philadelphia Eagles is open to debate. There is no question who the two best were when it comes to Super Bowls, however, at least in the analytical minds of Pro Football Focus.
PFF gave Nick Foles the highest Super Bowl grade by any quarterback since 2006. Jalen Hurts had the second-best grade.
Foles checked in with a 92.3 for his heroics in leading the Eagles to their first Super Bowl victory six years ago, becoming the first quarterback, and still the only quarterback in the history of Super Bowls, to catch a touchdown pass.
That play, of course, is one of the greatest in team and Super Bowl history and will forever be known as the Philly Special that had a large role in capturing the Eagles' first-ever Lombardi Trophy.
Nick Foles (9) and Jalen Hurts (1) were the top two-graded quarterbacks in Super Bowls dating back to 2006, per Pro Football Focus.
PFF graded Hurts with a 92.2, as finished just .1 behind Foles for second on the list.
Hurts fell just short of delivering a second Super Bowl title to the Eagles last season in Super Bowl LVII against the Kansas City Chiefs. Still just 25, Hurts will have other opportunities to make it happen.
Foles, 35, won't. He spent last season out of football, and, though he has yet to announce his retirement, that seems to be a foregone conclusion.
"Right now, I'm just excited being a husband and a father," Foles said last summer on Kay Adams' show, 'Up And Adams, referring to his two children and wife Tori. "Really just trying to soak it in because these kids are growing up fast, and I don't wanna look back and say I missed it."
After Foles and Hurts on PFF's list were the Seattle Seahawks' Russell Wilson, 91.7 in Super Bowl XLVIII, the Green Bay Packers' Aaron Rodgers, 91.6 in Super Bowl XLV, and the New York Giants' Eli Manning, 91.5 in Super Bowl XLVI.
Foles made just three starts in the Eagles' Super Bowl-winning season but won all three playoff games after Carson Wentz tore up his knee late in the year and could not play.
Foles' performance against Bill Belichick's defense was one for the ages, completing 28 of 43 passes for 373 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception in a 41-33 win.
By comparison, Hurts would have been the MVP had the Eagles found a way to beat the Kansas City Chiefs. He probably even still deserved to win it after accounting for four touchdowns, three of which came as a runner and threw for another in a 38-35 loss that was sealed after a late holding penalty on James Bradberry.
Hurts completed 27 of 38 throws for 304 yards and ran 15 times for 70 yards, which is the most yards ever run for by a QB in Super Bowl history. He did, though, cough up a fumble that KC was able to return for a touchdown.
Donovan McNabb is the only other QB to pay in the Super Bowl for the Eagles this century, but the PFF list doesn't go back to the 2004 season. Even if it did, McNabb wouldn't be among the top five.
In losing to the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIX, he was 30-for-51 for 357 yards and three touchdowns, but he also threw three picks.
