Eagles Duo Have Helped Deliver New Norm

PHILADELPHIA – Only Donovan McNabb has made more playoff starts than Jalen Hurts, and Hurts isn’t done adding yet. The current Eagles quarterback will make his 10th playoff start on Sunday evening when the San Francisco 49ers visit Lincoln Financial Field for a 4:30 kickoff.

McNabb made 16 postseason starts earlier this century. He is 9-7, including 0-1 in the Super Bowl, losing to Tom Brady and the Patriots in Jacksonville in the 2004 season. Hurts is 6-3, including 1-1 in Super Bowls.

“Jalen's played in the biggest of games, and I just think what you see from Jalen is you see this steadiness at all times,” said head coach Nick Sirianni. “Again, as you get into the playoffs, we treat everything the same and we're going to go about this week, our process the exact same way we've (gone) about everything, but you love his consistency in his approach, you love his consistency in his steadiness at any moment of the game.”

It’s interesting to note that 12 of the 14 quarterbacks playing in the postseason were drafted in the first round. The only two that weren’t are the wo playing in South Philly on Sunday – Hurts, in the second round, and Brock Purdy in the seventh round.

Jalen Hurts Will Play his 10th Playoff Game

Both quarterbacks have done well in their playoff tests, too. Purdy is 4-2 in the postseason and has been to one Super Bowl, where he and the Niners lost to the Kansas City Chiefs. Both quarterbacks have been the playoffs with the same head coach – Hurts with Sirianni, Purdy with Kyle Shanahan.

The offensive coordinators have changed for Hurts, but the head coach as remained in his chair, and this will be Sirianni’s 10th playoff game, too. The duo have taken the Eagles on perhaps the most sustained success the franchise has seen, highlighted by two Super Bowl trips together.

"I truly believe we have busted our ass to be the best version that we are right now, but we've got to keep getting better," said Sirianni. "That's this league; you've got to continue to grind, you've got to continue to try to get better, and I think we've done that and we'll continue to work like crazy to get better. That's the mindset our team has. That's the mindset our players have. That's the mindset our coaches have."

That is the fans’ expectation now - Super Bowl or bust. Nothing short of a trip to Santa Clara for Super Bowl 60 will satisfy those expectations. The new norm that Doug Pederson talked about after winning the Super Bowl in the 2017 season has arrived, thanks in part to Hurts and Sirianni, as well as a brilliant front office led by one of the game's best GMs in Howie Roseman.

Hurts lost his first playoff game back in 2021. He hobbled into the interview room following that loss in Tampa wearing a walking boot. Since then, he has 19 total touchdowns in the postseason, including 9 touchdown throws.

“Jalen's a great player and has had a lot of big game experience,” he said. “The amount of big games we play on a yearly basis in our regular seasons is huge - how many playoff games is this now? This will be our 10th. That's huge, right? Every time he steps out on the field, I feel like Jalen does a great job of continuing to raise his level of play."

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