For all the chatter about the Philadelphia Eagles’ vaunted “Tush Push”/”Brotherly Shove,” supporters and detractors alike should agree the short-yardage play is communal.
Perhaps it’s fitting, then, that its usual ball carrier, quarterback Jalen Hurts, went long on humility Sunday after helping steer 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 of those things come when you put the work in, 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 limelight and offensive load in the NFC Championship game. Philadelphia’s 55-23 throttling of the Washington Commanders surely served notice to the Kansas City Chiefs that a bid for an unprecedented three-peat in Super Bowl LIX won’t come easy.
Hurts’ heroics are a major reason why. While Barkley was busy rushing for 118 yards and three touchdowns—including a 60-yard scoring run 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, leaving much of the Lincoln Financial Field faithful in a frenzy all afternoon.
Bedlam seemingly started, however, with Philly’s Xs and Os.
Nodding to coach Nick Sirianni’s offensive game plan, Hurts joked, “I guess he let me out of my straitjacket a little bit today.”
Hurts sustained a knee injury during the Eagles’ divisional round win against the Los Angeles Rams, creating uncertainty about his health. Hurts later revealed he also was battling illness. He called the week of practice “in some ways exhausting.”
A bye week before the Feb. 9 Super Bowl, Philadelphia’s second championship crack at the Chiefs in three seasons, should help Hurts and the Eagles reset and refresh.
Washington now gets the chance at the same during an offseason it hoped would be two weeks shorter.
Four Commanders turnovers helped spur the Eagles’ rout, and it’s less than favorable when a fan base can dissect which of them was the biggest backbreaker. Austin Ekeler’s lost fumble in the third quarter with Washington driving and trailing only by 11 might carry that distinction.
Regardless, the franchise’s future is especially enticing with the rapid development of quarterback Jayden Daniels. While he fell short in the pursuit of becoming the first rookie signal-caller to guide his team to a Super Bowl, Daniels shined throughout the fall and early winter, including during a pair of playoff wins at Tampa Bay and NFC top seed Detroit.
“We believed that 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 refrain in the lead-up to Super Bowl LIX, but it’s sure to sound like lip service. Much of the roster was around when 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 topper on his 28th birthday.
Slowing Barkley will be a considerable task for the Chiefs, who also know firsthand the load that Hurts brings. He accounted for 374 yards of offense and four TDs in the earlier Super Bowl meeting.
“I don’t want anybody else leading this team at quarterback other than him,” Sirianni said. “He’s a winner.”
