Nick Sirianni made a reference to Michael Jordan in regards to Jalen Hurts following the Eagles win over the Giants. On Monday, the Eagles head coach clarified the comparison.
The disrespect is real, and it’s way past ridiculous.
Former NFL quarterback, current analyst Chris Simms has undercut Jalen Hurts since he assumed QB1 duties with the Eagles last season. All Hurts has done this season is earn serious MVP consideration lead his team to 14 wins in the 15 games he played, and throttle the Giants to earn his first caereer playoff win on the way to the NFC Championship game.
Despite all of that, Simms continues to throw shade.
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SIGN UP HERE Yesterday on his podcast, Simms and his co-host, Ahmed Fareed, ran through an interesting discussion point: would any of the Divisional Round games end up different if you swapped the quarterbacks between the two teams?
FAREED: If you were to switch the quarterbacks, would the result be different, right? I think it’s kind of interesting. You could do that with all the games, I don’t know if any of the games would be different, but for this one specifically, like, Daniel Jones now is under fire… Giants fans, ‘Is he the guy, is he not the guy? Can we win with him?
If he was playing for the Eagles, and if Jalen Hurts was playing for the Giants, I mean, how much do the Eagles win by? 20, still? It might be closer…
SIMMS: I don’t think it’s a whole lot different, because Daniel Jones is gonna be able to do the same things, I mean, he can do some of the things Jalen Hurts – yeah maybe not as good a runner, but we know he’s really close. It’s not like, ‘Oh whoa, way better.’ Again, if you’re going to ask who I’d rather have as a passer, I’d rather have Daniel Jones! I’m sorry about that.
What did Jeffrey Lurie say about the definition of insanity? For two seasons, Simms has tried to speak this “Jalen Hurts isn’t all that good” mantra into existence. Not only is his theory not manifesting, he’s getting more wrong every time he says it.
Jones a better passer than Hurts? This just seems like trolling for trolling’s sake. Anyone with eyes can tell you that Hurts is a better passer, and it’s not close. The numbers bear it out: Hurts has more passing yards, more passing TDs, and a higher yards per attempt than Jones. Jones has a better completion percentage and interception percentage, but the difference is neglible.
NFL
On the eve of the 2021 regular season, Simms put out his list ranking the top 40 NFL quarterbacks. Hurts wasn’t on the list. Guys who were on the list: Ryan Fitzpatrick, Taysom Hill, Drew Lock, and Kellen Mond, who has since thrown three more NFL passes than I have.
Hurts has made a quantum leap this season. There has been plenty of time for Simms to back off his narrative, or change it entirely. It’s not uncommon. Analysts can admit they’re incorrect in their assumptions. It actually builds your credibility if you’re willing to admit that, upon further review, the player has proven you wrong.
For Simms to hang on to this now-tired, exceedingly incorrect stance, it borders on lunacy. But keep doing you, Chris.
Maybe you can critique his Super Bowl MVP speech in a few weeks.