NEW ORLEANS — A poised performance earned Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts his first Super Bowl MVP award on Sunday, after leading his team to a 40-22 revenge win over the Kansas City Chiefs in New Orleans on Sunday.
Hurts left the NFL title game two years ago in a flurry of Chiefs red and gold confetti and refused to let history repeat itself at the Superdome, throwing for 221 yards and two touchdowns with another score on the ground as well.
“I took great pride in never backing down from a challenge, always turning my negatives into positives,” said Hurts, who has led the Eagles to the playoffs in all of his four seasons as a starter in Philadelphia.
“In the end, things come right on time. Last time around, it wasn’t our time. It wasn’t my time. Sometimes you have to wait your turn.”
The two-time Pro Bowler plowed into the end zone behind his powerful offensive line to get the scoring started in the first quarter with his team’s signature move – called the “brotherly shove” in reference to Philadelphia’s “City of Brotherly Love” nickname.
Hurts’ only real blunder of the evening came early in the second quarter, as he threw a goal-line interception, but it had no real impact on the game as the Chiefs were forced the punt on the next possession.
Hurts connected with receiver A.J. Brown for another score with less than two minutes left in the first half and threw a 46-yard dime to DeVonta Smith to make it 33-0 late in the third quarter.
Hurts was nimble against the blitz and slipped 17 yards past the Kansas City defense to set up the third of kicker Jake Elliott’s four successful field goal attempts early in the fourth.
Hurts’ Kansas City counterpart Patrick Mahomes heaped praise on the versatile playmaker, as the Eagles celebrated their second Super Bowl title following a win against the New England Patriots in 2018.
“If he needs to run the ball, he’ll run it; If he needs to throw the ball, he will throw it. And if he needs to make a big play, he will make the big play,” Mahomes told reporters.
“In the first Super Bowl we played against, I said he will be back, and he was.”
‘Long journey’
Hurts, a 26-year-old former second-round draft pick, shook off a frustrating 2-2 start to the regular season before winning a franchise-record 10 straight games.
Their postseason campaign appeared in trouble after he suffered a worrisome knee injury in the second half of the Eagles’ Divisional Round win against the Los Angeles Rams.
But he quashed fans’ concerns with a 55-23 win over the Washington Commanders in the NFC Championship the following week and on Sunday appeared to be in pristine condition.
Perched at the podium in New Orleans, he was reflective about his path to winning the Super Bowl, stretching back to his college playing days, when he lost his starting job at Alabama and eventually transferred to Oklahoma.
“It’s been a long journey, a journey with ups and downs, highs and lows,” he said. “You’ve got to be able to use these experiences that you’ve had in the past because they’re all formative for the future.”
—Reporting by Amy Tennery, Rory Carroll, Joseph Ax and Ossian Shine in New Orleans; Editing by Christian Schmollinger
