hurts.jpg
Getty Images

Recall, at least one last time, Super Bowl LIX, when the Philadelphia Eagles dominated the Kansas City Chiefs.

Now raise your hand if the first person to come to mind is Jalen Hurts. The quarterback was crowned Super Bowl MVP for the Birds' historic championship effort. And yet, at least anecdotally, it feels as if much of the title-winning conversation centered on just about any and everything else: the Chiefs' inability to protect Patrick Mahomes, the Eagles' relentless defensive line, even a star running back in Saquon Barkley whose riotous 2,000-yard season actually came to a quiet finish on the biggest stage.

Seven months later, the Eagles opened the 2025 season with a Super Bowl banner hanging from the rafters. And what will everybody remember about this game? Undoubtedly it will be the ejection of star defensive tackle Jalen Carter before the first offensive snap of the game after spitting on Dallas QB Dak Prescott. Headline No. 2 would be the curious case of CeeDee Lamb's drops. Even Mother Nature and her hour-long lightning delay threatened to dull Philly's party. 

And yet a certain Eagles quarterback made a statement in Thursday's 24-20 win over the rival Dallas Cowboys.

Hurts is still here. And he's been here all along.

To be fair, the Eagles' own offense dictated that plenty of folks overlook Hurts as the club's centerpiece down the stretch of the Super Bowl run. Barkley, remember, was the focal point. The catalyst. The home run waiting to happen. Vic Fangio's physical defense shared the spotlight with situational prowess. The 2024 Eagles weren't about gaudy passing marks or aesthetically pleasing production. They were about winning. And Hurts taking a relative backseat to the proceedings reinforced it: "It's about the team," he declared. "I don't care how it looks. ... [It's] going to look how Jalen Hurts wants it to look. But he's going to win."

Which is precisely what he did on Thursday to kick off the 2025 NFL season. But this time, Hurts was the Eagles' offense. Barkley dabbled in theatrics once again, lowering a shoulder here and unleashing a stiff arm there. This was a night where star wideouts A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith mustered a whopping four combined catches, however. A night where Barkley, for all his beloved dynamism, finished with just 60 yards on 18 carries, held close to the line by Dallas' shuffled front.

No worry. No. 1 was still under center for Philadelphia. And No. 1 he was, operating with near perfection through the air (19 for 23), leading the Eagles on the ground with 62 yards on 14 carries, including two touchdowns, and protecting the ball in a tight contest. Are the Cowboys a defensive juggernaut sans Micah Parsons? Perhaps not. But Hurts also passed the eye test with flying colors. His two scores were not snap-and-shove "Tush Push" sneaks but legitimate open-field scrambles. His few downfield shots, including a bomb to Jahan Dotson reminiscent of the Super Bowl LIX dagger to DeVonta Smith, were perfectly placed.

In other words, he played like a Super Bowl MVP.

And oh, by the way, Michael Jordan was at Lincoln Financial Field to observe it all, because of course he was.

"You have a special guest, a special friend in attendance," Hurts told reporters afterward, "there's only one thing you can do, and that's win."

Except the victories are just ho-hum to this quarterback these days, a routine and repeatedly met standard -- a reality that many, many fans and teams only dream of attaining. The fact he was able to put on a crisp, playmaking clinic in the process? The fact he didn't blink an eye, didn't press at all, but rather settled in with unmatched composure after the Eagles lost Carter?

It should be all the sweeter for Eagles fans, who haven't even gotten their first taste of 2025 heroics from fellow stars like Brown and Smith. And it should be a firm affirmation that, pretty or not, Jalen Hurts is "it" in Philadelphia. There's a reason he's the one at the controls.