Eagles

Jalen Hurts Would Face Incessant Torrents of Criticism if he Played Like Josh Allen on Sunday Night

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Dec 29th, 2025 · 9:12 AM EST

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Jalen Hurts completed 13 passes for 27 yards and a touchdown on Sunday in Buffalo, logging 110 yards and a 71.5 QB rating. He ran the ball three times for five yards and didn’t complete a second-half pass.

And yet, he had a better game than Josh Allen:

If Jalen Hurts

– lost a fumble that ended up losing 27 yards
– took a sack for a loss of 21 on 3rd & 8
– missed this 2-pt throw to end the game

he’d be buried endlessly for the next week, and then some.

Let’s make sure Josh Allen gets the same criticism.pic.twitter.com/EbuVRpSx5R

— Eagles Fan Central (@PhilaFanCentral) December 29, 2025

This game was a good snapshot of the larger QB discussion we’ve been having for a few years now. Jalen Hurts is consistently ranked outside of the top five, six, or eight on these arbitrary lists, while guys like Allen, Joe Burrow, and Patrick Mahomes lead the way. Lamar Jackson is often up there with guys like Matt Stafford, Dak Prescott and now Drake Maye, as we continue into the postseason.

And yet, the best of Hurts was on display in Buffalo, because, as always, the game was just as much about what he didn’t do vs. what he did do. And what he didn’t do was turn the ball over. He didn’t give up a back-breaking fumble like Allen did, setting up the opposition in his own half. He didn’t take five sacks for 51 yards and play himself out of four-down territory on multiple occasions. He threw the ball away and avoided negative field position swings. He didn’t miss a gimme on a two-pointer that would have won the game and he salvaged a putrid coaching effort by playing it safe in crap weather.

So it was one of those things where we didn’t see the best of Jalen Hurts, but we also didn’t see the worst. It was a steady, mistake-free performance. Allen, on the other hand, was all over the place. His ceiling was as high as his floor was low, and his mistakes ended up defining the game, a 1B topic to go along with a 1A Eagles defensive performance.

In truth, I do feel like there was a missed opportunity to change the national narrative for good. Hurts completely outplayed Allen in the first half, and if Nick Sirianni and Kevin Patullo didn’t come out with a chickenshit approach to the second half, Jalen probably goes for at least 175 yards and maybe a second score. Perhaps he rips off a scramble or two. There was an opportunity to really bury the pervasive, anti-Hurts sentiment out there.

Fans will say they don’t care, that this is just a media obsession, and that’s fine. But the history books are written by the scribes and the publishers and pundits of the time choose the stories to broadcast to a neutral and national crowd. You’re talking about a guy’s legacy and trying to tell a true, factual story that is more comprehensive than just passing numbers and touchdowns. We all know that Jalen Hurts does so many things well, and it would be nice if the rest of the NFL community at large would join us in finally recognizing it. If that amounts to obsession, then so be it.