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Responding to 10 Fake News Claims After Chris Simms Crawls Out of his Weasel Den to Rip Jalen Hurts
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I hate putting Chris Simms on the site, but after a couple of bad Jalen Hurts performances, there are a lot of insufferable talking heads dusting off their “Jalen Hurts was never a good quarterback to begin with” takes. So we’ll use this nonsense to frame the story as we combat pathetic revisionist history:
Let’s respond to 10 of these claims individually, and we’re not responding only to rage baiter Simms, but to any jabronies who want to weaponize the present against the past:
1) “Everybody’s blaming the coaches, and the blame deserves to be on the quarterback. That’s it.”
False. The offensive line is banged up and looks like a shell of what it was last season. Kevin Patullo’s playcalling has been average. There’s plenty of blame to go around.
2) “The quarterback won’t play the game in the pocket.”
That’s because Jalen Hurts isn’t a pocket passer or pro-style QB. He never has been. He’s a dual-threat quarterback and always at his best using designed runs and zone read or RPO while also scrambling.
3) “They run a limited offense because of the quarterback.”
We know, and it’s been good enough to win a Super Bowl and get within three points of winning another one. Rich Rodriguez had maybe 10 plays in his WVU playbook and that was good enough for a Sugar Bowl win over Georgia. Jay Wright won two national titles at Villanova with concept-driven basketball, not sideline calls from a play sheet. And 31 other NFL teams were “limited” because they didn’t have a QB capable of squatting 600 pounds and therefore running the tush push, so it goes both ways.
4) “There’s certain plays and throws that the quarterback won’t throw.”
This isn’t news. Everybody knows this. Hurts isn’t a progression guy and he’s not really a timing guy. He’s comfortable throwing certain passes and this was weaved into a conservative approach that cut down on turnovers last season. It was part of the design in 2024 it worked so well that they won a championship doing it.
5) “The public is pointing the finger as everybody except the guy who deserves the blame (Hurts)”
Simms is smoking crack if he thinks Hurts is absent of criticism. Nobody gets killed by fans and media in Philadelphia more than the guy playing QB for the Eagles. Before Hurts, this fan base was ready to string up Carson Wentz like one of the ducks he hunted in North Dakota. And don’t even get me started on Donovan McNabb and fan/media criticism.
6) “A.J. Brown is telling you…”
No one cares. We’re exhausted with A.J. Brown. A.J. should worry about himself. He was responsible for an interception on Monday night and couldn’t reel in what would have been the game-winning TD on Hurts’ best pass of the night. He’s quit on some plays this year and needs to focus on being the best player he can be, not putting cryptic messages on social media.
7) “We went through a 10-week span when the passing offense stunk last year.”
This is an exaggeration. Even during the 10-game win streak, when Saquon started to tee off, Hurts finished five straight games with a QB rating of 115 or better. He was good throwing the ball in the Cincinnati and Jacksonville games and answered the Carolina criticism by carving up a Steelers team that was 10-4 at the time.
8) “They won the Super Bowl and everybody wipes the slate clean.”
Or – they tell the full story, and in that particular game Saquon was bottled up by the Chiefs while Hurts put up nearly 300 scrimmage yards while contributing three touchdowns in the process. He was the game’s leading rusher and only turned the ball over once. As good as the defense was against Mahomes and company, Jalen finished with a 119.7 QB rating and led five straight scoring drives to bury KC and put the game out of reach. That’s why he won MVP.
9) “They won the Super Bowl as the lowest passing offense in the history of football to ever win the Super Bowl, that says something too.”
What it says is that the Eagles leaned on their strengths and designed their approach to minimize weaknesses. Sounds like a good strategy to me! Simms talks about passing as if it’s the only thing a quarterback does, when in fact Hurts ran the ball for nearly 800 yards and 19 touchdowns in the regular season and playoffs while committing his lowest career turnover number. How many game managers do you know that are dual-threat quarterbacks?
10) “I get a lot of hate on this subject…”
Because your view of the subject is narrow in focus.
Anyway, don’t feed the trolls and whatnot, but this is more of primer than anything. Whenever anybody goes back to shit on 2024 and weaponize revisionist history against QB1, all they need to know is that the guy was phenomenal with his feet and sound in protecting the ball. Then he stepped up to sling it when required, namely in the NFC Championship Game and Super Bowl, in which he logged a combined 467 yards passing, three TDs, and a pick. Add 21 carries for 88 yards and a score with zero fumbles. He played within a defined Eagles structure that maximized strengths and limited weaknesses and was a perfect fit for it. When you talk only about throwing the ball with Jalen Hurts, you’re telling a woefully-incomplete story. Simms knows this, he’s just being obtuse.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com