Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles had a nightmarish 2023 campaign.
Of course, it didn’t start out that way, as Hurts and Co. were 10-1 at one point and seemed prime to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl for the second straight year.
However, the Eagles proceeded to lost five of their last six games, becoming the first team in NFL history to not win 12 games after winning 10 of their first 11. They were then routed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Wild Card Round, leaving everyone to wonder what went wrong.
While speaking to reporters this week, Hurts explained what he learned from last season.
What Philadelphia experienced over the last month-and-a-half of 2023 was one of the stranger things we have seen in the NFL.
To this point, no one has been able to identify exactly what caused Philly’s collapse, but there were rumors that some players within the Eagles’ locker room did not see eye to eye with Hurts.
This has never been confirmed, but the fact that Hurts’ leadership ability was called into question is certainly alarming for a club that is two seasons removed from a Super Bowl appearance.
That being said, there were also some obvious reasons as to why Philadelphia didn’t exactly live up to expectations this past year.
Philly was atrocious defensively in 2023, finishing 26th in the league in total defense and second-to-last in passing defense.
The Eagles’ secondary was an issue all season long, but the team was able to mask it for much of the year. Of course, in late November and into December and January, the wheels came off.
Hurts himself also took a major step back in 2023, throwing for 3,858 yards, 23 touchdowns and 15 interceptions while completing 65.4 percent of his passes and posting a passer rating of 89.1. He did punch in 15 rushing touchdowns, but he averaged just 3.9 yards per carry.
That came after the 25-year-old finished second in MVP voting in 2022.
We’ll see if Jalen Hurts and Co. can turn things around next season.
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