Micah Parsons isn’t wrong. Parsons isn’t necessarily right, either, but he isn’t wrong.

In fact, I’ve voiced many of the same doubts on this here blog throughout the year. Jalen Hurts is benefitting greatly from an elite offensive line, elite running game and elite talent on the outside. Furthermore, Nick Sirianni’s scheme often has receivers streaking open with multiple feet of separation. Patrick Mahomes, on the other hand, has proven he’s still great when his offensive line is a mess, when there is no running game, and with or without elite talent at wide receiver. So yes, I do begrudgingly agree with Parsons that Mahomes is more valuable to his team than Hurts is to his.

Not being on an equal level to Mahomes isn’t exactly a knock here, folks. Hurts has been great and best of all, he’s getting better. Hurts threw for 163 fewer yards than last week, one less touchdown, and his completion percentage dropped nearly seven points, and I still think that was Hurts’ best game as a passer. Sure, incompetent safety play on the DeVonta Smith touchdown worked in his favor, but he threw an absolutely perfect pass later that Smith was unable to haul in for another touchdown, so the numbers evened out. Regardless, Hurts, for the most part, stood in the pocket and progressed through more than one read for a large majority of the afternoon. This has been my biggest “concern” with Hurts and he was great Sunday. He also made some throws on the run when needed and protected the football. It was a near perfect performance for Hurts after I questioned whether he could be an elite pocket quarterback. Does one great game make him an elite passing quarterback? No, of course not, but the evidence is building in favor of Hurts getting there, and sooner rather than later, too.

Random fact: The Eagles are 19-5 (regular season) since trading Zach Ertz. (One of those losses was a surrender to Dallas at the end of the 2021 season because Philadelphia’s playoff positioning was clinched.) The Eagles tried to play the trade off as giving Ertz a chance to win but we all know it was about money. That much is even clearer now as the Eagles have one of the best records over that span and the Cardinals are a floundering 9-15.

*****

Thursday Night Pick; Seahawks +3.5