By Jerry Judge
There is still a slim chance the 3-8-1 Eagles make the playoffs.
Okay, stop laughing.
Their final four games are at least winnable:
The New Orleans Saints quarterbacked by Taysom Hill, the Arizona Cardinals, the Cowboys and Washington.
A 7-8-1 record is not impossible.
Winning those games will come down to what kind of impact Jalen Hurts can make now that he has been named the starting quarterback. Hurts brought a jolt of energy to the Eagles’ languid offense in Green Bay on Sunday – the kind of impact that asks why Doug Pederson persisted with a shell-of-himself Carson Wentz for so long.
Hurts has some glaring deficiencies. He’s not a rhythm-based thrower, and he can be sloppy on intermediate passing progressions, the kind that usually defines whether a quarterback is good enough to play at the pro-level. But he is also a spark plug, the kind of mobile quarterback that makes stuff happen on important downs, be it moving to throw or taking off with his legs.
Most of Hurts’ best works comes outside of the construction of the offense. And given what a mess Pederson’s offense has been this season, that’s just what the Eagles need.
Hurts needs to steer the team unbeaten through the rest of the regular season and then pick apart a playoff-caliber defense. That’s a big ask for any quarterback; it’s a near-impossible task for a rookie.
