The Eagles know the dates and times when they will play this season after this week’s schedule release. That means they also know the quarterbacks they will face each week, barring injury and other unforeseen circumstances.
My contention is that Jalen Hurts is the better QB the Eagles will face, with perhaps the exception being Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes. So-called national experts, fans of other teams, and maybe even some fans in the tri-state Philadelphia region, will disagree, thinking maybe Josh Allen is better or even Jayden Daniels, but that is the kind of lightning rod that is Hurts.
Hurts is 16-8 in matchups against each quarterback on the Eagles’ schedule, including a 5-3 mark in playoff games against them. Two quarterbacks Hurts has a losing record against are on the schedule, but he has a better playoff record than both, and neither has been to a Super Bowl, let alone become a Super Bowl MVP like Hurts was in February.
There are also a few quarterbacks Hurts and the Eagles will face this year who they have never played.
Here’s a breakdown of each quarterback they will play in the order they will play them and Hurts’ record against each.
Dak Prescott: 1-2. This is one of the two quarterbacks Hurts will play that he does not have a winning record against. It’s the playoff record that separates the two QBs. Prescott is just 2-5 and has never been past the second round in nine seasons. Hurts is 6-3 in the postseason with two trips to the Super Bowl, where has played two of the best games of his career and is 1-1 in them.
Patrick Mahomes: 2-2 (1-1 playoffs). The tie will be broken in Week 2 when they meet again. These two quarterbacks could be the best rivalry that nobody talks about. The only time they could potentially meet is in the Super Bowl, and they’ve done it twice already and split those meetings. Hurts turns 27 in August; Mahomes 30 three days after he plays the Eagles in Week 2, so these two may not be done meeting in Super Bowls.
Matthew Stafford: 3-0 (1-0 playoffs). They have both won a Super Bowl, but the head-to-head matchup is telling.
Baker Mayfield: 1-2 (0-1). The second quarterback that Hurts doesn’t have a winning record against. Week 4 will give the Eagles QB a chance to even the score.
Bo Nix: First meeting.
Russell Wilson: 1-1. Hurts’ first win over Wilson came when he was with the Steelers last year. Perhaps in one of the Eagles’ two games with the Giants this season, Jaxson Dart could be the starter, and that would be the first matchup between the two of what could be several more over the years.
J.J. McCarthy: First meeting.
Jordan Love: 2-0 (1-0 playoffs). For all the talk about how great Love is, he has never beaten Hurts and was 0-2 against him last year.
Jared Goff 2-1. The Lions are frothing at the mouth to play the Eagles after the Commanders denied them the chance by beating the top seed in the playoffs last year. Maybe Goff evens the score vs. Hurts.
Caleb Williams: First meeting.
Justin Herbert: 1-0. Many so-called experts think Herbert is better. The record says otherwise, and so do those four picks Herbert threw in a Wildcard playoff loss last year to the Texans, dropping his postseason mark to 0-2.
Geno Smith: First meeting.
Josh Allen: 1-0. It’s just a small sample size, but the win Hurts had came in overtime two years ago after he rallied the Eagles from a fourth-quarter deficit.
Jayden Daniels: 2-0 (1-0 playoffs). Yes, the Commanders QB beat the Eagles in the regular season last year, but Hurts was knocked out of the game in the first quarter, so that doesn’t count as a win over the Eagles QB in my book, and until Daniels shows he can be the consistent winner Hurts has been over the past four seasons, he cannot be ranked above him.
