Jalen Hurts silenced his critics by leading the Philadelphia Eagles to a win in Super Bowl LIX on Sunday night, and Dan Orlovsky was one of the first in line to apologize to the star quarterback.
Orlovsky was critical of Hurts throughout the season, especially when Philadelphia’s passing offense struggled. Hurts threw for fewer than 200 yards in three of the final four regular-season games in which he played. He then had 131 passing yards in a Wild Card win over the Green Bay Packers and just 128 yards in the Divisional Round against the Los Angeles Rams.
Orlovsky thought the lack of production would eventually result in a disappointing end to Philadelphia’s season. Instead, Hurts proved in both the NFC Championship Game and the Super Bowl that he is capable of carrying the Eagles when needed.
During Monday’s edition of “First Take” on ESPN, Orlovsky apologized to the former Alabama star.
“I owe, publicly, Jalen Hurts an apology. I was probably one this year who has been the hardest on him,” Orlovsky admitted. “I’ll go back a couple weeks ago when I said the passing game’s not good enough right now and I don’t think it’s gonna get better. All he’s done since then is have his two best games of the year on the two biggest stages that the game has been on — the NFC Championship and the Super Bowl. He was sensational last night, and he was sensational in the NFC Championship Game. He made one bad play last night, in a Super Bowl against the fourth-ranked defense in the NFL that was giving up on average 18 points per game. One mistake, one bad play.
“All Jalen Hurts has done is constantly believed in himself no matter what anyone has said — and again I’ve been one of those people — and constantly just gone to work and not allowed the outside noise to affect him. He’s a big-game hunter.”
Dan Orlovsky: "I owe publicly Jalen Hurts an apology. I was probably one this year who's been the hardest on him. I'll go back to a couple of weeks ago when I said the passing game's not good enough right now and I don't think it's going to get better. All he's done since then is… pic.twitter.com/XuTzIvqy8H
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 10, 2025
Hurts finished 17/22 for 221 yards, 2 touchdowns and an interception in Philadelphia’s 40-22 win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX. The quarterback also rushed for 72 yards and a score. Hurts made several accurate throws in big spots that prevented the Chiefs from having a chance to get back into the game.
Many people forget that Hurts was also outstanding in the Eagles’ 38-35 Super Bowl loss to Kansas City two years ago. He had 304 yards passing, 1 touchdown and no interceptions in that game. Hurts rushed for 70 yards and 3 touchdowns and exceeded expectations in the biggest game of his career.
Orlovsky certainly is not the only one who doubted Hurts. There was even an epic commercial after the Super Bowl that referenced how many people did not think Hurts would be able to get the job done.
