Once upon a time, blitzing Jalen Hurts was a fool's errand.
But that was waaaaay back when, like in September and October. The Eagles' pass offense has been out of rhythm all season, but we wrote weeks ago about the excessive number of blitzes Hurts had seen for the first five weeks and how teams were paying the price for those decisions to pressure him.
We even published this helpful info box:
| Jalen Hurts vs. Blitz | Ranks |
| Dropbacks | 63 (2nd) |
| Yards | 364 (9th) |
| TD passes | 5 (t-5th) |
| Passer Rating | 121.2 (6th) |
| Completion % | 72.2 (2nd) |
| EPA | +6.9 (12th) |
Last year, Hurts ranked among the NFL's best QBs in dicing up extra-man pressures. He ranked top-10 in passer rating, completion percentage over expectation, yards per attempt, pass EPA and EPA per dropback against the blitz in 2024, putting his name in the same company as other elite blitz destroyers Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Jared Goff and Josh Allen.
And through the first five weeks of the season, he was once again unflappable when blitzed.
But much like the rest of the offense – and now the run defense with it – Hurts has regressed in the category in which he once thrived, and even teams that typically don't like to blitz are throwing the house at him, and succeeding.
Never was that more evident than the Eagles' 24-15 loss on Black Friday against the Bears, who played an unusually high amount of man coverage and blitzed him at a 47.1-percent rate, the third-highest blitz rate of any NFL team in Week 13.
The Bears this year rank 11th in blitz percentage, at around 30 percent, which is a necessity for coordinator Dennis Allen given Chicago's lack of elite pass rushers.
Allen's willingness to blitz at a rate 17 percentage points higher than his season average on a night when gusty winds were already impacting the passing game for both teams was as glaring as it was beneficial for Chicago.
Hurts completed just 6 of 16 passes against the blitz for 60 yards and was picked off for just the second time all season. His passer rating against the extra-man pressure was just 22.9, his completion percentage just 37.5, his yards per attempt just 3.8, and his completion percentage over expectation a gruesome -23.3.
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The Bears even threw a few Zero blitzes at Hurts, which means all defenders are either blitzing or playing man coverage, with no safeties for help. That's a major risk against one of the NFL's deep ball throwers. None was riskier than the infamous 3rd-and-8 that saw Hurts throw behind DeVonta Smith, which Hurts admitted was a miscommunication on his part.
If it were one game, no biggie. You could even blame weather conditions. But teams confounding Hurts with blitzes has become a weeks-old storyline.
The Cowboys in Week 12 stayed true to form, blitzing Hurts right at their season average of around 26%. Hurts showed mix results – he completed 7 of 11 passes for 96 yards but didn't throw a touchdown on any of those 11 dropbacks. His 64% completion percentage and 91.5 passer rating were OK but below his average from the first five weeks, and his completion percentage over expectation (-0.8) and EPA (+4.7) were well below.
In Week 11, the Lions blitzed him less than their season average, but only by 2 percent and it made sense to pressure less that night with winds gusting at the Linc. Hurts completed 6 of 8 passes for just 39 yards, with an 84.9 passer rating and -4.6 EPA.
The Packers in Week 10 showed a major increase in blitz tendency, sending extra-man pressure at Hurts at a 30% clip – compared to their 20% average. Hurts really struggled, completing just 3 of 8 passes for 54 yards, a 61.5 passer rating, a -11.4 completion percentage over expectation, and a -0.4 EPA.
It'll be interesting to see what tactic Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter takes Monday night in Los Angeles. Only three teams blitz less than Minter – the Packers being one – and the Chargers have the NFL's second-best pass defense. They lean heavier on a four-man rush, and have the NFL's fourth-best sacks-per-pass attempt average.
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