The Philadelphia Eagles just demolished the Washington Commanders 55-23 in the NFC Championship.
This was largely because of two players: running back Saquon Barkley and quarterback Jalen Hurts.
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Barkley proved why he is an MVP candidate, rushing 15 times for 118 yards. Meanwhile, Hurts put on a clinic, completing 20 passes for 246 yards and a touchdown while also recording three rushing touchdowns.
Needless to say, Hurts proved that he belongs in the elite quarterback conversation while also ending an unfortunate 33-year NFL streak.
According to a report from Jeff Kerr of CBS Sports, Hurts is the first NFL quarterback to return to the Super Bowl after losing his Super Bowl debut.
The last quarterback to pull this off was Jim Kelly, who led the Buffalo Bills to four consecutive Super Bowls, all of which they lost. His last appearance was in 1992.
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Since then, 18 starting quarterbacks have lost their Super Bowl debut and never returned to the big game.
Of these 18, seven made it back to a conference title: Steve McNair of the Tennessee Titans, Jake Delhomme of the Carolina Panthers, Donovan McNabb of the Eagles, Colin Kaepernick of the San Francisco 49ers, Jared Goff of the Detroit Lions, Jimmy Garoppolo of the 49ers, and Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals.
That being said, one name has an asterisk next to it: Drew Bledsoe. Bledsoe led the New England Patriots to the Super Bowl in 1996. He returned to the Super Bowl in 2001 as a backup quarterback to Tom Brady.
John Elway was the last quarterback to return to the Super Bowl after losing his debut. He led the Denver Broncos to the Super Bowl in 1987, losing to the New York Giants.
The Broncos would return many times with Elway, eventually winning two Super Bowls.
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The last time Hurts and the Eagles made it to the Super Bowl was a game to remember with Philadelphia narrowly losing 38-35 to the Kansas City Chiefs.
In that game, Hurts completed 27 passes for 304 yards and one touchdown. He also rushed 15 times for 70 yards and three touchdowns.
Hurts set the Super Bowl record for most rushing yards by a quarterback while tying the records for most touchdowns, rushing touchdowns, and most points scored (20).
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