Here’s why the Eagles played Jalen Hurts for just two shots in the Week 12 loss to the Seahawks

So much for the Philadelphia Eagles who gave Jalen Hurts first-team reps at the quarterback. Hurts played just two shots in the Eagles’ 23-17 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, a game where the Philadelphia offense could have used a spark after throwing just 180 yards per pass and averaging 3.4. yards per attempt – against a Seattle defense that allowed 343.7 passing yards per game before the game, the highest average in NFL history in 11 weeks.

The Eagles had plenty of reasons to play Hurts for a significant number of clichés. Instead, Hurts completed a six-yard pass to Alshon Jeffery in the second quarter – never to be seen again. Hurts took just one snap with Eagles starting quarterback Carson Wentz off the field.

“The plan was to use it when we could,” Eagles head coach Doug Pederson said of Hurts’ lack of use. “The way the game started, we just didn’t have a lot of chances, too many threes and outs. I don’t think we had a first try until the second quarter. We didn’t. just didn’t – we didn’t manage to run. just wasn’t in the cards, I guess, so to speak, at the start of the football game.

“But no more, no less than what we used it every week.”

Carson Wentz gave the Eagles no reason to sit the Hurts, starting the game with four incomplete passes and finishing 25 of 45 for 216 yards with two touchdowns and one interception – his league-leading 15th pick of the season. Wentz has been sacked six times and his wide receivers have been ineffective, catching just nine passes for 46 yards.

Wentz wasn’t getting any help around him, but also struggled to make the simplest of throws on several games during the game. He ranks second to last in the league in completion percentage (58.1%) and third in last in interception percentage (3.6), yards per attempt (6.0) and passer rating (73, 4). At this point, taking Wentz out for Hurts doesn’t hurt the Eagles.

“It’s a challenge for the quarterbacks to do that, but from an offensive standpoint if we can have a little change of pace there with Jalen and mix things up whether we’re running him or throwing him,” Pederson said. “I thought the guys tonight, for the few games that Jalen was in, they handled it well. It’s just something that we will continue to work on.

“But yeah, it can be a bit difficult, for either quarterback unless they can get multiple shots, but it just didn’t happen. There were too many of us in the threesome and less.”