Throwing the ball far has never been a problem for Jalen Hurts. Throwing it far and accurately has.
Hurts last year hit just five pass plays of 40 yards or more, which was tied for 22nd of the 25 quarterbacks who threw at least 400 passes.
It was the first time the Eagles had five or fewer 40-yard pass plays in a season since 1999, when they had just four, split evenly between Doug Pederson and Donovan McNabb.
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The Eagles finished tied for last in the NFL in big plays. The Jaguars, Lions and Panthers also had five.
It’s not easy to drive 75 yards in 12 plays all the time, and without the threat of big plays, any offense is much easier to defend and therefore less effective.
Which brings us to 2022.
NFL
For starters, the Eagles added one of the NFL’s top big-play threats. Not only are A.J. Brown’s 16 catches of 40 yards or more 3rd-most since he entered the league in 2019, behind only Mike Williams (19) and Stefon Diggs (17), it’s one more than all the Eagles’ wide receivers during the same three-year period (Quez Watkins 4, DeSean Jackson 3, John Hightower 2, Travis Fulgham 2, Jalen Reagor 1, DeVonta Smith 1, Nelson Agholor 1, Deontay Burnett 1).
But one of the biggest takeaways of the 2022 preseason is that Hurts has been much better throwing the deep ball than last year.
We’ve seen it consistently at practice. He’s throwing deep with more authority and less air under the ball. And although he’s still prone to the occasional underthrow, it’s nowhere near as frequently as last year.
Hurts’ deep ball to Brown down the right sideline at practice on Tuesday — 45 yards in the air, perfectly placed with decent coverage from Josh Jobe so Brown didn’t have to break stride — was his finest throw of camp.
“Since I got here, his deep ball accuracy has been amazing,” receiver Zach Pascal said. “His throws have been accurate. I see him get better every day and the work ethic he puts into that just trickles down to the whole team.”
Of Hurts’ five 40-yard-plus completions last year, three were to Watkins and one each to Dallas Goedert and Smith. All five traveled between 46 and 52 yards in the air.
Add Brown to the equation and Hurts has a wide assortment of speedy guys who know how to get open. Heck, even Reagor has looked good connecting with Hurts on deep balls this summer, although who knows what his role will be once the season starts (or if he’ll even be here).
“You see it in practice,” offensive coordinator Shane Steichen said. “He hit a big one the other day to Quez right down the sideline, and he hit another one to Reagor on that post. So it's showing up.”
You can make a case that there’s a direct correlation between big plays and wins.
The two teams with the most 40-yard pass plays last year? The Rams and Bengals, who just happened to meet in the Super Bowl.
The Chargers, Seahawks, Cards, Packers, Chiefs, 49ers, Vikings, Raiders and Buccaneers all also hit 10 or more 40-yard pass plays.
Combined record of those 11 teams was 118-69.
Combined record of the 21 teams that hit fewer than 10 was 154-201-2.
“We’ve got a lot of fast guys, a lot of fast receivers, even the tight ends,” Pascal said. “It’ll always be a weapon for us.”