The Eagles-Cowboys rivalry hasn’t really clicked in recent years, largely because the two teams haven’t been this good at the same time. But Jalen Hurts and the Eagles playing at this level, along with the Cowboys’ very strong season thus far, have rekindled the flame.
Dallas linebacker Micah Parsons was a guest on Bills’ LB Von Miller’s podcast, and the topic of the MVP race this season came up. Parsons just couldn’t bring himself to admit that the Eagles QB is truly having an MVP-caliber year.
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Miller: I think right now it’s down to two.
Parsons: [Patrick] Mahomes and [Josh] Allen?
Miller: Josh is coming back, but it’s down to two.
Parsons: Who else… who else would you put?
NFL
Miller: I’d probably put Hurts and Mahomes.
Parsons: [pauses] It’s hard for me to really speak on this… I’m playing him in a couple weeks, I don’t want him to make me pay.
Miller: [laughs]
Parsons: [laughs] […] It’s hard, like, when you put talent around, it makes it easier, ok…
[…]
Parsons: When you look at the Eagles, is it Hurts or the team?
Miller: I think it’s a little bit of both, man! [laughs]
Parsons: It’s system and team!
[…]
Parsons: I’m not trying to make no enemies. I just, like.. I just love the game so much and understand it so much that, like… I can’t, when things are off I just can’t hold it in, I just gotta say something.
Parsons tried like hell to avoid saying anything, positive or negative, about Hurts, but then closes the topic with “when things are off?” What exactly is off about a quarterback who is leading the NFL in passer rating and has led his team to the best record in the league with four games left in the season?
If you don’t want to give him all the credit for the team’s success, fine. The team is stacked right now. The acquisition of A.J. Brown is likely the most significant offensive addition of any team in the league this season. But how can you shortchange the quarterback of a team who is 12-1? A guy who has led his team to 41 points a game over its last three without a major offensive weapon in Dallas Goedert?
Parsons goes on to say in the podcast that he believes Mahomes will be the MVP. Cool. Everyone’s entitled to their opinion. But when you bring up the “player vs. system” argument when you’re talking about a quarterback, you say without saying it that you don’t respect that quarterback. Plain and simple.
Not entirely sure this qualifies as bulletin board material for Hurts, but as he said after Sunday’s win, “I carry my scars with me everywhere I go. I don’t forget.”