Jalen Hurts hasn't played well in the playoffs, college or pro. Will that change in the Super Bowl?

PHOENIX — Jalen Hurts has never really performed well in a playoff game. Not in the NFL. Not in college.

Considering his Philadelphia Eagles are in the Super Bowl on Sunday against Kansas City, maybe that doesn’t matter. Hurts has clearly been good enough.

Or maybe Philly is going to need more out of him to get past Patrick Mahomes, who most certainly has risen at times to play his best ball in the biggest of games.

Or maybe after nearly two weeks of breaking everything down, even an MVP candidate can become a question mark.

What isn’t deniable are the numbers.

In three NFL playoff games, Hurts is a cumulative 54-of-92 (58.7 completion percentage) for 533 yards (177.6 average) with three touchdowns, two interceptions and four sacks. He also rushed for 37.3 yards a game and carried the ball for two scores.

His best game featured 16-of-24 passing for 154 yards and two touchdowns against the New York Giants in last month’s NFC divisional game.

Those numbers haven't gone unnoticed. San Francisco 49ers kicker Robbie Gould had this assessment of Hurts this week: "if you make Jalen Hurts play quarterback, you're going to have a pretty solid day on defense."

Dating back to college, he was no better. In 2019, playing for Oklahoma, he went 15-of-31 for 217 yards and an interception in a college playoff semifinal loss to LSU.

In 2017, playing for Alabama, he completed 16 of 24 passes for 120 yards and two touchdowns in a semifinal victory over Clemson, then struggled going 3-of-8 for 21 yards in the first half of the national title game against Georgia. Tide head coach Nick Saban famously pulled him at the break and inserted Tua Tagovailoa in the game.

In 2016, at Alabama, he completed 7 of 14 passes for 57 yards in a semifinal victory over Washington but then just 13 of 31 for 131 yards and a touchdown in a title game loss to Clemson.

That is a cumulative 50 completion percentage for 109.2 yards in five college playoff games.

His best “postseason” effort came in 2018, when he subbed into the SEC title game for Tagovailoa and went 7-of-9 for 82 yards and a touchdown to help defeat Georgia.

These are performances with three different teams in two different levels of football, so trying to put them together may not signify anything. And no one doesn’t think Hurts is capable of lighting up a game.

Still, until he does it in a playoff game, he hasn’t done it in a playoff game.

Sunday is his chance to rewrite that narrative or prove he is the big-game player his talent suggests. The championship game benching had been the defining moment of his career until he completely rewrote the script this season. No reason not to finish the job with a big effort in the Super Bowl.

For what it’s worth, there is little doubt among the Eagles. They don't see a player who struggles in tense situations.

"He's a guy that is not scared to make the big play,” said cornerback Darius Slay. “Some quarterbacks like to be safe. He's not. He knows how to do it all. He knows how to be a one-play guy or he can drive the ball 15 plays and do whatever. That's what makes him so special.”

You don’t necessarily need a quarterback to play well to win a Super Bowl. Baltimore beat Dallas behind a 3-for-9, 88-yard, one-touchdown and two-interception effort by Johnny Unitas. Of course, that was 1970. The game is a little different now.

In 2000, Trent Dilfer was 12-of-25 for 123 yards and a touchdown and Baltimore still beat the Giants. Philly’s defense may not be quite as good as that Ray Lewis-led crew, but it’s fair to say the most important player on the Eagles might be edge rusher Haason Reddick, who is assigned to chase down Mahomes.

Philadelphia’s one Super Bowl championship came five years ago, and it was journeyman Nick Foles who played brilliantly, far above his regular-season norms. He connected on 28 of 43 passes for 373 yards and three touchdowns, plus he caught a TD pass after suggesting the Eagles run a daring trick play (“The Philly Special”) on fourth-and-goal. The Eagles never punted nor turned over the ball and thus were able to beat New England 41-33 despite 505 passing yards from Tom Brady.

“The stage is never too big for him,” tight end Zach Ertz said of Foles that night.

It’s not fair to question Hurts and the stage at this point. The NFL sample size is too small and the two Philly victories this year were so lopsided he wasn’t asked to do much as he returned from injury.

He likely will be asked Sunday, though. It’s one thing for the Eagles to shut down an essentially quarterback-less San Francisco team in the NFC championship. Mahomes is an entirely different challenge.

That’s the stage. That’s the stakes. And that’s the opportunity for Jalen Hurts, to silence one of the last questions about him as a player.