Football Talks (Hurts Critics Silenced?)

 After a 24-17 loss to the Commanders, backup QB Tanner Mckee proved why he is currently a backup.

After the Coach decided to sit the starters, the reins of week 18 belonged to Mckee and company. But in the end, a loss came with the realization of something that will help the Eagles star QB.

Now don't get me wrong, Mckee played ok considering it was his backups against the 4-12 Commanders. But at the same time, he proved why he is still a backup in this league. Here was his stats.

Week 18 vs. Commanders

QB: Tanner McKee
Result: ❌ Loss, 17–24

Passing

• Completions / Attempts: 21 / 40

• Completion Percentage: 52.5%

• Passing Yards: 241

• Passing TDs: 1

• Interceptions: 1

• Sacks Taken: 3

• Passer Rating: 68.0

• QBR: 26

Rushing

• Rushing Attempts: 2

• Rushing Yards: 3

With this game came some big realizations from Eagles Fans. He is a Backup for a reason. It is not that he played terrible but against a 4-12 Commanders team with solid backups, he couldn't find a way to win. 

Now he did have backups but they played pretty good. Consider Tank Bigsby or Jahan Dotson. They stood out and played well. But Tanner Mckee despite having these guys, lost. 

Consider his QBR rating of 26. That stat alone show's why he is a backup.

He had some ball placement issues the entire game and threw a pick.

His passer rating was 68!

Consider what other analysts had to say.

Inside the Iggles:

One big knock on McKee in the game was the accuracy. There were a lot of balls that fell to the ground and didn't hit the necessary targets, and his interception was more about him and Jahan Dotson not being on the same page.

 McKee looked like a backup in the defeat. The Eagles passing offense was incredibly inconsistent, as McKee stumbled to a 21/40 passing line for 241 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. He was also sacked three times. On multiple third down opportunities, McKee missed an open target that could have picked up the conversion. Overall, it was a slippery performance.

Eagles-Wire: Seth Joyner

Seth Joyner is done with the Tanner McKee talk: "I don't want to hear a thing by anybody else about Tanner McKee replacing our quarterback...He's a good backup, that's it. He may be great trade bait, that's it!"

PHLY-Sports:

Eagles backup QB Tanner Mckee completely shatters fan narratives in brutal Eagles Loss.

From this game we can note that Mckee still has potential and not in the slightest is he not a good QB. But the big problem that was solved for Hurts was Mckee playing a subpar game.

I find it funny that Hurts gets ripped and still has a top 10 in passing Td's, Completion percentage, rushing yards, passer rating, interception rate, and Fantasy Points.

Right now, headed into the playoffs, we should be excited for a team that has reached the playoffs 5 years in a row and is looking for a Super Bowl repeat.

And to end, how about this chilling quote from Hurts about the playoffs.

During his press conference, Hurts was asked why he plays so well in high-stakes games. For the franchise quarterback, he only needed five words to give a proper response.

"Some things are in you," Hurts said via The Athletic's Zach Berman.