Jalen Hurts used to have one major flaw as a quarterback: The Philadelphia Eagles QB didn't make many plays in the passing game against zone defense.
That has mostly been solved this season, but another issue has popped up: blitzes.
ESPN's Aaron Schatz broke down a fatal flaw for each playoff team in a new article on Wednesday. For the Eagles, he singled out Hurts' struggles against the blitz.
First, he pointed out the improvement against zone.
"For a long time, this would have been an easy choice to highlight Hurts' struggles against zone coverage," Schatz writes. "However, he has played better against zone in recent weeks. For the season, Hurts ranks 16th in DVOA against zone, which compares favorably with his rank of 13th against man coverage."
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Playing against the blitz has been a different story, though.
"He is 20th in DVOA against the blitz this season -- down to 30th if we only look at games since Week 10, with just 6.0 net yards per play," Schatz writes.
The Eagles do catch one break. Of the two conferences, the NFC's good teams blitz less.
"Most of the NFC playoff field is not particularly blitz-heavy, with the Buccaneers as the clear exception," Schatz writes. "But teams such as the Seahawks and Bears might blitz more if they know that's a weakness for Philadelphia."
The Eagles seem likely to go as far as Hurts takes them at this point. Last season's Super Bowl champions had a roster that could beat you in a lot of ways, but this one has encountered a lot of passing game roadblocks.
If Hurts and his pass catchers and blockers figure things out, the Eagles can still be a dangerous team.
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