Should Jalen Hurts have been Super Bowl MVP?

When the dust settled and heart rates returned to normal, the Kansas City Chiefs were crowned Super Bowl Champions again on Sunday night. For the second time in five years, Patrick Mahomes led the team back from a 10-point deficit, and he was rewarded with his second Super Bowl MVP.

But here’s my hot take: maybe Jalen Hurts should have been the Super Bowl MVP. Yes, even though he lost the game.

Credit where credit is due, legendary quarterback Kurt Warner first posited this thought as a hypothetical during the game last night. But I really want to flesh this out, because I think he was onto something.

Before my fellow Chiefs fans pull out the torches and pitchforks, hear me out. Throughout the game, my family repeatedly said Hurts was a “one-man” show for the Eagles. It was true. Hurts pretty much put the team on his shoulders and kept them in the game.

This wasn’t just a one-time performance either. Before the Super Bowl, Hurts was 16-1 this season. The Eagles lost more when Hurts was out than when he was healthy. He is a baller, and even Patrick Mahomes testified to this.

And as for the one-man show that Hurts had during the Super Bowl, how about we do a blind stats test:

• Player A: 304 passing yards, 1 touchdown, 70 rushing yards, 3 rushing touchdowns
• Player B: 182 passing yards, 3 touchdowns, 44 rushing yards

If you were to guess which one was Mahomes, who would you pick?

Now I know the biggest “yeah, but” is that Hurts lost a costly fumble that was returned for a touchdown, but still, do you see those stats? It’s hard to argue that Mahomes was the better quarterback on the surface.

The Super Bowl MVP can’t be from the losing team?

Well, technically they can. It’s just only happened one time, and that was over 50 years ago. The year after the Chiefs won Super Bowl IV, Chuck Howley of the Dallas Cowboys won Super Bowl V MVP, despite the fact that the Cowboys lost the game.

As you can see, it’s incredibly rare for the losing team to produce the Super Bowl MVP. And it’s doubtful ever to happen again. But if it did, it would have to take one heck of a performance. Can’t we say Jalen Hurts did just that?

Practically speaking, it’s also hard to imagine the Super Bowl MVP coming from the losing team. To be honest, I’m not quite sure what the decision-making process is for Super Bowl MVP or even who makes the call. It probably is more of a publicity award now anyway, and nobody wants to see the losers represented in the spotlight.

Besides, can you imagine how it would look if after the winning team hoisted the Lombardi Trophy, and the owner, coach, and players gave their brief interviews, Terry Bradshaw said, “Oh, and by the way, let’s hear from Super Bowl MVP Jalen Hurts”? As Hurts gingerly walks up to the platform to talk about his performance in spite of the loss? One word: awkward.

Nonetheless, I appreciated Hurts’ performance. I’ll admit, I was a doubter before the game started. I really thought the Chiefs would beat the tar out of the Philadelphia Eagles. But the Eagles, and Hurts, made a fool out of me. I’m glad the Chiefs won, but the Eagles might have had the real Super Bowl MVP.