Jalen Hurts vs. Patrick Mahomes: Tale of the tape as Eagles and Chiefs QBs square off in Super Bowl 2023

Comparing each QB's career, playoff history, fun facts and much more

By Cody Benjamin

Feb 11, 2023 at 4:00 pm ET • 6 min read

Keytron Jordan / CBS Sports

There are many reasons -- 57, if you're counting -- that Super Bowl LVII is an anticipated matchup. One of the best reasons to tune in, however, is the pair of starting quarterbacks. Not only do the Chiefs have arguably the contemporary face of the league in Patrick Mahomes, who's making his third Super Bowl appearance in just five seasons as a starter; but the Eagles boast one of Mahomes' newest challengers for top up-and-coming superstar in Jalen Hurts, a finalist for NFL MVP at age 24.

Together, Mahomes and Hurts have already made history, as they'll be the first pair of African-American QBs to ever go at it in a Super Bowl. But they're also awe-inspiring talents on their own accord. As we prepare to watch them square off on the biggest stage to close the 2022 season, here's everything you need to know about their respective journeys:

The basics

QB	Age	Season	Height	Weight	College	Drafted
Jalen Hurts	24	3rd	6-1	223	Oklahoma	2020 (2.53)
Patrick Mahomes	27	6th	6-2	225	Texas Tech	2017 (1.10)

Physically speaking, you might be surprised to learn that Hurts and Mahomes are similarly sized, at least on paper: neither boasts the towering height of counterparts like Justin Herbert (6-6) or Josh Allen (6-5). In reality, the Eagles QB is a bit stockier, but more than that, he tends to play lower to the ground, evoking a running back's posture as a refined, tough-nosed ball-carrier.

Both Hurts and Mahomes certainly make the most of their "average" builds at the position. Hurts' powerlifting background has been well-documented, and he plays with visible strength as a pile-pusher on frequent QB sneaks or red-zone carries, even while lacking the supersized bulk of past dual threats like Cam Newton. Only this year did he also showcase premium downfield passing touch, abruptly erasing concerns dating back to college about his natural ability to put enough velocity on throws all over the field -- likely one of the reasons he slipped deep into the second round of 2020's draft.

Mahomes is a much less natural runner, though he still excels as a scrambler in an upright posture. His bread and butter is, well, the kind of quarterbacking that no one else can consistently pull off -- an exceptionally athletic blend of a point guard's instincts and a shortstop's flexible arm angles. So much of his game looks -- and sometimes is -- off-script and out of structure, but Mahomes' genius is lending his natural gifts to designed creativity, which ends up being so unusual it just appears hectic. The tools were all there when he was drafted 10th overall in 2017; he just needed a coach and setup to unlock them properly.

Career numbers

QB	Seasons	Starts	Record	Yards	TDs	INTs	Rating
Jalen Hurts	3	34	23-11	7,906	44	19	92.2
Patrick Mahomes	6	80	64-16	24,241	192	49	105.7

It's kind of unfair to pit Mahomes' numbers against, well, any QB not already outfitted for a future Hall of Fame jacket. But the basic career marks tell a couple different stories: No. 1, again, Mahomes' production has been absolutely bonkers. It's not an exaggeration that he's already a Hall of Fame candidate after a mere five years as a starter. Hurts is coming off an MVP-caliber season, for crying out loud, and yet his career high in passing TDs is a whopping 19 scores short of what Mahomes threw this year, his own (second) MVP campaign. No. 2, Hurts' numbers suffer quite a bit from the 19 games he started between 2020-2021. That's not to say they don't count, but they deserve context: four of those starts came at the very end of Doug Pederson's tenure as head coach, when the Eagles finished 4-11-1 before a major makeover; and 15 came in Nick Sirianni's first year as head coach, when play-calling changed hands halfway through the year and the entire team was significantly less talented.

Playoff numbers

QB	Record	Conference titles	Yards	Total TDs	INTs	Rating
Jalen Hurts	2-1	1	533	5	2	76.9
Patrick Mahomes	10-3	3	3,902	37	7	106.1

If you want another reason Mahomes already has a strong case to be Hall of Fame-bound, here you go. In five short years as a starting QB in the NFL, he's essentially already compiled a full season's worth of MVP-caliber numbers, not to mention a whopping three Super Bowl berths. The intriguing thing with Hurts is that, despite his meteoric rise as a passer in 2022, he's still searching for a truly memorable playoff performance. His first postseason game came in the Eagles' 2021 finale, a dour defeat to Tom Brady and the Buccaneers in which Tampa Bay's front quickly made him uncomfortable (and all but ruined his passer rating above). This year, Hurts has gone 2-0 while leaning more on his legs, guiding run-heavier game plans while a sack-happy defense got after the Giants and 49ers. He figures to be more aerially involved this time around, against K.C.'s secondary.

Best season

Jalen Hurts (2022): 3,701 yards (66.5% completion), 22 TDs, 6 INTs, 101.5 rating, 760 rushing yards, 13 TDs, 14-1 record

Patrick Mahomes (2018): 5,097 yards (66% completion), 50 TDs, 12 INTs, 113.8 rating, 272 rushing yards, 2 TDs, 12-4 record

Being that Hurts has only played three years and been a full-time starter for two, this was a clear answer for the Eagles QB. He was reasonably effective in 2021, his first time as Philly's QB1, offering steady ground production while too often failing to find a rhythm through the air when it mattered most. This year he looked like an entirely different QB from the jump, showcasing improved arm strength, as well as confidence and aggressiveness pushing the ball downfield. It showed in his modest but efficient stats, which are far more special when you account for the fact he also functioned as a near-No. 1 running back.

Mahomes may well have just played his best season, casually eclipsing 5,000 yards and 40 TDs in his first year operating without the electric Tyreek Hill as his No. 1 receiver. But it's gonna be hard for him to top the sheer dynamism of his debut as a starter, when he sent bomb after bomb to Hill and Co., introducing the NFL to his high-octane gunslinging.

Worst season

Jalen Hurts (2020): 1,061 yards (52% completion), 6 TDs, 4 INTs, 77.6 rating, 354 rushing yards, 3 TDs, 1-3 record

Patrick Mahomes (2021): 4,839 yards (66.3% completion), 37 TDs, 13 INTs, 98.5 rating, 381 rushing yards, 2 TDs, 12-5 record

Hurts was just coming onto the scene in 2020, his rookie year, and while he offered flashes of life to a then-flailing Eagles offense, he was also at his most inaccurate, very much preferring to flee the scene of trouble rather than work through progressions as a passer. A lot of that probably stemmed from the circumstances, but still, it was a thoroughly mercurial debut.

In the spirit of fairness, perhaps we should've spotlighted Mahomes' own rookie season, when he played just a single Week 17 contest as Kansas City rested starters. No matter how you slice it, the two-time MVP just hasn't experienced a "bad" year to this point, at least by normal QBs' standards. His 2021 campaign was still well above average; it just saw him lean a little heavy on his "backyard" tendencies en route to more picks.

Super Bowl history

QB	Super Bowl	Result	Yards	TDs	INTs	Rating
Patrick Mahomes	LIV (2019)	W, 31-20	286	2	2	78.1
Patrick Mahomes	LV (2020)	L, 31-9	270	0	2	52.3

Mahomes has the clear upper hand here, at least in terms of sheer experience. But the numbers might be a tad surprising if you've gotten used to skimming nothing but gaudy marks up to this point. We might excuse the two picks against the 49ers due to nerves from his Super Bowl debut -- Mahomes and the Chiefs did win, after all, and he enjoyed Super Bowl MVP honors after helping guide 21 unanswered points. But he had basically no answers the following year, throwing another pair of interceptions while faced with relentless pressure from the Buccaneers behind a shoddy line. All that to say, Mahomes may be otherworldly, but he is not immune to a miscue or two on the big stage, which should be encouraging to Hurts and an Eagles team that's flaunted a busy front four and secondary this postseason.