It's getting late into the season, which can only mean one thing for the Eagles — it's time for a quarterback controversy.
After dealing with almost nothing but drama at the quarterback position over the last few seasons, especially late in the year, the Eagles might be right back into needing to make a tough decision at quarterback after Gardner Minshew's start in the Eagles 33-18 win over the Jets.
Minshew moved the ball up-and-down the field against the Jets, leading the Eagles to points on their first six drives, and finishing 20/25 for 242 yards, 2 touchdowns and no interceptions. He was effective, he put the ball where it needed to be in the passing game and delivered accurate passes throughout the game. It was the Eagles' second-best game of the season passing the ball in a win.
Perhaps there will be no question inside the NovaCare Complex on who starts the team's next game at quarterback. His performance was likely good enough that there is going to be plenty of debate amongst the fans on what the Eagles should do at quarterback after their Bye Week — stick with Minshew or put back in Jalen Hurts?
Minshew did everything he could to make it a tough call for the coaches.
Minshew was everything the Eagles could have hoped for to start the game. He took the Eagles right down the field on the opening drive, hitting tight end Dallas Goedert for a 36-yard touchdown to cap the drive off.
The throw to Goedert was a perfect one, as despite having pressure in his face, Minshew hit the tight end right in stride so he could run the final few yards for the score. Minshew went 3-for-3 on the opening drive for 61 yards and a perfect 158.3 passer rating.
Minshew kept heating up as the game went on. On the second drive he hit receiver Quez Watkins on 3rd-and-6 with a nice, quick pass over the middle for 10 yards and a first down. He capped the drive off with another touchdown to Goedert, this one from 25-yards out. The pass was under thrown, but got the job done, and was a big play on 3rd down to give the Eagles a 14-12 lead.
Overall, Minshew started the the game 11/11 for 165 yards, and his first incompletion didn't come until there was just over a minute to play in the first half on a pass he intentionally spiked into the ground.
Minshew made another big play on third down on the opening drive of the third quarter, finding Watkins for a 28-yard down on 3rd-and-10. The pocket broke down, but Minshew moved to his left, kept his eyes down the field and made a difficult throw down the field to Watkins on the move for the first down.
The obvious question after Minshew's performance is — now what?
The Eagles don't play next week as they are on the Bye Week. If Hurts was questionable for this game with an ankle injury, chances are he will be fully healed and ready to go for the Eagles' next game. Chances are the team will almost certainly be starting Hurts and that is probably the right move.
After how well Minshew played on Sunday, however, the pressure is going to be on Hurts to play at a high level — especially in the passing game.
We have now seen the offense with a different quarterback. Yes, it was against the Jets, but the offense looked better than it has all season with Minshew at quarterback. The passing game looked great and they didn't have to lean on running the ball to move it up-and-down the field. Perhaps Hurts would have played just as well. We'll never know.
What we do know, however, is that the Eagles are now in the controversy that has happened far too often the last few seasons.
Each pass Hurts misses now, especially the open ones he has missed at times this season, will be met with calls for Minshew. Some will even want him to start the team's next game.
This is a quarterback controversy the Eagles welcomed and risked happening when they traded for Minshew. Bringing in a high-profile backup when there was much uncertainty at the starting quarterback position was the perfect recipe for this to happen.
Now, after how well Minshew played, the Eagles are right back in it at quarterback — and how they handle the quarterback controversy moving forward is going to be fascinating to watch.
Grade: A
You can reach Eliot Shorr-Parks on Twitter at @EliotShorrParks or email him at esp@94wip.com
