The horrendous performance of Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray on Monday night in his team's blowout loss to the Los Angeles Rams was certainly something to see.
He looked lost. He couldn't move the offense. He couldn't complete passes. He made poor decisions with the ball. He had under 50 yards passing in the third quarter. He looked nothing like the quarterback that carried his team to the playoffs.
In other words, he looked like Jalen Hurts did against Tampa Bay — and that might be a good thing for the Eagles.
Murray's struggles in his playoff debut certainly put Hurts' terrible playoff performance in some perspective. It was also part of a larger trend from the Wild Card weekend where quarterbacks making their playoff debuts struggled.
Here is what Murray, Hurts, New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones and Las Vegas Raiders quarterback did in their playoff debuts:
Kyler Murray: 19/34, 137 yards, 55.88%, 0 TD, 2 INT, 40.9 passer rating
Mac Jones: 24/38, 232 yards, 63.16%, 2 TD, 2 INT, 75.8 passer rating
Jalen Hurts: 23/43, 258 yards, 53.49%, 1 TD, 2 INT, 60.0 passer rating
Derek Carr: 29/54, 310 yards, 53.70%, 1 TD, 1 INT, 69.2 passer rating.
Only Joe Burrow, who had a passer rating of 110.4 in his postseason debut for the Cincinnati Bengals, had a strong showing. Otherwise, the four teams with first-time starting quarterbacks in the postseason were not that competitive.
Quarterbacks struggling in their postseason debuts in not a new trend. Here is what two MVP caliber quarterbacks did in their playoff debuts:
Josh Allen: 24/46, 264 yards, 52.17%, 0 TD, 0 INT, 69.5 passer rating
Lamar Jackson: 14/29, 194 yards, 48.28%, 2 TD, 1 INT, 78.8 passer rating
Both Allen and Jackson lost their first start in the playoffs. Allen went on to win his next start and has had plenty of playoff success since. Jackson lost his second start in the playoffs, but won his third.
So what does this mean for Hurts?
While the flaws he showed this past Sunday were red flags, and issues he has had for long stretches of this season, there is a strong argument to be made that his poor play was due in part to it being his first start in the playoffs.
Winning in the playoffs is hard. Going against a Todd Bowles defense is even harder. Beating Tom Brady is about as close to impossible as it comes in the NFL.
How much stock the Eagles put into Hurts' struggling because it was his playoff debut remains to be seen. With three 1st-round picks it is hard to imagine they won't explore trading for a quarterback.
There was way more positive than negative, however, from Hurts this season.
And Murray's struggles on Monday night were a good reminder not to completely write off Hurts because of one bad postseason debut.
You can reach Eliot Shorr-Parks on Twitter at @EliotShorrParks or email him at esp@94wip.com
