There has never been a competition between Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa in an NFL game. Well, until now.
On Sunday Night Football, Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles and Tagovailoa and the Miami Dolphins will square off.
When they were fighting for Alabama’s starting quarterback position, the two quarterbacks faced off against one another. Despite facing hardships, the former college teammates grew close to one another while competing for the Crimson Tide. They will put their friendship on hold this Sunday night, but they are still friends.
“Ultimately, we’re both trying to help our teams win, so we’ll probably see each other before the game to wish each other luck,” Tagovailoa said to reporters on Wednesday.
After Hurts led the Crimson Tide to the national championship as a freshman in 2017, their careers began to collide at Alabama. Hurts struggled against Georgia the next year, and Alabama lost the 2018 national championship game 13-0. At halftime, Hurts was benched in favor of rookie Tagovailoa. In overtime, Tagovailoa led Alabama to a thrilling 26–23 victory.
Hurts was the backup and Tagovailoa was the starter the next season. Due to an ankle injury sustained during the season, Hurts took Tagovailoa’s position in the 2018 SEC Championship game. Hurts led the Crimson Tide over Georgia to a thrilling 35-28 victory. In 2019, Hurts moved to Oklahoma to play his final season.
Both of them were chosen in the NFL draft of 2020. The fifth overall choice in the first round was Tagavoila. Hurts (number 53) was chosen in the second round.
Hurts has performed admirably for the Eagles. In regular season games, he had a 30-10 record as a starter, and he guided the Eagles to the Super Bowl the previous year. Over his career, Tagovailoa has missed 14 out of 56 games due to injury. Although the quarterbacks have guided their clubs to 5-1 records, each squad exudes a completely distinct atmosphere.
Despite their stellar record, the Eagles don’t seem like the same squad who dominated the NFC the previous year. Week 6 ended with the Eagles falling to the New York Jets 20-14, including three interceptions from Hurts. Throughout the 2022 season, Hurts threw six interceptions; this season, he has thrown seven.
The offensive of the Dolphins is being compared to the “Greatest Show on Turf” of the St. Louis Rams. Leading a Miami offense that leads the conference in overall offense (498 yards per game) and scoring (37.2 points per game), Tagovailoa leads the league in passing yards (1,876) and is tied for the most touchdown passes (14) in the league.
