Jalen Hurts enters Week 12 with a career record of 42-19 as the starting quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles .

For some unknown reason, NFL analysts — especially those who used to be quarterbacks in the league — continue to shade Philly’s QB1, despite the team’s 8-2 start to the season.

The latest negative commentary came this week from ex-NFL quarterback Colt McCoy, who dropped this take on Hurts and the Eagles Clean bag podcast:

“I really love Philly. Their offensive line is huge. AJ Brown, DeVonta Smith, Dallas Goedert… don’t forget Saquon Barkley. I mean, how can you forget him? He rushes over 100 yards a game, catches seven or eight balls a game, jumps backwards over people. I mean, this guy is ridiculous.

“My holdout is Jalen Hurts. You watch the game and you go back and see the highlights, and it’s like he’s not doing anything crazy or special. He is 18 of 30 for 200 yards and two touchdowns. It’s like, how does this happen? He rushes for two touchdowns per game with the “tush-push.” … I don’t see these great throws, or great reads, or great third-down conversions. Jalen just figures it out and trusts everyone around him.

Wow. There’s a lot to unpack.

McCoy definitely sounds like someone who watches the highlights and checks the box scores. He doesn’t sound like someone who watches the Eagles play every week.

First of all, Hurts doesn’t check the ball to Barkley “seven or eight” times a game. Barkley has only been targeted five times in a game through the first eleven weeks. His high for the season is four receptions. Despite all claims to the contrary – and McCoy is hardly the first – the Eagles actually pass the football down the field. They enter Week 12 ranked in the top 10 in the NFL in average yards per completion (10.9).

Hurts has a lot of “big” throws this season. He threw an absolute dime to Brown to seal the victory over Cleveland, starting this current six-game winning streak. The win over the Packers featured a gutsy third-down conversion from Hurts to Smith around the two-minute warning. Hurts had a near-perfect passer rating when he beat Joe Burrow in Week 8. He remains in the shadows for his play against the Commanders, even though he led three consecutive fourth-quarter touchdown drives and rushed for the starting signal.

This whole line of commentary has become outdated. Philly’s offense runs through the offensive line, and that usually leads to heavy play scripts. Hurts currently ranks 23rd in the NFL in total pass attempts through Week 12. The Eagles are not as reliant on the passing game as the average NFL team, which fuels the perception that their QB must not be that good.

McCoy’s commentary on Hurts is certainly there, as is Ryan Fitzpatrick’s giddy commentary during last week’s Thursday Night Football postgame show. But as long as the Eagles continue to win games behind a dominant run game and suffocate defenses, the Hurts smear will surely continue.

Why Eagles could be a perfect short-term solution for exiled QB Daniel Jones

Greenberg: Detroit Lions have only one legitimate threat in the NFC

Eagles director named candidate to take over as general manager of the dumpster fire team in AFC