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Minshew magic or Minshew mirage? Back-up quarterback Gardner Minshew carved up the lowly Jets on Sunday en route to an impressive 33-18 Eagles victory at MetLife Stadium. Was Minshew that good, or were the Jets that bad? Only time will tell. Or perhaps not, if the Eagles decide to start a hobbled Jalen Hurts in two weeks. If today’s game was Gardner Minshew’s audition for the role of starting quarterback, it couldn't have gone any better.
How good was Minshew? Well, in the first half he was perfect. Minshew boasted a perfect quarterback rating going into halftime, and continued to roll in the second half. The Eagles performed well with a “traditional pocket quarterback” and moved the ball at will. Running back Miles Sanders had huge runs, and more importantly, didn’t fumble the football. Minshew made smart decisions and spread the ball around. Dallas Goedert and Quez Watkins were his two favorite targets, while DeVonta Smith had a quiet day. Wide out and kick returner Jalen Reagor, last week’s villain after dropping two potential touchdown passes, continued to show off his shaky hands with a muffed punt catch and a poor decision on special teams. Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni replaced Reagor with running back Boston Scott in the second half.
No doubt, sports radio will be full of bombast this week calling for Minshew to be the Eagles starting quarterback going forward. And they wouldn’t be wrong. Minshew has earned himself a second look. Jalen Hurts is an unbelievable athlete, but he might never be a great quarterback. Gardner Minshew's athleticism is questionable (did he even run the ball once?), but he brings to the position the skills that are required to win football games. Minshew posseses a Tom Brady type of stand-and-deliver style. And as thrilling as running quarterbacks like Jalen Hurts can be, they rarely win Super Bowls. If quarterbacks like Hurts consistently won in the NFL, there would be a slew of knock-offs. The truth is, the NFL rarely responds kindly to any attempts to reinvent the game. Tom Brady, the most successful quarterback of the past decade, has a formula that works. Minshew is molded in that same blueprint.
Is Gardner Minshew the next Tom Brady? Of course not. Nobody is. But Minshew’s “traditional” style allows for other Eagles' weapons to play their traditional roles as well. And if today’s victory over the New York Jets is any indication, the Eagles are well-suited for old-school football.
On this website I called for the starting of Gardner Minshew after the disastrous loss to the Dallas Cowboys in Week 3. I wonder what the Eagles' record would have been if the Eagles made the switch then. It’s possible that Minshew would not have been the elixir that the Eagles needed. But I wonder. The Eagles are still in the playoff hunt. Now is the time to go with the hot hand. Hurts has shown that he is a tremendous athlete with inconsistent quarterback skills.
And Garnder Minshew has shown us what?
I’m not exactly sure. But I’d like to find out.
