Super Bowl 2023 Chiefs vs Eagles QB matchup: Patrick Mahomes vs Jalen Hurts

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Super Bowl LVII kicks off this Sunday, February 12 as the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles face off at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. The two leaders in the Super Bowl MVP race (and coincidentally, the regular NFL MVP race) are the two quarterbacks, Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts.

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Both of these Texas products have played major roles in getting their teams to the Super Bowl this year. Mahomes is familiar with the big stage, having been to the Super Bowl twice since he joined the Chiefs in 2017 with one Super Bowl victory and one Super Bowl MVP award. While this is Hurts’ first time to the big game, he has taken the Eagles to the postseason both years that he’s been their starting quarterback.

The race is close, and both quarterbacks have many, many strong qualities. Which one has the edge and how do they compare? Let’s take a closer look...

Patrick Mahomes vs Jalen Hurts: How do they compare?

Patrick Mahomes has only been the Chiefs’ starting quarterback for five seasons and in that time, he’s taken them to now three Super Bowls and one Super Bowl victory. In 2020, he became the youngest quarterback (24 years old) to win a Super Bowl title and the youngest to win the Super Bowl MVP award. This season, Mahomes led the league in passing yards, passing touchdowns, and total quarterback rating. Even after he sprained his ankle in the Divisional Round, he came back in to help the Chiefs defeat the Bengals in the AFC Championship game and take them to the Super Bowl for the third time in the last four seasons.

Mahomes has played 80 total NFL games and completed 1,985 of 2,993 pass attempts for 24,241 total yards. He’s thrown 192 touchdowns to 49 interceptions and his longest career pass was 89 yards.

For the year, Mahomes played 17 games and completed 435 of 648 passes for a total of 5,250 yards. He’s thrown 41 touchdowns compared to 12 interceptions and his longest pass was 67 yards.

Jalen Hurts is only in his second season as the Eagles’ full-time starting quarterback and is just 24 years old - the same age as Mahomes was when he won his first Super Bowl with the Chiefs. In 2020, he was the backup to Carson Wentz and had just 12 rushing attempts, one catch, and three passes in nine games. But then he took over as starter, just to make all those who criticized the decision to draft him in the second round, feel silly. Hurts’ ability to get out of the pocket and perform under pressure is just one of his many great strengths. In the regular season, he threw just six interceptions (compared to 22 touchdown passes). Though his shoulder injury at the end of the regular season had him sitting out for two games and may have hurt his chances at winning the regular season NFL MVP award, Hurts will have a good chance to win the Super Bowl MVP award now that he’s led his team to the final.

In 45 total career games, Hurts has completed 648 of 1,040 pass attempts for 7,906 yards. He has thrown for 44 touchdowns and just 19 interceptions. His longest career pass was 81 yards.

On the year, Hurts played in 15 games and completed 306 of 460 passes for 3,701 yards. He’s thrown 22 touchdowns and just six interceptions and his longest pass was 68 yards.

Mahomes and Hurts: First time in history that two black quarterbacks will start Super Bowl

An exciting fact about this year’s Super Bowl is that it will be the first time in history that we see two black quarterbacks starting for each team. There have been black quarterbacks in the Super Bowl before, including some who have won the game and the MVP award. The first to ever do so was Doug Williams in 1988 when he played for Washington. They beat the Denver Broncos 42-10 and Williams put up 340 passing yards and four touchdowns to become the first black Super Bowl MVP. This year, though, marks the first time that both teams start black quarterbacks. Upon watching the results of the championship games, Williams himself was ecstatic to see this history being made.

“Man, after Jalen won earlier, I was pulling for Patrick. I was sitting here on pins and needles to see if it would happen,” said Williams after the Chiefs beat the Bengals in the AFC Championship game.”

“I’ve got such a smile on my face right now, but I’ve got water in my eyes, too,” said Williams. “I’m talking, but I don’t think I can even explain what this means. We have come such a long way. It has been so hard, so many barriers, but we did it. Two Black quarterbacks in the Super Bowl!”

Only one will win, but either one will make history with a win, too. If the Chiefs win, Mahomes will be the first black quarterback to win multiple Super Bowls. If the Eagles win, Hurts will become just the fourth black quarterback to win a Super Bowl, joining Williams, Russell Wilson, and Mahomes.