NBC Analyst Knows How To Push Eagles Fans' Buttons

Chris Simms knows where his bread is buttered. 

The easiest path toward engagement in the NFL is the Eagles’ passionate fan base, where the mantra is the Jason Kelce-coined “No one likes us and we don’t care.” If you could give a sentiment truth serum, however, the real mindset would be “No one likes, and we care very deeply.”

Simms, an NBC Sports analyst and former backup quarterback, has typically been behind the curve with Eagles signal caller Jalen Hurts.

This time, Simms said some wonderful things about the Super Bowl MVP while ranking Hurts No. 10 in his annual top-40 quarterback list.

“The Super Bowl champ, the Super Bowl MVP. Really kind of an incredible year when you really think about it,” Simms said on his Unbuttoned podcast and on “PFT Live”. “The ultimate leader, that’s the first thing I’ll say. He’s tough, he’s the same guy all the time. He can handle the Philadelphia criticism good or bad and seems to take it all in stride. He brings a skillset to [the Eagles’] offense that makes them almost indefensible with all the talent they have. What he brings to the table puts it over the top to where you’re just like, ‘Oh my God, what do we defend?’”

The kicker is that coming off the 2023 season, Hurts was ranked No. 9, and after 2022, when the Eagles’ QB was runner-up for league MVP, the finish was No. 7.

To be fair, if you take away the finish last season where Hurts was spectacular in the NFC Championship Game and the Super Bowl win over Kansas City, his entire season was a downtick from his previous demonstrated performance.

Ahead of Hurts from Nos. 5 through 10 was: Washington’s Jayden Daniels, the LA Rams’ Matthew Stafford, Houston’s C.J. Stroud, the LA Chargers’ Justin Herbert, and Tampa Bay’s Baker Mayfield.

Nos. 1 through 4 have not been announced yet, but will be some order of Buffalo’s Josh Allen, last season’s NFL MVP, Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson, a two-time MVP, Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow, and the Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes.

It should be noted that this year’s Simms countdown featured a new format focusing on tiers and groups of quarterbacks as opposed to numeric rankings until the top 10.

Of course, if you don’t like Simms’ list, you can just wait for the next one.