PHILADELPHIA — Nearly two years to the day, a familiar scene unfolded at Lincoln Financial Field.

Celebrations spilled from the field to the locker room. The music throbbed and the players danced and the air was filled with a little chaos after the Philadelphia Eagles’ NFC championship game win. In the back right corner of the room, a stoic Jalen calmly pulled on a giant cigar.

In 2023, he was a fresh-faced MVP candidate, fresh on the scene, and his attire fit the moment. He had sunglasses, purple pants and a leather jacket, a Michael Jackson-meets-Prince purple jacket, complete with a zipper running down the middle of the sleeves.

On Jan. 26, after Washington led the offense 55-23, Hurts celebrated the win with more of a Michael Jordan-in-His-Eple vibe, returning to replace the kangol hat he wore into the stadium. His play this season has been modest, too—save for moments that call for more flair.

The end result is the same: The Eagles are headed to their second Super Bowl in three years. They’ll face the Kansas City Chiefs again (Sunday, 6:30 p.m. ET, Fox), setting up a rematch between Patrick Mahomes and Hurts, who played the best game of his career in a narrow 38-35 loss in Super Bowl LVII.

It’s been a different kind of season for Hurts. After a 2-2 start that included too many turnovers (seven of them on the quarterback), the Eagles’ coaching staff has shifted to a Saquon Barkley-heavy offense. Hurts has taken on more of a game-managing role. He’s thrown for more than 200 yards twice since mid-November. That approach has prompted questions about the state of the passing game and whether Hurts can dial it in when called upon.

He responded decisively against Washington, going 20-of-28 for 246 yards through the air while racking up four touchdowns.

“What about QB1, man? I love when people doubt him,” Jordan Mailata said. “We always talk about limiting the outside noise or white noise, whatever you want to call it. But I know he hears it, and I think he plays his hardest when he feels like people doubt him.”

With the win, Hurts improved to 42-12 as a starter since 2022, second only to Mahomes (48-10) in that stretch. Now he stands one win away from giving the city of Philadelphia its second Lombardi Trophy—a win that would cement his case as an all-time Eagle and silence critics who use his numbers to diminish him.

“I don’t play the game for stats. I don’t play the game for numbers, any statistical approval from anybody else,” Hurts said. “And I understand that everybody has a preconceived notion of how they want it to look, or what they expect it to look like. I told you guys that success is defined by that particular individual, and it’s all relative to the person. And what I define as winning.”

Back in December, Barkley tried to explain to his family the painful things that make him so successful.