Eagles grades by place after gutty win over Saints

Eagles grades by place after gutty win over Saints initially appeared on NBC Sports activities Philadelphia

NEW ORLEANS — It wasn’t a simple victory but it surely was an vital one.

The Eagles out-played the Saints for a lot of the sport on Sunday however nonetheless narrowly escape from the Superdome with a 15-12 win.

The Birds at the moment are 2-1 with a visit to Tampa earlier than the early Week 5 bye.

Let’s get to the grades:

Quarterback

Jalen Hurts: 29/38, 311 yards, 1 INT; 8 rushes, 25 yards, 1 misplaced fumble

It’s actually robust to grade Hurts on this sport. As a result of for a lot of the afternoon, he performed actually good soccer with out his prime two receivers. He was delivering balls on time and led a game-winning drive. However the turnovers have to cease. Hurts threw his fourth interception of the season within the first half when he was picked off by Tyrann Mathieu within the purple zone. After which Hurts fumbled away the ball on the very subsequent Eagles drive. He was an enormous cause the Eagles didn’t put up any factors within the first half — however he was additionally an enormous cause why they had been in a position to put out the win within the second half.

Grade: B-

Operating again

Saquon Barkley: 17 carries, 147 yards, 2 TDs; 4 catches, 9 yards

The play after DeVonta Smith received knocked out of the sport, Barkley broke off a 65-yard landing run and confirmed off his acceleration as he sped away from defenders. It was the longest Eagles run since Miles Sanders broke off an 82-yarder in 2020. In a sport with a Alvin Kamara on the opposite sideline, Barkley was clearly the very best again within the sport. By means of three weeks, Barkley has been as marketed.

In 14 video games with the Giants final 12 months, Barkley went over 100 dashing yards as soon as. He has finished it twice in three weeks as an Eagle.

Grade: A

ReceiverÂ

DeVonta Smith: 7 catches on 10 targets, 79 yards

The Eagles got here into this sport with out A.J. Brown after which they misplaced Britian Covey to a shoulder damage after which they misplaced DeVonta Smith within the fourth quarter when he was concussed on a violent hit in the midst of the sphere. However Smith was productive earlier than the damage and the Eagles received contributions from Covey, Jahan Dotson, Johnny Wilson and Parris Campbell. The Eagles clearly miss Brown however each receiver who performed on this sport made a catch.

Grade: B

Tight finish

Dallas Goedert: 10 catches on 11 targets for 170 yards

After the loss to the Falcons, there have been loads of questions on why Goedert wasn’t getting extra targets. That modified on Sunday. Goedert had 170 receiving yards, which smashed his earlier profession excessive of 135 again in 2021. And his 11 targets are the second-most in his profession. Did Grant Calcaterra miss a pair blocks on this sport? Certain. However we’re not docking the tight finish group, not after Goedert had the very best efficiency of his profession catching the soccer.

Grade: A+

Offensive line

The Eagles ended up dropping the suitable aspect of their line to damage within the first half. Mekhi Becton went down with a finger damage after which Lane Johnson suffered a concussion. There have been some early hiccups however backups Fred Johnson and Tyler Steen did sufficient for the Eagles to get the win. Give them credit score for being ready to step in.

Grade: B+

Defensive position

Jalen Carter: 4 tackles, 1 QB hit, 2 TFLs, 2 PBUs

The Eagles had been gashed by the run in Week 2 in opposition to the Falcons and there was a reputable concern that it could occur once more in opposition to the Saints. However the Eagles’ held Alvin Kamara to 87 dashing yards on 26 makes an attempt for a mean of three.3 yards per carry. The Eagles received only one sack — it got here from Jordan Davis within the first quarter. However they’d good strain on Derek Carr and Jalen Carter was superb. It was simply his finest sport of the season thus far. Brandon Graham additionally put collectively a formidable efficiency and had a QB hit.

Grade: A

Linebacker

Zack Baun: 13 tackles; 9 solo tackles

Towards his former staff, Baun led the sport in tackles and was all around the area. Even on the cross the place Kamara beat him down the left sideline, Baun was in good place. Nakobe Dean additionally had an excellent sport with 8 tackles and a TFL. Imagine it or not, the Eagles are getting actually strong linebacker play proper now.

Grade: A

Secondary

Reed Blankenship: 2 tackles, 1 INT, 1 PBU

There have been a number of third-down conversions to Chris Olave however the Eagles held Carr to 142 passing yards and picked him off to seal the sport within the fourth quarter. This was Blankenship’s second game-sealing interception in three video games. Darius Slay received banged up after an inexpensive shot from Trevor Penning and Kelee Ringo changed him. Ringo was focused early when he entered the sport. Quinyon Mitchell had a pleasant restoration on a deep ball to get a PBU vs. Rasheed Shaheed, who has a ton of velocity. C.J. Gardner-Johnson wasn’t good however he performed via an damage and was very bodily in his return to New Orleans.

Grade: B+

Particular groups

Jake Elliott: 0/1, miss from 60

The Eagles had a punt blocked when J.T. Grey got here across the edge unblocked to get his arms on the ball leaving the foot of Braden Mann. Elliott had only one shot at a area purpose and missed badly from 60. After Covey received harm, Cooper DeJean stuffed in. DeJean fair-caught one punt and returned the opposite for a troublesome 6 yards.

Grade: C

Teaching

Document: 2-1

If the Eagles misplaced this sport, we’d be spending the following week speaking about Nick Sirianni’s sport administration. A few of these points popped up once more on this sport. The Eagles had been 1-for-3 on fourth downs on this sport and handed up on making an attempt two makable area objectives in a detailed sport. The worst resolution got here on the finish of the second quarter when the Eagles ran a play off the tush-push look on 4th-and-1. They had been full of simply 14 seconds left. The upside was getting the primary down and maybe having one or two throws to the tip zone. Sirianni ought to have simply taken the factors.

The Eagles had been additionally penalized 7 occasions for 45 yards, together with a too-man-men name on offense.

Grade: C

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