Grading the Eagles' 19-10 win Monday night over the Oakland Raiders at Lincoln Financial Field (see breakdown):
QUARTERBACK
Nick Foles: 19/38, 163 YDS, 1 TD, 1 INT
Not a performance that's going to inspire a lot of confidence in the Eagles' increasingly-long Super Bowl odds. Foles was incapable of throwing anywhere but the flats with any accuracy - and even that was dicey. He missed multiple receivers for would-be touchdowns. He tossed what should've been an easy pick-six. He threw a pass away when he could've run for a first down. He generally held on to the ball way too long. And by the end, Foles resorted to backpedaling from clean pockets, struggling to so much as complete a pass, at one point taking a ridiculous 16-yard sack. Doesn't matter if he moved the offense into field-goal position on the game-winning drive. This was abysmal (see Roob's observations).
Grade: D
RUNNING BACKS
Jay Ajayi: 14 CAR, 52 YDS, 1 REC TD, 1 FUM
Ajayi ran the ball well, besides a turnover. Corey Clement ran the ball well on all two of his carries. The problem is, the Eagles didn't utilize enough of either one of them. LeGarrette Blount, on the other hand, was largely ineffective, rushing four times for eight yards. To be fair, Blount's longest carry, a 22-yarder, was negated by a holding penalty, but he didn't do a whole lot with his touches otherwise.
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Grade: C
WIDE RECEIVERS
Nelson Agholor: 7 TAR, 4 REC, 35 YDS
Sort of hard to evaluate the wide receivers when the quarterback is either unwilling or incapable of throwing the ball in their direction. The fact Alshon Jeffery was targeted only twice probably says more about the quarterback than it does the coverage. There were 14 total passes intended for Jeffery, Agholor and Torrey Smith. Five were complete for 40 yards. Agholor made two big catches on the game-winning march.
Grade: C+
TIGHT ENDS
Zach Ertz: 14 TAR, 9 REC, 81 YDS
You can't blame Ertz for this mess. Sure, Foles' interception hit the newly-minted Pro Bowler in the hands, but the pass was high. Ertz was the only vessel the quarterback seemed to be able to find and could've caught two touchdowns had the passes been reasonable, not a mile over his head. This group was more or less in the same boat as the receivers.
Grade: A
OFFENSIVE LINE
Chance Wamack: Started at LG
Lane Johnson drew three flags - a false start and a holding penalty on the same possession, and another holding penalty that negated Blount's 22-yard run and killed a drive. Otherwise, the line was fine. Most of the hits on the quarterback were a product of holding on to the ball too long, and the Eagles still managed 3.7 yards per rushing attempt despite any real threat the quarterback might complete a pass.
Grade: B+
DEFENSIVE LINE
Vinny Curry: 4 TKL, 1 QBH, 1 TFL, 1 FF
The line did a better job of rushing the passer than the five quarterback hits and 1.0 sack would indicate. David Carr was frequently under duress and flushed from the pocket. Chris Long was especially disruptive, getting to Carr three times and recording a sack, though it was Curry stripping the ball from Marshawn Lynch that allowed the Eagles to tie the game in the fourth quarter. The line stayed persistent and never despite their own offense's inability to stay on the field.
Grade: A
LINEBACKERS
Nigel Bradham: 8 TKL
Jalen Richard's 34-yard run was largely the result of Dannell Ellerbe's failure to fill the hole and running over one of his own teammates in the process. This was Ellerbe's most extensive action in a long time, so we'll give him a bit of a pass. Bradham was all over the place, and it was he and Kendricks who held up Lynch and made Curry's strip possible.
Grade: B+
DEFENSIVE BACKS
Ronald Darby: 6 TKL, 1 INT
The secondary may catch some heat after a few embarrassing plays early on, none worse than Jalen Mills biting on a double move to surrender a 63-yard touchdown pass. Yet the unit locked things down pretty tight after that. Patrick Robinson's second-half interception gave the Eagles some momentum, and Darby's pick late in the fourth led to the eventual game-winning field goal. In the end, that 63-yarder accounted for about 40 percent of the production through the air.
Grade: A-
SPECIAL TEAMS
Jake Elliott: 2/3 FG, 1/1 XP
Shaky start for Elliott, missing a 33-yard field goal, but he rebounded and converted when it mattered. Kicks of 35 and 48 yards knotted the score and ultimately put the Eagles ahead for good. Donnie Jones averaged 41.8 yards per punt despite some windy conditions. There were no big returns in either direction.
Grade: B+
COACHING
Eagles' record: 13-2
Can't blame Doug Pederson for losing his starting quarterback to injury, and watching helplessly as his backup flailed around in the backfield. What Pederson could control was the play-calling disparity, which once again leaned heavily toward the pass, no matter how continuously awful Foles played. Give Jim Schwartz credit. His defense gave up some plays, especially early, but adjustments were made and it was really that side of the ball that delivered the victory.
Pederson needs to manage his offense, and while Foles probably won't be this bad every week, the coach needs to realize when it's time to take a different approach.
Grade: C-
