Week 3 Eagles grades by position after dominating Commanders originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

LANDOVER, Md. — The Eagles dominated the Commanders, took over their stadium and will enter Week 4 with a perfect 3-0 record.

The Eagles won 24-8 on Sunday afternoon at FedExField and it wasn’t really that close.

Here’s a look at position-by-position grades:

Quarterback

Jalen Hurts: 22/35, 340 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs

The most telling part of Hurts’ performance on Sunday afternoon is that he didn’t do much with his legs. He ended up with 9 rushing attempt for just 20 yards. That ability is still there but Hurts won this game with his arm. He missed a few throws here and there but another very strong performance from QB1. His passer rating of 123.5 was the second-highest of his career.

Grade: A

Running back

Miles Sanders: 15 carries, 46 yards

The Eagles didn’t get much going in their running attack against the Commanders, but they didn’t really need it either. Sanders averaged just 3.1 yards per carry, Kenny Gainwell had 3 for 6 and Boston Scott had 2 for 0. None of the running backs did much in the passing game either.

Grade: B-

Receiver

DeVonta Smith: 8 catches on 12 targets, 169 yards, 1 TD

Remember when some folks were worried about DeVonta Smith after he didn’t have a catch in Week 1? Don’t worry. Smith is still really good and he showed that on Sunday with some incredible acrobatic catches. As a whole, this receiving corps is dynamic. Smith had a monster game on Sunday but A.J. Brown still had 5 catches for 85 yards and a touchdown. Quez Watkins didn’t have a catch but drew a couple big DPIs and Zach Pascal even added 3 catches for 18 yards.

Grade: A+

Tight end

Dallas Goedert: 3 catches on 4 targets, 26 yards, 1 TD

The numbers weren’t huge for Goedert but he was a man on a mission on his 23-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter to put the Eagles up 10-0. Even when Goedert missed some time, the other TEs filled in. Jack Stoll had 1 catch for 4 yards and showed off his ability as a blocker. And rookie Grant Calcaterra had his first NFL catch; it went for 40 yards.

Grade: A

Offensive line

The Eagles’ OL kept Hurts pretty clean in this game, allowing him to throw for 340 yards. But they weren’t as dominant in the run game. The Eagles as a team averaged just 2.4 yards per carry.

Grade: B+

Defensive line

Brandon Graham: 6 tackles, 2 1/2 sacks, 5 QB hits, 2 TFLs, 1 PBU, 1 FF

The Eagles had nine sacks in this game and eight of them came from their defensive line. It was as dominating a performance as we’ve seen from this unit in quite some time. Graham and Fletcher Cox really turned back the clock. Cox had 1 1/2 sacks, 2 QB hits, 1 TFL. Josh Sweat and Haason Reddick each chipped in 1 1/2 sacks and Javon Hargrave had one too. The Eagles registered 17(!) QB hits on Carson Wentz.

Grade: A+

Linebacker

T.J. Edwards: 10 tackles, 1 sack, 2 QB hits, 2 TFLs

For the second straight game, Edwards looked like a star on defense. Kyzir White also added 9 tackles, finishing right behind Edwards for the team lead. These guys were flying to the ball on Sunday.

Grade: A

Secondary

Avonte Maddox: 5 tackles, 1 PBU

Wentz managed to throw for just 211 yards and a lot of them came in garbage time. The tight coverage from the back end gave the defensive line plenty of time to sack Wentz when they didn’t get there immediately. The rush and secondary work hand in hand and helped each other in this one.

Grade: A

Special teams

Arryn Siposs: 6 punts, 277 yards (46.2), 4 in the 20, 2 touchbacks

Siposs had a decent day, although a couple of his punts rolled into the end zone for touchbacks. Scary moment on a muffed punt return from Britain Covey; the Eagles were lucky to retain possession. Covey had 5 returns for 34 yards with a long of 12. DeVonta Smith got his first NFL punt return and picked up 12 yards. Still some things to clean up in the special teams area.

Grade: B-

Coaching

Record: 3-0

If I really wanted to nitpick, I’d mention a few of the play calls I didn’t like in this game. But it’s really not even worth going into it. The Eagles had a good plan on offense and on defense and they dominated in a win. Also loved the moment when the Eagles got to the line after a close Smith catch to run a play before Ron Rivera could toss the red flag; they out-coached Rivera in that moment.

Grade: A

Subscribe to the Eagle Eye podcast

Apple Podcasts | Google Play | Spotify | Stitcher | Art19 | Watch on YouTube