Week 10 Eagles Grades by Position After Loss to Commanders on MNF

Week 10 Eagles grades by position after loss to Commanders on MNF originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Eagles finally lost their first game of the season, falling 32-21 to the Commanders on Monday Night Football at the Linc.

They’re now 8-1 and will have to rebound in Indianapolis on a short week.

Here’s a look at position-by-position grades from the loss:

Quarterback

Jalen Hurts: 17/26, 175 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT; 6 carries, 28 yards, 1 TD

It wasn’t a great game from Hurts but he wasn’t the biggest problem in this one. Sure, he threw an interception but it was actually a pretty good throw, although you can question the decision to force it into double coverage. And Hurts did panic and take a sack late in the fourth quarter when he really shouldn’t have. There were a few off-target throws too early but it had to be tough to get into a rhythm with so few plays in the first half. And he did account for all three touchdowns in this game.

Grade: C+

Running back

Miles Sanders: 12 carries, 54 yards

Not a very busy day for Sanders. The Eagles didn’t really run the ball in the first half but they didn’t really have many possessions either. In the second half, when the Eagles absolutely needed a big drive, Sanders came through. He averaged 4.5 yards per carry in this one. He played well even though he didn’t put up big stats.

Grade: B

Receiver

Quez Watkins: 4 targets, 4 catches, 80 yards, 1 fumble

The Eagles’ longest play of the day was a 50-yarder to Watkins in the fourth quarter but then he fumbled it getting off the ground. DeVonta Smith had an OK day with 6 catches for 39 yards and a touchdown. But it was an uncharacteristically quiet day for A.J. Brown, who rolled his ankle in the process. He had just 1 catch for 7 yards on 4 targets, including the INT in double coverage.

Grade: D

Tight end

Dallas Goedert: 3 catches on 3 targets, 23 yards, 1 TD, 1 fumble

Hard to kill Goedert for his fumble because the refs missed an egregious facemask call before he coughed it up. But this was also a quiet day in terms of production for Goedert. His second-quietest day of the season. And Jack Stoll was credited for an 11-yard catch, but I’m not so sure he really completed it.

Grade: D+

Offensive line

The Eagles’ running backs averaged 4.8 yards per carry even though they didn’t have a ton of attempts. Hurts was sacked just twice and the one late in the fourth quarter was more on him for panicking when the pressure arrived. The offensive line played fine; they weren’t the reason the Eagles lost.

Grade: B

Defensive line

Javon Hargrave: 13 tackles, 1 sack, 1 QB hit, 1 TFL

A few great individual plays saved the Eagles’ defensive line from taking home an F. Hargrave had a huge sack on third down, Josh Sweat’s strip sack was big and even Milton Williams had a great play to bust a screen. But Fletcher Cox didn’t have a good evening and Brandon Graham’s penalty late in the fourth quarter basically ended the game.

Grade: D

Linebacker

T.J. Edwards: 12 tackles

The Eagles gave up 152 rushing yards, which sounds pretty bad. But they allowed just 3.1 yards per carry. The big problem in this game was their failure to get off the field on third downs. The Commanders were happy to run into 3rd-and-shorts or 3rd-and-manageables and the defense couldn’t get off the field.

Grade: C

Secondary

C.J. Gardner-Johnson: 6 tackles, 1 INT, 2 PBUs, 1 QB hit

Another interception for Gardner-Johnson, who continues to lead the league. He also made some other nice plays. But too many soft zone coverages led to conversions. And Terry McLaurin killed Darius Slay and the Eagles’ defense in this one. McLaurin had 8 catches for 128 yards. Some times, you gotta tip your cap to the other guy. But it would have been huge if Slay was able to shut him down.

Grade: D

Special teams

Arryn Siposs: 3 punts, 141 yards (47.0)

The Eagles had another major special teams blunder with a roughing the kicker in the first quarter. Luckily for them, Sweat was able to quickly able to force a fumble to get the ball back. Siposs had a pretty good game but the Eagles are still getting nothing on their returns and it’s not all on Britain Covey.

Grade: D+

Coaching

Record: 8-1

The Eagles lost to a team they should have beaten on Tuesday night. With an extra few days to prepare, the Eagles had way too many unforced errors in this game. The defensive game plan was frustrating as the Eagles watched the Commanders put together drives of 13, 12, 16, 8 and 14 plays. Death by a thousand paper cuts. On offense, things were somewhat disjointed, although the jump pass wrinkle deep in the red zone was a nice touch.

Grade: D

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