Week 4 Eagles grades by position after comeback win over Jaguars originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Eagles got punched in the mouth early on Sunday but they responded.
And they leave Week 4 with a 4-0 record and the NFL’s only remaining undefeated team.
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Here are position-by-position grades after the 29-21 win over the Jaguars:
Quarterback
Jalen Hurts: 16/25, 204 yards, 1 INT; 16 carries, 38 yards, 1 TD
Looking at his numbers, you won’t be blown away by Hurts’ performance. And his decision and his throw on the pick-6 in the first quarter were both awful. But in a game with such mucky conditions, Hurts made the plays he needed to, protected the football and never let things spiral out of control. When you add in his incredibly tough 3-yard touchdown run and it ends up being a really positive game for No. 1.
Grade: B+
Running back
Miles Sanders: 27 carries, 134 yards, 2 TDs
Nick Sirianni jokingly pounded the table and yelled that Sanders is the Eagles’ No. 1 running back. That jokes goes back to one day in practice this summer when Sanders got all second-team reps. But there’s no question Sanders ran like a true No. 1 on Sunday. He ended up with a career high in carries with 27 and rushing yards with 134. He also scored two touchdowns on the ground and had 22 receiving yards. Even Kenny Gainwell added 19 yards and a touchdown and Trey Sermon had 19 yards on 2 carries.
Grade: A+
Receiver
A.J. Brown: 5 catches on 7 targets, 95 yards
The conditions were brutal on Sunday. There was wind and rain and despite all that, Brown still managed to have 95 yards. This felt like a good game to keep feeding Brown and that’s exactly what Hurts did. Just four games into his Eagles career and Brown looks special. The only other receiver with a catch was Smith, who had 3 for 17, but given the conditions, it was a solid performance.
Grade: B+
Tight end
Dallas Goedert: 5 catches on 6 targets, 72 yards
Yes, Goedert did drop what was an easy touchdown catch, but he made up for it and was an absolute monster in the screen game. There aren’t many tight ends like him in the YAC game. While the other two tight ends didn’t get any targets, they were out there blocking in 12 and 13 personnel.
Grade: B+
Offensive line
By the end of the game, the Eagles were without Jordan Mailata and Isaac Seumalo but despite missing 2/5th of their starting offensive line, the Eagles still had 210 rushing yards. It was a heck of a performance for the Eagles’ OL and another round of applause for OL coach Jeff Stoutland.
Grade: A+
Defensive line
Haason Reddick: 2 sacks, 2 FF, 2 FR, 4 tackles, 1 QB hit, 1 TFL
Trevor Lawrence was sacked four times but Reddick’s two sacks were strip sacks. The first-year Eagle has really come alive the last couple weeks. The Eagles got plenty of consistent pressure in this game and held the Jaguars to 71 rushing yards with an average of just 3.7 yards per carry.
Grade: A
Linebacker
T.J. Edwards: 6 tackles, 1 sack, 1 QB hit
After a rough opener, Edwards has now stacked three straight very good games and has sacks in back-to-back games after he had just three in his career before this season. Kyzir White also had 4 tackles and a pass breakup.
Grade: A
Secondary
James Bradberry: 1 INT, 1 PBU, 2 tackles
Like the offensive line, the Eagles ended this game without Darius Slay, who left the game with a forearm injury, and Avonte Maddox, who was ruled out on Friday. And they still had a big performance. Bradberry’s interception in the red zone was huge. Also, shoutout to Josiah Scott, who had to fill in for Maddox, got attacked early but rebounded and made some plays. Before the very end of the game, the Eagles completely neutralized Jaguars top receiver Christian Kirk.
Grade: A
Special teams
Jake Elliott: 28-yard field goal in 4th quarter
Elliott missed an extra point but the wind really took it. Arryn Siposs had a bad touchback. But Elliott’s 28-yarder in the fourth quarter was huge and it was gutty from Elliott after getting roughed up just before the kick. Britain Covey didn’t do anything as a punt returner but did averaged 23.0 yards per return on kickoffs. Also a couple nice plays in coverage from Kyron Johnson and Andre Chachere.
Grade: B+
Coaching
Record: 4-0
There were some individual decisions from Nick Sirianni to question but I won’t nitpick. The Eagles had a great defensive game plan and really turned things around offensively after a slow start. It’s also telling that this team didn’t panic when things went sideways early. That reflects strong leadership.
Grade: A
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