Eagles grades by position after a close win over Browns

Eagles grades by position after a close win over Browns originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

It wasn’t as easy as it probably should have been.

But after the Eagles got booed going into halftime, they did enough to pull out a 20-16 win over the struggling Cleveland Browns at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday afternoon.

Let’s get to the position grades:

Quarterback

Jalen Hurts: 16/25, 264 yards, 2 TDs, 126.1 rating; 14 attempts, 33 yards

Hurts got off to a really rough start in this game but ended up pulling it together and making some nice plays. The Eagles’ offense is still too disjointed and desperately needs to get off to better starts but Hurts had some really good moments in this game and finally had a turnover-free game for the first time this season. It clearly helped having his two big weapons back — Hurts hit DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown for touchdowns in this game.

Grade: B+

Running back

Saquon Barkley: 18 carries, 47 yards

Through the first four games of this season, Barkley had been the Eagles’ best player. He still made some tough runs against the Browns on Sunday as it was clear the Eagles wanted to run the football against Cleveland. But Barkley also made two huge errors. He failed to pick up a first-down late in the second half and then whiffed on a block to get Hurts sacked before the blocked field goal that was returned for a touchdown. Kenny Gainwell had a 19-yard run and finished with 3 for 23.

Grade: C+

Receiver

A.J. Brown: 6 catches on 9 targets, 116 yards, 1 TD

The Eagles got Brown and Smith back in this game and both played well. Brown in two games this season has 11 catches for 235 yards and 2 touchdowns. He barely had any separation on his 22-yard touchdown catch but was able to beat man coverage and come down with the pass. And his 40-yarder in the fourth quarter iced the game. Smith had a 45-yard touchdown catch on a mesh route. Jahan Dotson had just one official catch but it was a beauty on the sideline for 10 yards to move the sticks in the fourth quarter before the kill shot to Brown.

Grade: A

Tight end 

Grant Calcaterra: 4 catches, 67 yards

Dallas Goedert left this game early with a hamstring injury so Calcaterra and Jack Stoll both bumped up the depth chart. Calcaterra had a 34-yard catch and a 20-yard catch in this game. He had more yards in this game than he did all of last season. And even though Stoll didn’t have a catch, he helped create the separation for that long 45-yard touchdown to Smith. He made sure to not make contact on the rub route to get a penalty.

Grade: B+

Offensive line

While it was tough sledding at times in the run game, Hurts was sacked just one time in this game and the Eagles were mostly able to neutralize Myles Garrett as a pass rusher, which isn’t easy when you’re facing the reigning Defensive Player of the Year. Jordan Mailata left this game with a hamstring injury and was seen with crutches after the game. Obviously something to monitor going forward but Big Fred Johnson seemed to play well in his absence. The Eagles unfortunately didn’t get a ton of push in the run game, which hurt the offense.

Grade: B-

Defensive line

Jalen Carter: 1 sacks, 3 QB hits, 1 TFL

Sure, the Browns had given up more sacks than any team in the NFL through five weeks so you have to keep that in mind. But the Eagles got after Deshaun Watson in this game. They got solid contributions from Carter, Brandon Graham, Josh Sweat, Milton Williams, Bryce Huff, Moro Ojomo, Nolan Smith and more. Graham’s TFL was a huge play in his 200th career game. And it looked like Huff might have finally started to turn a corner. The Eagles sacked Watson 5 times in this game and 4 1/2 of those sacks came from the D-line.

Grade: A

Linebacker

Nakobe Dean: 12 tackles (7 solo)

While Dean wasn’t perfect, missing a couple of tackles, he did lead the team with 12 and made some big hustle plays. Zack Baun had 8 tackles in this game but did take a late hit penalty on Watson in a situation where there was no way the Browns could pick up 15 yards as an offense. An interesting note: When the Eagles went to their dime defense, Baun stayed on the field instead of Dean.

Grade: A-

Secondary

C.J. Gardner-Johnson: 6 tackles, 2 PBUs

The Eagles finally made the switch from Avonte Maddox to Cooper DeJean at nickel cornerback and it really seemed to pay off. In his first extended defensive action, DeJean looked the part. The Eagles missed an interception opportunity when Gardner-Johnson and Quinyon Mitchell collided going for a football but at least they were both right there. Even when Darius Slay left with a knee injury, Isaiah Rodgers and Kelee Ringo played well in his place.

Grade: A-

Special teams

Cooper DeJean: 4 punt returns, 41 yards (12.8)

The blocked field goal was such a massive play but it was really just Myles Garrett making a big-time play. He jumped over the line, kept his stride and blocked a second-quarter field goal that Rodney McLeod scooped and scored. So that wasn’t good. But DeJean looked the part as a punt returner in place of the injured Britain Covey. He had some juice.

Grade: C

Coaching

Record: 3-2

The Eagles failed to score in the first quarter again in this game and began the game with another quick 3-and-out. That has to change. Kellen Moore obviously benefited from the return of Brown and Smith and called some good plays in this game despite the sometimes-static offense. The mesh concept worked again for a big touchdown. And on defense, Vic Fangio called a good game. While the Browns’ offense is terrible, Fangio put his guys in position to make plays. Nick Sirianni’s antics are going to be a big topic going forward. He was jawing with some Browns players during the game and then was seen yelling at fans after. While the Eagles might want Sirianni to be himself, we know Jeff Lurie sometimes wants Sirianni to tone it down a tad.

Grade: C

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