Instant grades on the Eagles’ performance in their 33-26 win over the Los Angeles Rams:
Quarterback — B+
Jalen Hurts somehow got it done and came up huge with a 4-yard dart to DeVonta Smith on fourth down with one minute, 48 seconds left in the game. It held up after an amazing blocked field goal finish.
Hurts finally completed some passes downfield in the third quarter. The first — a 38-yard dime just over receiver A.J. Brown’s shoulder — was perfect. The second was a 33-yard touchdown toss to tight end Dallas Goedert.
He had his longest run of the season to that point — 18 yards — on a designed outside run on fourth-and-two on the opening drive. Hurts completed 21 of 32 passes for 226 yards and three scores — most of them coming after the half. He once again had no turnovers.
Running back — C
Saquon Barkley gained a measly 14 yards on his first eight carries. He didn’t have much zoom to maneuver, but couldn’t break free from would-be tacklers. Barkley had some space once the passing game opened up the run, but he still ended up with just 46 yards on 18 rushes.
He had trouble picking up the slot blitz, which led to Hurts getting sacked. Barkley’s struggles against the blitz really showed a drive later when Jaylen McCollough rushed in untouched and drilled Hurts.
A.J. Dillon was the No. 2 with Will Shipley (oblique) still out. He played some, but didn’t log a rush or reception. Cameron Latu had a few plays as the blocking fullback, but the Rams mostly snuffed those out.
Receiver / Tight end — B
The Eagles finally Brown going. He led the team with six catches for 109 yards and a touchdown. Brown didn’t catch a pass until the second series of the third quarter. Eagles fans let out a Bronx cheer after his 8-yard grab on an out pattern. A few plays later, Brown caught his longest pass of the season for 38 yards.
Brown’s first touchdown of the season came late in the third quarter when he caught a 9-yard fade after disengaging with cornerback Darious Williams. He later broke tackles and converted two third down with yards after the catch in the fourth quarter.
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Brown also drew a pass interference penalty in the end zone vs. man coverage on the Eagles’ opening touchdown-scoring drive. He was flagged for a personal foul after he gave cornerback Emmanuel Forbes Jr. the business after the whistle in the second quarter.
Smith caught the go-ahead touchdown — a 4-yard out — on fourth down with 1:48 left. He finished with eight catches for 60 yards and the score.
Smith caught a 16-yard pass over the middle on third-and-10 earlier in the quarter, thanks to good pass protection. Smith should have pulled in a fourth quarter pass over the middle. Jahan Dotson caught one of three targets for seven yards.
Goedert‘s only catch was the Eagles’ longest touchdown pass to that point — for 33 yards — when he found a hole in the Rams’ zone in the third quarter. He saw only one more attempt come his way. Second and third tight ends Grant Calcaterra and Kylen Granson weren’t featured as much as blockers or receivers.
Offensive line — B-
Barkley had little success running left, right, or up the middle through nearly three quarters. The Rams were intent on clogging his lanes, but Eagles’ blockers were unable to open many holes. Switching Fred Johnson for Matt Pryor at right tackle after Lane Johnson got hurt may have saved the game.
Lane Johnson left early after injuring his neck presumably during a tush push. Pryor surprisingly got the nod as his replacement ahead of Fred Johnson. He failed to hold up and allowed Jared Verse to strip sack Hurts to open the second half. Pryor was benched for Johnson on the Eagles’ next possession.
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Hurts’ protection was better after Johnson’s entrance. So was the run blocking. He led to way on a Barkley 9-yard rush off the right edge.
Right guard Tyler Steen had to deal with a revolving door at right tackle. He seemed to fair well. Steen worked up to the second level on a 12-yard Barkley run in the third quarter.
Left guard Landon Dickerson had his ups and downs, per usual for this injury-marred season. He got partial blame on Poona Ford’s sack of Hurts that came on a blitz. Dickerson and center Cam Jurgens were both called for holding on a Hurts draw in the third quarter. Jurgens had another holding penalty declined in the fourth quarter.
Left tackle Jordan Mailata kept his side mostly under protection vs. the combination of Verse and edge rusher Byron Young. He got in the way of Barkley on one of his second quarter runs that netted few yards.
The Eagles were successful on all three Tush Push attempts, even if they may have gotten away with a false start on the first attempt.
Defensive line — B
The Rams ran the ball effectively in the first half. They won the battle at the point of attack and gained 115 yards on 20 carries (5.8 average.) by the break. Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis, of course, teamed up for two huge blocked field goal tries. More on that later …
The interior D-line just didn’t do enough to get off their blocks, but tightened up in the second half. Carter led the way. He exploded into the backfield for a huge fourth-and-1 stop of running back Kyren Williams early in the fourth quarter.
Davis was next to Carter on many downs, so he was a part of both success and failure vs. the run. He ran quarterback Matthew Stafford — not exactly the swiftest of quarterbacks — out of bounds for a sack to force a third quarter punt. It would be the Eagles’ only sack of the game. Defensive tackle Moro Ojomo had another relatively quiet game as a pass rusher. A film review will reveal more.
The Eagles didn’t get much pressure from their edges. Outside linebacker Nolan Smith knifed into the backfield for an early run stop near the line. Smith nearly got to Stafford early, but he seemed to ease up just as the quarterback threw.
Jalyx Hunt didn’t bite on a play-action bootleg and hit Stafford, forcing an incomplete pass. Josh Uche and Za’Darius Smith didn’t pop out much.
Linebacker — B+
Zack Baun set the tone when he intercepted Stafford on the fourth play from scrimmage by stepping in front of intended target Devante Adams over the middle. A drive later, Baun made two plays that forced the Rams to kick a field goal — a tackle well short of the sticks on second down, and a pass breakup on third down.
Baun’s great play continued with a tackle for loss against the run in the second quarter. He did a miss a run stop later before the half, but bounced back a play later for a stop for no gain. Baun briefly went into the medical tent in the third quarter, but returned.
Jihaad Campbell appeared to be out of his gap assignment on a few successful Rams’ gains on the ground in the second quarter. He rebounded and drew a holding penalty that negated a rushing touchdown later on the drive.
Cornerback — B+
Quinyon Mitchell followed Adams for most of the game. He had tight coverage on the veteran receiver on a downfield third down toss that fell incomplete in the fourth quarter.
He hooked Adams in the second quarter and was called for a third-down pass interference. Mitchell whiffed on an early run tackle attempt.
Cooper DeJean was a savage at times, but was also picked on. He missed a run tackle on the edge in the second quarter. DeJean had good man coverage on a Rams’ third down in the red zone and eventually broke up a pass thrown his way. He trailed Puka Nacua when the receiver caught a 15-yard pass out of the slot in the second quarter.
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DeJean forced Stafford to check down with good coverage in the third quarter.
Adoree’ Jackson had trouble bringing Nacua down on a 12-yard reception in the third quarter. Jackson stuck his nose into the fray for a few run stops, but missed an early tackle attempt. He left in the fourth quarter with a groin injury and was replaced again by Jakorian Bennett. Stafford went at Bennett several times late and was able to move the chains.
Safety — B
Andrew Mukuba and Syndey Brown once again split snaps, with the former mostly on the field in nickel and the latter in base. Brown did play a few snaps on passing downs and he missed an open field tackle that went for a first down in the fourth quarter.
Reed Blankenship got beat deep when he lost a handfight with Adams, who pulled in the 44-yarder for a first-quarter touchdown off play action. Blankenship broke up a third down fade to Adams in the end zone in the fourth quarter.
Special teams — A-
Davis made the play of the game, blocking kicker Joshua Karty’s 44-yard field goal attempt that would have won the game for the Rams. Davis scooped up the ball and ran 61 yards the other way for the game-ending touchdown.
A drive earlier, Carter got his paw on Karty’s 36-yard field goal try for a block in the fourth quarter, but he was flagged for taunting afterward, negating some of the goodwill.
The Eagles muffed their first five kick returns of Karty’s knuckleball. Tank Bigsby had two, while John Metchie had the other. On Bigsby’s second, he misjudged a liner that went through his hands in the second quarter. He settled for just a 7-yard return.
Punter Braden Mann averaged 42.3 net yards on four punts. Jake Elliott made all of his point after attempts. Sydney Brown took an unnecessary roughness personal foul on Mann’s first punt of the game, which offset a Rams penalty. Calcaterra and Jeremiah Trotter Jr. committed penalties on a second quarter kick return.
Coaching — B-
Nick Sirianni‘s living on a prayer Eagles delivered their 12th straight win at the Linc and their 19th win in their last 20 games overall. There’s something to be said for that, even if it the offensive problems have yet to go away.
Sirianni gambled and lost on a fourth-and-7 try at the 50-yard line in the fourth quarter, but the analytics suggested he go for it. There was an unnecessarily burned timeout late in the game that could have come back to haunt them.
Offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo‘s unit had a brutal start and looked lost to start the third quarter, too. But he opened it up and the Eagles finally started moving the ball. Patullo’s lone inventive play call of the first half came on fourth-ad-2 on the first drive. He went with heavy 13 personnel (one running back, three tight ends_, but ran Hurts outside on his first designed run — aside from the Tush Push — for an 18-yard conversion.
Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio‘s group may have been bailed out by Rams coach Sean McVay’s conservative game management. But Fangio’s bend-but-don’t break defense forced field goals in the first half and didn’t allow many long drives in the second.