EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The Eagles finally won a game everyone can feel good about.
They went to MetLife Stadium on Sunday and cruised to a 28-3 victory over the hapless New York Giants. With over 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Eagles were able to put their backups in the game and avoid injury on the awful turf here.
It was a good win and now they’re 2-0 since the bye week.
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Let’s get to the grades:
Quarterback
Jalen Hurts: 10/14, 114 yards, 1 TD, 119.3 rating; 7 carries, 22 yards, 2 TDs
This game tied the career-low in passing attempts for Jalen Hurts in a game he started but it didn’t really matter. The Eagles were able run all over the Giants and control the game and Hurts was a part of that on some scrambles. Most importantly, he played clean football. He didn’t turn it over for the second straight game since the bye. The most important thing in a game against an inferior opponent is to not give them extra chances and Hurts made sure he didn’t.
NFL
Grade: B+
Running back
Saquon Barkley: 17 carries, 176 yards, 1 TD; 2 catches, 11 yards
You couldn’t have scripted Barkley’s return to MetLife any better. He was absolutely dynamic on Sunday. While he finished shy of his career high in rushing yards, this was his second-best game ever on the ground and his best ever at MetLife Stadium. He showed off all the tools and there’s no chance Giants owner John Mara is going to sleep tonight. Barkley’s longest run of 2023 was a 36-yarder; he had three runs longer than that on Sunday. And don’t forget about Kenny Gainwell either; he had 56 yards on 13 attempts.
Grade: A+
Receiver
A.J. Brown: 5 catches, 89 yards, 1 TD
The Eagles didn’t have to throw very much in this game but when they did, Brown was able to answer the call, catching all five of his targets, including a 41-yard touchdown on a crucial 4th-and-3. On paper, that’s a low percentage play but with Brown on the receiving end, it really isn’t. A quiet game for the other receivers but there weren’t many passes to go around on Sunday.
Grade: B
Tight end
Grant Calcaterra: 1 catch, 5 yards
There’s no question the Eagles missed Dallas Goedert in this game. He was out with a hamstring injury. The Eagles had just two tight ends up in this game and came out in 12 personnel with both Calcaterra and Jack Stoll on the field. Not many passes in general and just one went to a tight end. Calcaterra is still clearly a work in progress as a blocker.
Grade: C+
Offensive line
Early on in this game, Fred Johnson was struggling in pass protection against Brian Burns as he fills in for Jordan Mailata. In all, Hurts was sacked four times for 36 yards. But the Eagles’ offensive line was dominant in the run game as the team ran for 269 yards in the win.
Grade: A-
Defensive line
Jalen Carter: 4 tackles, 2 sacks
Sure, the Giants don’t have a good offense or a good quarterback but the defensive line was able to get after Daniel Jones all game and they limited the Giants to just 76 rushing yards. Carter had 2 sacks, while Nolan Smith, Bryce Huff, Josh Sweat and Jalyx Hunt each got on the board with sacks too.
Grade: A
Linebacker
Nakobe Dean: 11 tackles, 2 sacks, 4 QB hits, 2 TFLs
After an early missed tackle in space, you were probably worried that Dean was going to have another bad performance. But Dean really turned it around and ended up having a big afternoon. Dean filled up the stat sheet and played very aggressively. Zack Baun left early with a shoulder injury but had six tackles before he was forced out.
Grade: A
Secondary
Darius Slay: 4 tackles, 1 TFL, 2 PBUs
Jones definitely missed some open passes but the Eagles held him to under 100 passing yards in this game. Malik Nabers, who is an exciting first round pick, had 4 catches on 8 targets for just 41 yards. The Eagles held up enough on the back end that even when the front didn’t get home initially, they were able to eventually get there. Slay battled through his knee injury to put out a strong performance but really everyone on the back end played well in this game.
Grade: A
Special teams
Cooper DeJean: 3 punt returns, 45 yards (long of 28)
The Eagles got a penalty on the opening kickoff and then were called for a block in the back on a return. That wasn’t great. But other than that, it was a solid day for Michael Clay’s unit without any disasters like that blocked field goal a week ago. DeJean showed some real juice in the punt return game with a long of 28 yards. And Sydney Brown looked goo in his return from an ACL injury.
Grade: B
Coaching
Record: 4-2
It was a week full of criticism for Nick Sirianni but he came through it with a strong win against a division rival. Do the Eagles want to start faster and finally score points in the first quarter? Absolutely. That’s the knock in this game. But eventually, Kellen Moore got the offense rolling behind the strength of the run game and the defense didn’t give up a touchdown for a second straight game. Most importantly, though, is that the Eagles responded and got a huge win playing for Sirianni.
Grade: A-
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