Eagles grades by position after a huge division win over Commanders

The Eagles trailed entering the fourth quarter on Thursday but ended up pulling away and beating the Commanders 26-18 at the Linc in primetime to extend their lead in the NFC East.

The defense throttled a high-powered Washington offense and the Eagles’ offense eventually got things rolling on the ground late in the game.

Here are our position-by-position grades:

Quarterback

Jalen Hurts: 18/28, 221 yards; 10 carries, 39 yards, 1 TD

It wasn’t the best game for Hurts, who missed some throws early in the game and generally looked pretty uncomfortable in the first half. He didn’t pull the trigger on a crosser to DeVonta Smith and missed A.J. Brown when he was open. But give Hurts credit because he ended up finishing strong and did make some big plays with his arm and with his legs, including a huge first-down pickup on 3rd-and-7 late in the second quarter. And Hurts didn’t turn the ball over in this one.

Grade: C+

Running back

Saquon Barkley: 26 carries, 146 yards, 2 TDs; 2 catches, 52 yards

Through the first three quarters, Barkley had 20 carries for just 70 yards but he finally busted through in the fourth quarter and finished the game with 146 yards on the ground and 198 scrimmage yards. Barkley reached 20+ mph on both of his touchdown runs in the fourth quarter, giving him a league-high six such runs this season. And give credit to Kenny Gainwell, who actually got the run game going with three straight carries for a total of 34 yards early in the fourth quarter to set up the touchdown that gave the Eagles a lead.

Grade: A+

Receiver

A.J. Brown: 5 catches on 8 targets, 65 yards

It seemed like Brown would have had the opportunity to have a monster game but it didn’t really happen like that. And DeVonta Smith had just 4 catches for 29 yards; Jahan Dotson had just 1 for 8 and that came on the first play of the game. The passing game was a little out of whack on Thursday night.

Grade: B

Tight end

Dallas Goedert: 5 catches on 5 targets, 61 yards

The biggest play of the game for Goedert almost ended in disaster. At the tail end of his 32-yarder in the fourth quarter, he fumbled but TE2 Grant Calcaterra made a huge play to jump on top of the loose football to secure possession. If the Eagles cough up the ball there, who knows what happens. Instead, they punched in another touchdown to push their lead to two scores.

Grade: B

Offensive line

While the run game took a while to get going, the offensive line ended up opening some huge holes in the fourth quarter to bust the game open. It was fun watching Cam Jurgens bully No. 35 twice on the long Barkley touchdown run. Jordan Mailata returned at left tackle and played well, along with right tackle Lane Johnson. Hurts was sacked a couple of times in this game but one of them came on a trick play. For the most part, the line did a good job giving him a clean pocket. Landon Dickerson was able to play through an injury suffered early in the game. Mekhi Becton didn’t have his cleanest game; he was the weakest spot of a pretty strong performance.

Grade: A

Defensive line

Jalen Carter: 7 tackles, 1 TFL

The Eagles’ run defense was a little leaky in the first half but they really got after Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels on Thursday night. Daniels was sacked just three times — one from Brandon Graham, one from Nolan Smith, one from Josh Sweat — but the pressure on him seemed pretty constant. Jalen Carter had one of his strongest performances of the year and he’s starting to stack them up week over week. Carter was huge on the series of plays that led to the turnover on downs.

Grade: A-

Linebacker

Zack Baun: 14 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 PBU

We should’t be surprised by Zack Baun anymore. He’s one of the best linebackers in the NFL and he proves it every single week. On Thursday, he dropped into coverage to get a PBU on the first drive and was a huge part of the play of the game, tackling Daniels short of the sticks on a crucial 4th-and-2 in the fourth quarter. Baun actually missed a tackle in the first half and it was a strange sight. Nakobe Dean’s game wasn’t as spectacular but it was solid. He had 10 tackles, including a tremendous one against Daniels 1-on-1 in space.

Grade: A

Secondary

Reed Blankenship: 10 tackles, 1 INT, 1 PBU

The Eagles’ secondary had its best performance of the season on Thursday. They put the clamps on a good offense, an impressive rookie quarterback and a Pro Bowl receiver. Daniels threw for just 191 yards and was picked off late by Reed Blankenship, who continues to make difficult interceptions. It was just Daniels’ third INT of the season. And Quinyon Mitchell completely shut down Terry McLaurin. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Mitchell lined up opposite McLaurin for 20 of McLaurin’s 25 routes and held him without a single target. And it wasn’t like Daniels wasn’t looking that way; he wanted to but Mitchell was a blanket.

Grade: A+

Special teams

Jake Elliott: 2/4 on FG, 1/2 on PATs

It was a rough game for the Eagles’ longtime kicker. This was just the second game of Jake Elliott’s NFL career with two missed field goals and he also missed an extra point. All three misses went wide left. Braden Mann had an ugly 38-yard punt and Sydney Brown was called for a block in the back on a return. Jalyx Hunt did force a fumble on a kickoff but it was recovered by Washington. And Will Shipley had a 33-yard kick return.

Grade: C-

Coaching

Record: 8-2

After all the talk about Nick Sirianni earlier this season, he deserves credit now that the Eagles are on a six-game winning streak. This team is rolling and he has them wanting to do, as he called it, “special s—.” Kellen Moore had some trouble getting the passing game going but give him credit for sticking with the run. And Vic Fangio deserves a key to the city or something. His defense has legitimately been one of the best in football since the bye.

Grade: A

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