Week 18 Eagles grades by position after ugly loss to Giants

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Ultimately, the loss didn’t really matter.

Unless you watched the game.

The Cowboys won on Sunday so even had the Eagles been able to dispatch the Giants, they still would have finished as the fifth seed, heading to Tampa to face the Bucs.

The loss didn’t matter in the standings but it mattered. Because the Eagles were embarrassed for the second week in a row. We always thought there was a chance the Eagles would pull their starters if the Cowboys were up big over the Commanders. Instead, they pulled their starters because they were getting blown out by the Giants in the second quarter.

The grades are ugly:

Quarterback

Jalen Hurts: 7/16, 55 yards, 1 INT, 2 sacks

Hurts in this game suffered a gross-looking finger injury but was able to get back in the game before eventually getting pulled. Hurts said his finger “popped out.” But even before the injury, this wasn’t a good game for Hurts. While it’s not all on him, the Eagles simply had no answers for the blitz in a game where they were facing a defensive coordinator in Wink Martindale, who is known for blitzing. They knew it was coming and still didn’t have a prayer to stop it. Hurts missed some throws, threw an interception and the offense just continued to sputter. Without DeVonta Smith and then without A.J. Brown, the offense didn’t do anything and Hurts didn’t do anything. The Eagles didn’t score a single point until the game was out of hand. Mariota entered the game in the second quarter and completed 13 of 20 passes for 148 yards, a touchdown to Quez Watkins and an interception on his first play. He also rushed for 46 yards.

Grade: F

Running back

Kenny Gainwell: 7 carries, 62 yards (8.9)

Without D’Andre Swift in this game, Gainwell got the start and did some really good things. In fact, maybe we should have seen more of Gainwell in this game. He broke off a career-long 32-yard run in the first quarter on a drive that ended when A.J. Brown fumbled the ball away. While Gainwell had a good game, Rashaad Penny had 6 carries for 16 yards and Boston Scott had 3 for 5. Swift missed the game with an illness so he’s expected back for the playoffs.

Grade: C+

Receiver

Quez Watkins: 8 catches on 11 targets, 93 yards, 1 TD

The Eagles entered this game without Smith (ankle) and lost Brown (knee) in the first half. Without those two players, it’s clear just how inefficient this offense really is. Sure, any offense that loses its top two receivers will struggle but this was beyond that. This showed the Eagles have no answers without them. Give Watkins credit. He put up a good stat line and his garbage-time touchdown was a nice grab. It’ll be interesting to see if he’s earned more snaps for the playoffs. Britain Covey caught 3 passes for 35 yards in the second half too.

Grade: D

Tight end

Dallas Goedert: 1 catch on 3 targets, 4 yards

In a game where the Eagles were left without their two superstar receivers, Goedert still didn’t make a big impact. He had just 4 yards on 1 catch, which seems totally inexcusable. Sure, Grant Calcaterra has 2 for 18, Jack Stoll had an 11-yard catch and these tight ends do play a big role in the run game. But 1 catch for 4 yards!? How is that even possible for Goedert to finish with that stat line? Obviously, a lot of this is on coaching and the quarterback but it’s amazing how small of a role Goedert has had in the offense for a lot of the season.

Grade: F

Offensive line

Like we mentioned above, the Eagles had exactly zero answers for the blitz and a lot of that falls squarely on coaching. But the O-line probably could have played better too. At least they did open up some holes for Gainwell. But in a game where the starting offense got shutout for most of the first half, no one’s getting a good grade.

Grade: D+

Defensive line

Marlon Tuipulotu: 3 tackles, 1 sack, 2 TFLs

The Eagles simply aren’t getting a good return on their investment. Some of this is coaching. It was almost comical to see Haason Reddick drop in coverage on the first two snaps of the game. It’s not even the biggest issue on defense but it just shows how much the defense is broken. Tuipulotu legitimately had a good game without Fletcher Cox inactive. But another game with no sacks from an edge player. Tuipulotu had one and cornerback Kelee Ringo had one and that was it against a team that had given up 83(!) sacks coming into this game.

Grade: F

Linebacker

Nicholas Morrow: 10 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 PBU

At least the Eagles don’t invest in linebackers. That’s the difference between linebacker and the D-line. The linebackers still aren’t playing well but at least we understand the talent deficiencies here. Morrow and Zach Cunningham were the starters in this game. While theoretically getting Cunningham back from injury should have been a nice boost for the defense, it really wasn’t. The lasting image of the linebackers from this game will be Cunningham tackling James Bradberry instead of the Giants player in front of him.

Grade: F

Secondary

Reed Blankenship: 5 tackles, 1 INT, 1 PBU

The interception was nice and it came in the red zone after Mariota threw his interception. Nice play from Bradberry tipping the ball up to Blankenship, who came down with it. But Tyrod Taylor completed 72% of his passes for 297 yards with a touchdown and an interception and Tommy DeVito even made an appearances, going 2-for-2 for 14 yards. The defense is lost and it’s very apparent when watching this secondary. They’re in a tough spot but they’re not making plays either.

Grade: F

Special teams

Braden Mann: 4 punts, 201 yards (50.3) long of 55

Michael Clay is the only coach who gets a gold star for this game. Special teams has been the most consistent unit all season and this game was no different. The Eagles found a good punter and holder in Mann, who continues to play well week after week. Jake Elliott hit his only field goal and made over 93% of his kicks in 2023.

Grade: B+

Coaching

Record: 11-6

Last week, I established that the lowest grade on my scale was an F but I’m crumpling up my grading system and throwing it in the trash can. The coaching staff deserves less than an F. The Eagles didn’t show up on Sunday long before winning the NFC East was out of the question. While there are plenty of reasons this team has completely collapsed down the stretch, coaching is No. 1. It’s hard to say whether or not the team is out on Nick Sirianni but they very clearly aren’t playing well for him. On offense, the Eagles couldn’t beat the blitz, which is a definite indictment on the offensive staff. On defense, the players have no idea what they’re doing. There’s confused playing in whatever this defense is right now. Matt Patricia is calling the plays for a hybrid defense that simply couldn’t stop the Giants on Sunday.

It seems insane to question the future of a head coach who had the Eagles playing in a Super Bowl less than a year ago but I’m not sure how you watch the last month and don’t start to question Sirianni. This team is awful right now and it starts with him. The Eagles are in the playoffs and that’s great. But if they get embarrassed on national TV in the playoffs next week … nothing would seem too drastic.

Grade: F-

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