Eagles-Cardinals Week 15 report card: Jalen Hurts gets top mark

The Eagles still have a chance to win the NFC East but they’ll need some help after their 33-26 loss to the Cardinals on Sunday.

After a terrible start, the Eagles had a nice comeback but couldn’t get a win.

Quarterback

Jalen Hurts: 24/44, 338 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INT, 102.3 rating

This is the best game we’ve seen from an Eagles quarterback all season and it’s not particularly close. Hurts was tremendous on Sunday after he took that early safety. Sure, he picked up 63 yards on the ground and a touchdown run but what was most impressive was his success as a passer. If there were doubts about that part of his game, he responded really strongly.

Grade: A

Running backs

Miles Sanders: 17 carries, 64 yards, 1 catch, 26 yards

It wasn’t a great game for Sanders but he put in a workmanlike 17 carries and ended up with 90 scrimmage yards. The best sign for Sanders was that 26-yard catch. Getting him back in the passing game would be a big boost.

Grade: C+

Wide receivers

Alshon Jeffery: 2 catches, 63 yards

Jeffery had a good performance but Hurts really spread the ball around. Jalen Reagor had 49 yards on 5 catches, Travis Fulgham had 30 on 2, Greg Ward had 15 on 4 with 2 touchdowns and Quez Watkins had 40 on 3 with his first-career touchdown. A really solid game from this group.

Grade: B

Tight ends

Zach Ertz: 2 catches, 69 yards

Ertz had a 42-yard catch, which was his longest catch since the 2017 season. Goedert chipped in 4 catches for 39 yards but was unable to pull down a touchdown late in the game with a chance for the Eagles to pull out the win.

Grade: B

Offensive line

After not getting sacked once last week, Hurts went down six times on Sunday, but not all of that was the line. In fact, the rest of the line played OK but Matt Pryor just isn’t an NFL tackle. The problem is that with Lane Johnson, Jack Driscoll and Jason Peters on IR, the Eagles just don’t have many options.

Grade: C-

Defensive line

Malik Jackson: 2 TFLs

It wasn’t as dominant a performance as last week and the DL didn’t get any sacks, but they still played fairly well. The one thing they can’t have are those pre-snap penalties. They had a couple neutral zone infractions; those will drive coaches crazy.

Grade: B

Linebackers

Alex Singleton: 11 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 FR

One of the biggest bright spots in this 2020 season has been the play of Singleton, who ended up with double digit tackles for the fifth time in nine games as a starter this season. He’s a tackling machine.

Grade: B

Secondary

Michael Jacquet: 7 tackles, 1/2 sack, 2 PBUs, 1 FF

Kyler Murray threw for 400 yards and three touchdowns and DeAndre Hopkins had 9 for 169 and a touchdown but the Eagles’ secondary was OK all things considered. So, sure, kind of grading on a curve here but it’s a tough ask for a secondary that has been destroyed by injuries to face one of the best trios of receivers in the NFL. I thought Jacquet actually did some really good things.

Grade: C-

Special teams

This was a disaster. I can’t remember a worse special teams game since Dave Fipp became the coordinator back in 2013. The Eagles had a punt blocked that resulted in a quick touchdown, they got burned on a fake punt and Rick Lovato picked the worst possible time to have his worst snap of the season. Without Cam Johnston, who left with a concussion, Zach Ertz was the emergency holder for an extra point and the ball rolled to him. Also, nothing in the return game.

Grade: F

Coaching

Record: 4-9-1

It wasn’t a perfect game from Doug Pederson, but it was fine. He got Sanders 17 carries but it also felt like he got away from the run again. There were a few individual decisions to question but overall it was fine.

Grade: B-

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