Eagles' defensive line earns A-plus in our report card after win over Jets

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The Eagles’ 31-6 win over the Jets was a foregone conclusion from the opening snap. The rest is just style points.

That was sort of the sentiment in the Eagles’ locker room, and there’s a lot of truth when dissecting the team’s performance. The offense was inconsistent, but did enough. The defense was great, but against a completely inept opponent.

So how much does this week’s report card really matter? Time will tell.

Quarterbacks

Carson Wentz: 17/29, 188 YDS, TD

Wentz was not sharp. Fortunately for the Eagles, he didn’t need to be. He led three scoring drives — two touchdowns and a field goal — and limited negative plays to one sack, zero turnovers.

Grade: B-

Running backs

Jordan Howard: 13 ATT, 62 YDS, TD

Howard picks a seam and plows forward. Miles Sanders is still doing a little too much dancing around the hole, as evidenced by his nine carries for 15 yards — granted, some of those weren’t blocked well. Sanders added four catches for 49 yards, including the Eagles’ longest offensive play of the day, a 36-yard wheel route.

Grade: B

Wide receivers and tight ends

Zach Ertz: 5 REC, 57 YDS, TD

Alshon Jeffery added a team-high six catches for 52 yards, and there were no memorable drops, which is a positive. Only two receptions of 20 yards or more from the group, though, with a long of 21.

Grade: B-

Offensive line

Not a stellar performance up front. Heavier pass rush than only five quarterback hits would suggest. Four penalties. And Eagles running backs only averaged 3.5 yards per rushing attempt.

Grade: B-

Defensive line

Brandon Graham: 6 TKL, 2 TFL, 3.0 SK

The front four took control of this game from the opening snap and never relented against a bad O-line. Graham had a career day sacking the quarterback, but Vinny Curry, Hassan Ridgeway, Daeshon Hall, Josh Sweat and Derek Barnett all got in on the action.

Grade: A+

Linebackers

Nathan Gerry: TKL, INT, TD

Gerry read the Jets’ play-action pass to the flat on 4th-and-1, snatched the ball and raced 51 yards to the end zone for a 14-0 Eagles lead less than 10 minutes into the first quarter. They never looked back. Nigel Bradham, Zach Brown and Kamu Grugier-Hill combined for 13 tackles with a pass breakup and a tackle for loss.

Grade: A+

Secondary

Orlando Scandrick: 4 TKL, 2.0 SK, 2 FF, TD

The game was well in hand by the time Scandrick ripped the ball away from the quarterback — his second strip sack of the day — and ran it 44 yards for the touchdown, but the Jets managed just 120 yards passing against a depleted secondary. Rodney McLeod added six tackles and an interception.

Grade: A

Special teams

Jake Elliott: 1/1 FG, 4/4 XP

Cameron Johnston pinned three of his five punts inside the Jets’ 20-yard line, but Corey Clement’s muffed punt which led to a touchdown marred an otherwise solid effort.

Grade: B-

Coaching

Eagles’ record: 3-2

The staff didn’t exactly have to dig deep into its bag of tricks to beat the Jets, but one note to Jim Schwartz’s credit. The defensive coordinator devised a dominant game plan with the 32-year-old Scandrick fresh off his couch and Craig James, who played all of two snaps entering this game, as two of his primary cornerbacks.

Grade: A-

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