Eagles Week 12 report card: Not the highest marks, but a lot better than last week

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Look, a win is a win, and the Eagles will take it — but when you narrowly knock off the Giants by three points, don’t expect real high marks.

Only two units earned A’s for the Eagles in Week 12 following a 25-22 win over the NFC East rival Giants at Lincoln Financial Field (see Roob's observations). Then again, nobody earned worse than a C, either, so this is a much better report card than we’ve seen lately.

Quarterback
Carson Wentz: 20/28, 236 YDS, 1 TD

Encouraging rebound for Wentz, although he needed to attempt only four passes during the go-ahead and game-winning drives in the fourth quarter.

Grade: B

Running backs
Josh Adams: 22 ATT, 84 YDS, 1 TD

Adams’ best run of the day — a 52-yard touchdown — didn’t even count, erased by a holding penalty. The rookie Adams seizing primary ball-carrying duties has become one of the offense’s few bright spots. Corey Clement also got off the milk carton with 76 yards from scrimmage.

Grade: B+

Wide receivers and tight ends
Zach Ertz: 7 REC, 91 YDS, 1 TD

Plenty of involvement all around, with Alshon Jeffery, Dallas Goedert and Golden Tate each with at least two catches and 30 yards. And while Nelson Agholor had only one grab for 12 yards, it was a fourth-down conversion on the game-winning drive.

Grade: B

Offensive line
The Giants racked up six tackles for loss and three sacks, a sign of the inconsistencies up front. Yet, in the end, Wentz was hit just six times total, Eagles backs averaged 4.8 yards per carry, and the O-line took over in the fourth quarter.

Grade: B

Defensive line
Michael Bennett: 1.0 sack

Bennett created another sack (credited to Chris Long) while Fletcher Cox registered three hits on the quarterback. Those five plays account for all of the line’s work behind the line of scrimmage.

Grade: C

Linebackers
Nigel Bradham: 7 TKL, 1 TFL

How hollow were Bradham’s seven tackles? Five were marked as assists, and two were on Giants first downs. At least Kamu Grugier-Hill played with some energy, matching seven tackles with two in the backfield.

Grade: C

Secondary
Malcolm Jenkins: 6 TKL, 1 INT

Jenkins’ pick was arguably the biggest play of the game. If the Giants kick so much as a field goal on that drive — and they were well within range — it’s a two-possession game at halftime.

Grade: B+

Special teams
Jake Elliott: 3/3 FG

Great day for the kicking game all around. Elliott booted the 43-yard game-winner, and Cameron Johnston averaged 50.3 yards per punt with two inside the Giants' 20.

Grade: A-

Coaching

Eagles’ record: 5-6

The most obvious difference between this and essentially any other game this season is Doug Pederson stuck with the run game. It worked, both because the Eagles can run the ball and because it took pressure off the quarterback. Jim Schwartz deserves a lot of credit, too, for preparing a no-name secondary for a dangerous pass attack. It wasn’t always pretty, but the game plans on both sides of the ball were successful.

Grade: A-

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