Week 2 Eagles grades by position after win over Vikings on MNF

The Eagles put together a complete win on Monday Night Football, dominating the Vikings by a final score of 24-7.

The hype train has officially left the station.

Here’s a look at position-by-position grades from the win:

Quarterback

Jalen Hurts: 26/31, 333 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT; 11 rushes, 57 yards, 2 TDs

This is arguably the biggest win of Hurts’ career. He was great. Hurts completed 83.9% and it could have been higher; a couple of his best throws on Monday didn’t even count. Hurts also had 57 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns on the ground and he really had to fight through tacklers for both of them. His only interception came on a ball that bounced off the hands of Kenny Gainwell. This felt like a game where Hurts really took ownership of the quarterback position in Philly. Obviously, there’s a long way to go in this season, but his stock is soaring after this one.

Grade: A+

Running back

Miles Sanders: 17 carries, 80 yards

It wasn’t an incredible performance, but Sanders put in a good day’s work, averaging 4.7 yards per attempts. Boston Scott added 4 for 19. The running backs didn’t have much of an impact on the passing game. The one big mishap came from Gainwell, who couldn’t handle a screen pass and tipped it to a defender for an interception.

Grade: B+

Receiver

DeVonta Smith: 7 catches on 7 targets, 80 yards

A.J. Brown had a great performance in the opener in Detroit. But it wasn’t just Brown in this one. All three of the Eagles’ top receivers had big games against the Vikings’ zone defense. In addition to Smith’s 80-yard game, A.J. Brown had 5 for 69 and Quez Watkins had 2 for 69, including a 53-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter. Even Zach Pascal had 2 for 14, which included a big third-down conversion in the first quarter.

Grade: A+

Tight end

Dallas Goedert: 5 catches on 6 targets, 82 yards

There’s no questioning that Goedert is off to a great start in 2022. Through two games, he has 8 catches for 142 yards. He hasn’t found the end zone yet, but that likely won’t take too long. He’s on pace for 68/1,207.

Grade: A

Offensive line

The OL was guilty of a few too many penalties (they were flagged for seven!), but they blocked well enough for Hurts to have plenty of time in the pocket. Hurts was sacked three times for 10 yards but the line did a good enough job to allow him to pass for 333 yards. Some stuff to clean up but that unit is playing well.

Grade: A-

Defensive line

Josh Sweat: 1 sack, 3 tackles, 3 QB hits, 3 TFLs

The Eagles sacked Kirk Cousins twice in this game with the Sweat sack coming on the last play. Fletcher Cox turned back the clock and had a strong performance that included a strip sack. And Javon Hargrave also had a key pressure on one of the interceptions. The Eagles’ really ratcheted the pressure in the second half too, but there were periods where the pocket was too clean. Would still like to see more from Haason Reddick; he did a great job blowing up a screen pass but hasn’t been able to get after QBs yet. In the run game, the Eagles completely shut down Dalvin Cook, who had just 6 carries for 17 yards.

Grade: B+

Linebacker

T.J. Edwards: 10 tackles, 1 QB hit, 1 TFL, 1 PBU

After a shaky performance in the opener, Edwards rebounded in a big way. He was a tackling machine and gave the Eagles the type of physicality he gave them in the second half of last season. And Kyzir White flew around too, finishing with 5 tackles and 1 pass breakup. Early in the season, that looks like a free agency steal.

Grade: A

Secondary

Darius Slay: 2 INTs, 5 PBUs, 1 tackle

This was the best game of Slay’s Eagles career. He spent most of the evening matched up 1-on-1 against Justin Jefferson and dominated. Even aside from his two interceptions, Slay could have had a couple more if he could have hauled them in. According to NextGenStats, Slay actually had more catches than Jefferson when the two faced each other. That’s a dominating performance.

On top of that, Avonte Maddox had a beautiful leaping interception.

Grade: A+

Special teams

Arryn Siposs: 4 punts, 179 yards (44.8), 2 downed inside 20, 1 tackle

The Eagles did have a field goal blocked, which wasn’t good, but credit to Siposs for running it down and saving a touchdown. Britain Covey didn’t do much as a punt returner and Watkins hasn’t been great as a kick returner. But at least the Eagles didn’t give up much in the return game either.

Grade: B

Coaching

Record: 2-0

The Eagles came into this game with tremendous plans on both sides of the football. Give a ton of credit to offensive coordinator Shane Steichen, who has now done a very good job of play-calling in back-to-back games. On defense, Jonathan Gannon had a more aggressive game plan, married his multiple scheme and really helped his defense put the clamps on a Minnesota offense that has the potential to be very explosive.

Grade: A+

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