The Eagles suffered a gut-wrenching 17-10 loss to the Patriots on Sunday. In a game that could have and should have been an Eagles victory, the offense grew stale and the Pats took advantage. But were there any silver linings to take?
Quarterback
Carson Wentz wasn’t exactly excellent last night. Sure, it was windy, the receivers left a lot of meat on the bone, the offensive line was shorthanded and the running game was a shadow of its former self without Jordan Howard, but that doesn’t mean Wentz was naturally blameless.
Completing 50% of his passes (the lowest completion percentage in a game since his rookie season), Wentz missed open receivers on several occasions and failed to see them on others. There were times where his lack of pocket-awareness led to some ugly sacks.
This was one of the less impressive efforts we’ve seen from Wentz, especially this year, where for the most part he’s been the man keeping the team in games. That just wasn’t the case this week, despite some obvious flashes of the elite talent we all know he has.
Grade: C-
Running back
In a game that had Jordan Howard’s name stamped all over it, not having him on the field really hurt. Miles Sanders averaged 3.5 yards per carry on 11 attempts but did show some clear development in his game as far as sticking his foot in the ground and driving forward.
As a receiver, however, where Sanders has made a huge impact this year, he was silenced by some brilliant game-planning by the Pats defense.
Boston Scott was unable to find much running room on the ground either and got away with murder on what felt like a quadruple fumble. Scott fielded a kick and ended up dribbling it halfway down the field as if he was Lionel Messi. Not his best look.
Grade: C-
Offensive line
You can arguably attribute a lot of the offensive stagnation to the O-line. Jason Kelce had a bad day at the office, while losing Lane Johnson to concussion protocol early really didn’t help matters.
Halapoulivaati Vaitai showed just how valuable a franchise right tackle is to this offense, and on the other side of the bookshelf, Jason Peters picked up a few penalties early on that really killed any offensive momentum.
The Eagles allowed 12 QB hits, 6 sacks, and 5 TFL, while being unable to run the ball after that beautifully crafted ten-minute drive in the second quarter. Regardless of rhyme or reason, this just wasn’t good enough.
Grade: D
Tight end
Zach Ertz led the team in receiving with 94 yards and Dallas Goedert now leads the team with a career-high 4 TD grabs on the season after his red-zone snag. There isn’t much more this dynamic duo can possibly do at this point, at least in contrast to the rest of the offense.
Grade: B+
Wide receiver
Nobody expected Jordan Matthews to come in and rip the Patriots to shreds, but 1 catch on 6 targets? That was disappointing, as was Mack Hollins, and please, do not get me started on Nelson Agholor.
The receiving corps was woeful on Sunday, but hey, Arcega-Whiteside made a 19-yard catch, which is probably the most impactful he’s been all year.
Grade: D-
Defensive grades on the page below.
Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
