Philadelphia Eagles vs. Chicago Bears: Full Report Card Grades for Philadelphia
The Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Chicago Bears 29-14 on Monday Night Football. The Eagles are now 2-0 on the season.
Rookie quarterback Carson Wentz had another good outing. The young signal-caller again showed why the Eagles moved up twice to draft him second overall. The offense is not built to win a shootout, but it was methodical and got the job done. The offense needs to stop settling for field goals, and inflicting damage to itself, but those are concerns for next week.
The Eagles defense continued to excel. Forcing three turnovers and three sacks made defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz happy. The Eagles corners struggled at times to contain Alshon Jeffery. Much like the offense, there's plenty of room for improvement.
Quarterback
1 of 10
Carson Wentz did not have as statistically impressive of a game as he did last week. Wentz finished 21-of-34 for 180 yards and one touchdown. He continued to show poise that belies his inexperience. Perhaps his best play, a 19-yard strike to Brent Celek that he completed despite getting crushed, was negated by a Jason Kelce hold. Wentz continues to take foolish hits. He has to improve this, or he won't survive the season.
Wentz was also hurt by the wide receivers' constant flirtation with an inability to catch the football. Jordan Matthews dropped a 35-yard touchdown pass shortly before the half. Nelson Agholor dropped a deep pass and later a touchdown.
Overall, Wentz had a better day than his statistics suggest. He may be the quarterback of the future, but he continues to do more than enough to help the Eagles win now.
Grade: A-
Running Back
2 of 10
The Eagles running backs had another bland performance. As a group they finished with 90 yards on 25 carries, with Ryan Mathews scoring both touchdowns. The running backs aren't getting good blocking, and it's impacting their performance.
Mathews did a good job of continuing to grind for extra yardage. Both of his touchdowns were hard-nosed running. Wendell Smallwood provided a nice spark off the bench with 16 yards on his two carries.
Grade: C+
Wide Receiver and Tight End
3 of 10
The Philadelphia Eagles receiver corps is better than expected, but aggravatingly inconsistent. The drops have to stop. Jordan Matthews and Nelson Agholor directly left nearly 100 yards of offense and two touchdowns on the field. On another night those plays cost the Eagles a win.
The wide receivers were good outside of the drops. Despite concerns during the preseason, they seem to be able to generate separation. Matthews led the group again with six catches for 71 yards. Matthews continues to excel on crossing routes. Agholor and Dorial Green-Beckham chipped in with several timely catches.
Trey Burton stepped up in Zach Ertz's absence. Five catches for 49 yards and a touchdown is a good night for a player who previously only had three catches in his career. Celek won't show up on the stat sheet, but his negated catch and blocking are the invaluable plays he continues to make in his 10th season.
Grade: B
Offensive Line
4 of 10
Jason Kelce may not be the starting center next week. He had another clunker of a performance. Bears nosetackle Eddie Goldman gave him fits, after struggling with Danny Shelton last week. The coaching staff has to be miffed that a veteran is playing so poorly.
Overall the pass blocking is solid. The line is generally giving Wentz enough time to go through his progressions. There are some continued issues with blitz pickup. Those will need to be sorted out as the season progresses.
The run blocking on the other hand is just bad. The line is not generating any kind of consistent push. It is making life unnecessarily hard on the backs. The only time it seemed to have success was when Stefen Wisniewski and Matt Tobin were brought in as extra blockers. You shouldn't need seven offensive linemen and a tight end to consistently run the football.
Grade: D+
Defensive Line
5 of 10
Brandon Graham had a sack. Bennie Logan had a forced fumble. Undrafted rookie Destiny Vaeao had a monster sack and forced fumble that knocked Bears quarterback Jay Cutler out of the game. There were a few issues with run contain, but nothing major. On a night when Fletcher Cox and Vinny Curry were uncharacteristically quiet, the depth of the unit got the job done.
Grade: A
Linebacker
6 of 10
A much more active week from the linebackers. They did a good job limiting the Bears running backs to only 55 yards. The one peculiar note is Jim Schwartz choosing to use Stephen Tulloch over Jordan Hicks at times.
Nigel Bradham made the play of the night, jumping a Jay Cutler pass and nearly running it back for a touchdown. Bradham read Cutlers eyes, and the quarterback never knew he was there until it was too late.
Jordan Hicks continues to just always be in the right place at the right time. It was not surprising that Hicks was the one to pounce on the fumble Vaeao caused.
Mychal Kendricks and Tulloch finished with four and three tackles, respectively.
Grade: B+
Secondary
7 of 10
The concern during the week was how the Eagles would stop Alshon Jeffery and the Bears' passing attack. Those concerns were well-founded, and the Eagles secondary struggled to cover well or tackle for large portions of the game. Jeffery got his stats, going for 96 yards on five catches. Fortunately for the Eagles, the Bears seemed to move away from him in the second half.
Malcolm Jenkins was active as always. He had a sack, dropped an interception and was generally everywhere. Rodney McLeod was quiet. Other than a play where he almost jumped a route, I don't think I noticed him at all.
Jalen Mills got his "welcome to the NFL" moment on a Jeffery's double move for 49 yards. Mills was fooled, and Jenkins had his eyes in the backfield. Mills did a good job battling back and was up and down most of the night. It's enough positives to be encouraged, but hopefully Leodis McKelvin is back to face Antonio Brown next week.
Ron Brooks dropped an interception and recovered a fumble. He had a solid game.
Nolan Carroll was the secondary's most disappointing member. Mills' struggling is expected. Carroll is a vet and can't have games like that.
Overall, the Eagles secondary had a rough night but did enough to help hold the Bears to only seven points on offense.
Grade: C
Special Teams
8 of 10
Eddie Royal's 65-yard punt return will certainly drive special teams coach Dave Fipp mad. The Eagles missed several tackles and probably shouldn't have punted to Royal in the first place. The Bears were trying to block the kick, and so the Eagles had to stay in longer before covering. At that point in the game, kick it out of bounds and make them drive the field.
Caleb Sturgis had a good night. He converted three field goals, including a 53-yard kick before the half. Sturgis appeared to injure his hamstring late in the game and may miss time.
Grade: B-
Coaching
9 of 10
Doug Pederson outclassed veteran head coach John Fox. The game plans on offense and defense were well thought out and executed. The coaching staff needs to get the penalties reduced. The offense in particular struggles when it falls behind the sticks.
The wrinkle to use Wisniewski and Tobin as extra tight ends was a creative way to help the run game. Pederson, Frank Reich and John DeFilippo all deserve credit for the job they have done integrating Wentz.
Grade: B+
Final Grades
10 of 10
| Position Unit | Overall Grade |
| QB | A- |
| RB | C+ |
| WR/TE | B |
| OL | D+ |
| DL | A |
| LB | B+ |
| Secondary | C |
| ST | B- |
| Coaching | A |
Cumulative Grade: B
Another win for the Eagles. Wins are always good, but this team feels like it is still stuck in second gear. The Eagles have beaten two teams that are dysfunctional.
For the Eagles to win next week against the Pittsburgh Steelers, or against many of the better teams they face, they must get better. The offense needs to start run blocking more consistently, cut down on penalties and catch the football.
The defense needs to continue to generate turnovers, while eliminating the long ball that has plagued them during the opening two weeks.
Ultimately this team will only go as far as Carson Wentz allows it. Wentz has been remarkably consistent through two weeks. More struggles will come, but it's impossible not to be excited for the future—and for the rest of this season.
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