Philadelphia Eagles vs. Washington Redskins: Full Report Card Grades for Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles lost to the Washington Redskins 27-20. The Eagles were thoroughly outplayed and were lucky to have chances to win late in the game. There aren't many games where one team puts up 493 yards of offense, the other puts up 239 and the game is only decided by a touchdown.
Carson Wentz had a rough outing. The rookie was sacked five times and rarely looked comfortable in the pocket. The new-look offensive line did well in the run game but could not provide adequate protection when the Eagles tried to pass.
The defense was awful. There is no other way to put it. When you give up that many yards, especially 230 rushing yards, you're going to lose. The defense couldn't tackle, cover or maintain gap integrity. Last week, the Detroit Lions' big first half seemed like an aberration. Perhaps it was not.
The coaching staff got out-schemed, and the players couldn't execute. If not for touchdowns from the defense and special teams, the scoreline would have been even worse. The Eagles do not have enough raw talent to play poorly or stupid and win. The last two weeks have made that clear.
Quarterback
1 of 10
When Carson Wentz was swarmed and sacked on the first play of the game, it was only a sign of things to come. Wentz was sacked five times. The pressure meant he was never able to get comfortable. The quarterback alternated between seeing ghosts and holding the ball too long. His mechanics abandoned him for spurts, and he sailed several passes to open receivers. The rookie finished the day 11-of-22 for 179 yards.
Wentz looked like a rookie at times. The sack on the Eagles' final drive effectively ended the game. He had all day to throw and has to have a better internal clock.
There were some positives. Wentz made some nice throws down the stretch. The 54-yard strike to Jordan Matthews was as pretty and perfect of a pass as you'll see.
At the end of the day, Wentz is still a rookie. He wasn't good today, but his teammates let him down as well.
Grade: C
Running Back
2 of 10
The running back group had a decent outing. It finished with 92 yards on 19 carries. It added two catches for 18 yards. Ryan Mathews ripped off a long 22-yard run.
The Eagles weren't able to use their running game as much as they would have liked due to the limited number of snaps they had on offense. It was an opportunity wasted, as the Redskins have a poor run defense, and Philadelphia was generally having success.
The Eagles' running game wasn't as successful as their counterpart's, but if we're assigning blame for this loss, this group doesn't have too much to worry about.
Grade: B
Wide Receiver and Tight End
3 of 10
It was a mixed bag from the Eagles pass-catchers. Their inability to get off man coverage was a key factor in the early offensive struggles. Zach Ertz dropped what would have been a touchdown pass. The tight ends weren't overly involved in the passing game, as they were being kept in to help in pass protection.
Dorial Green-Beckham is starting to show some of the flashes of talent he possesses. He had a nice 23-yard catch and had a soft penalty call that negated a 38-yard catch, which ended with him throwing a defender into the ground.
Jordan Matthews continues to lead the Eagles in receiving. His 54-yard snag was a big play that helped spark the offense late. Nelson Agholor had three catches for 34 yards.
Grade: C
Offensive Line
4 of 10
The opening quarter felt eerily like Winston Justice's NFL debut. Halapoulivaati Vaitai will likely take the brunt of fans' frustration this week. He was bad, but the entire offensive line had a horrible game.
The rookie was overmatched against a good pass-rusher in Ryan Kerrigan. As the game went on, the coaches seemed to figure out how to better help him in pass protection, and he settled down. The Eagles still are going to need to reassess their offensive line this week.
Jason Peters had a false start. Vaitai gave up two sacks. Ertz gave up another while trying to help the offensive line. Jason Kelce had too many penalties and gave up a half-sack. Brandon Brooks had a costly false start deep in Redskins territory. Allen Barbre gave up 1.5 sacks.
Offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland is going to have to make some adjustments this week. The Eagles cannot function as an offense when the line plays this poorly.
Grade: D-
Defensive Line
5 of 10
The Philadelphia Eagles' defensive line is their best unit. The Washington Redskins' offensive line kicked its butt. Zero sacks and running lanes big enough that John Riggins could have come out of retirement and run for 100 yards.
Losing Bennie Logan early in the game hurt them. Beau Allen had some nice plays, but he isn't as dynamic of a defensive tackle as Logan is. Fletcher Cox had a boneheaded penalty right before the half that extended a Redskins drive that ended in a touchdown instead of a field goal.
The Eagles' defensive line was back to playing a version of the Wide 9 defense that Juan Castillo and Jim Washburn ran. It was sloppy. It cost the team.
Cox and Brandon Graham had some nice pressures. Marcus Smith forced Kirk Cousins to throw off his back foot on the interception. When the Eagles' defensive line can harass a quarterback, the secondary holds up well enough. When it doesn't, the Eagles get slaughtered.
Grade: D+
Linebacker
6 of 10
Nigel Bradham had 10 tackles. Jordan Hicks had two stuffs behind the line. Mychal Kendricks had a big tackle for loss (that wasn't actually a tackle) on a reverse. And those are all the good things I can say about the Eagles linebackers' performances against the Redskins.
The defense that the Eagles run is predicated on the defensive line being aggressive and attacking. When it makes mistakes, it's up to the linebackers and safeties to clean things up. The Eagles linebackers didn't. They missed a ton of tackles. They weren't able to fill holes or maintain gap integrity.
They weren't particularly good in pass coverage, either.
Grade: D-
Secondary
7 of 10
Malcolm Jenkins was 1-for-2 on interception attempts. If he held on to all the passes that hit him in the hands, he would be a first-team All-Pro. The interception return for a touchdown was a huge play that helped keep the game closer than it was. Rodney McLeod was the team's leading tackler with 14.
Jenkins was routinely abused in coverage this game. It may have been his worst overall performance as an Eagle. He and McLeod also struggled in the run game, much like the linebackers in front of them. They were too passive and missed too many tackles.
The corners are who they are at this point. Jalen Mills has some talent but lacks long speed and is overmatched as a rookie. Nolan Carroll won't kill you in coverage, but he's far from a shutdown corner. Ron Brooks exists.
I don't think I noticed Jaylen Watkins make any obvious mistakes. So that's a positive.
Grade: D+
Special Teams
8 of 10
Wendell Smallwood's 86-yard kickoff return for a touchdown was beautiful. He got a head of steam, found his crease and was off to the races. Smallwood continues to find ways to spark the Eagles. He's had a good start to his NFL career, and it's easy to see why the coaching staff is high on the fifth-round pick.
The coverage teams did an excellent job. Chris Maragos had a beastly tackle inside the Redskins' 10-yard line on a kickoff. Donnie Jones had some nice punts. Ideally, he would be less busy. Caleb Sturgis continues to be money on field goals. That also goes into the category of "busier than he needs to be."
Grade: A
Coaching
9 of 10
After the Eagles crushed the Pittsburgh Steelers, I said that defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz was so good that he was likely going to get a head coaching job next year. Where did that guy go? Against the Detroit Lions, the Eagles had a terrible first half but settled down and figured things out. Against the Redskins, though, they had no answers.
The Eagles are going to give up passing yards. They have average-on-a-good-day talent at corner. That's OK as long as they can force teams to be one-dimensional and unleash their defensive line on quarterbacks. The thing the Eagles defense absolutely cannot do is allow 230 yards rushing. Schwartz better figure things out—and quickly.
Head coach Doug Pederson and offensive coordinator Frank Reich weren't great, either. It's not entirely their faults. The offensive line and receivers' inabilities to get open make life hard as a play-caller. Still, the offense struggled, even with some late surges. It was also the coaches' decision to start Vaitai at right tackle.
Pederson must get the penalties cleaned up. Against Detroit, the Eagles were affected by poor officiating. This week, there were a couple of poor calls, but the majority of the Eagles' 13 penalties were deserved, avoidable and dumb.
Grade: F
Final Grades
10 of 10
| Position Unit | Grade |
| QB | C |
| RB | B |
| WR/TE | C |
| OL | D- |
| DL | D+ |
| LB | D- |
| Secondary | D+ |
| Special Teams | A |
| Coaching | F |
| Cumulative Grade | D+ |
The Philadelphia Eagles lost their second consecutive game. The defense was atrocious. The offense was poor with flashes of solid play. They committed too many penalties. They can't tackle. They can't block. The schedule is only going to get harder.
The good news is that the Eagles played just about as bad a game as you could imagine and still had a chance to win late in the game on the road against a division rival.
If the Eagles are going to have any chance against old friend Sam Bradford and the undefeated Minnesota Vikings next week, they have a ton of mistakes to correct. There is no great fatal flaw with this team, but they can't play poorly and still expect to win.
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