Philadelphia Eagles vs. New York Giants: Full Report Card Grades for Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles fell to the New York Giants, 28-23. The Eagles played a sloppy game of football and will certainly look back on this game with disgust. The offense generated 443 yards but was only able to muster 23 points. Carson Wentz threw for the most yards in a single game of his young career, but two early interceptions dug the team a hole they were not able to overcome.
Head coach Doug Pederson was aggressive with his play-calling as well as his in-game decisions. Most of his gambles did not pay off. But down the stretch, some went the Eagles' way, and they had a chance to get the victory.
The Eagles defense limited the Giants to 302 yards of offense. They came up with two crucial interceptions late in the game, but awful secondary coverage led to all four of the Giants' touchdowns.
The Eagles got contributions from up and down the roster—from Jordan Hicks and Zach Ertz all the way down to Bryce Treggs, Destiny Vaeao and Najee Goode. In the end, it wasn't enough to overcome their mistakes.
No play perhaps sums up the game better than Darren Sproles' 66-yard punt return. Sproles almost was barely pushed out of bounds at the 15-yard line. Instead of a touchdown, the Eagles would go on to turn the ball over on downs.
Quarterback
1 of 10
Wentz had an interesting game. He started just about as poorly as you could imagine. Two of his first three passes were intercepted. On the next drive, he missed a wide-open Jordan Matthews for a touchdown.
Wentz battled back. He finished with 364 yards passing, the most of his career. The young man simply does not let adversity rattle him.
There continue to be growing pains. The interceptions were terrible throws, he ran out of bounds instead of throwing it away and the quarterback runs were terribly designed. Still, if you are a Philadelphia Eagles fan, you have to be optimistic about the long-term prospects of the franchise with such a talented, young quarterback in the fold.
Grade: C
Running Back
2 of 10
The Eagles ground game failed to establish itself against the Giants. Sproles and Wendell Smallwood had 17 and 19 yard runs, respectively. Outside of those two runs, the Eagles averaged 3.4 yards per carry by running backs.
Ryan Mathews and Kenjon Barner both had short touchdown runs. Mathews seems to continue to be in the doghouse with the coaching staff. He only had five carries and was hardly on the field.
Grade: D+
Wide Receiver and Tight End
3 of 10
The Philadelphia Eagles receiving corps exploded against the Giants. After struggling to impact games for several weeks, the passing game finally got back on track.
Treggs made his presence felt early in the game with a long 58-yard catch. His speed brought an element to the offense that they have been missing the entire season. He was open on several other long passes, but the timing with Wentz has not yet been established. Matthews had 88 yards receiving, including a key fourth-down snag late in the game.
Ertz has been an afterthought since returning from his rib injury. He broke out for 97 yards on eight catches. Trey Burton also had a good afternoon. He's a versatile weapon and added 55 yards.
Dorial Green-Beckham did not have a good game. He was targeted five times. He had zero catches. He looked like someone who had somewhere else he would rather be.
Grade: B
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Offensive Line
4 of 10
The offensive line is a shell of what it was a month ago. Lane Johnson is suspended. Allen Barbre missed the Giants game with a hamstring injury. Jason Peters and Jason Kelce are both being held together by grit and duct tape. Brandon Brooks appears to be the only healthy member of the unit that started the season.
The running backs compiled two touchdowns and nearly 100 yards rushing, but almost all of their success came on plays that the backs had to bounce to the outside. There was no consistent push in the run game. Wentz was pressured more than he should have been against a feckless Giants pass rush.
The stats may say they were all right, but the offensive line had a rough go of it.
Grade: C-
Defensive Line
5 of 10
Have you seen Fletcher Cox? If so, please call the Eagles front office. Cox is supposed to be a franchise cornerstone player. He's being paid like one. Today, Beau Allen and Vaeao outplayed him.
Brandon Graham continues to be nearly unblockable. His play won't show up on the stat sheet, but he is having a career year. The Jim Schwartz defense clearly suits him well.
The defensive line did not have a particularly good day. They only generated one sack against a putrid Giants offensive line. Eli Manning had far too much time to throw for most of the game.
Grade: D+
Linebacker
6 of 10
Hicks is starting to come into his own in the Schwartz defense. After a slow start to the season, the second-year linebacker has slowly started to figure it out. The brilliance he showed as a rookie has returned. Hicks' diving interception almost allowed the Eagles to steal a game they shouldn't have been in.
Nigel Bradham is an interesting player. He's a solid linebacker. He's also prone to boneheaded mistakes. His unnecessary roughness penalty against Odell Beckham Jr. is just the latest in a string of incidents that must have the coaching staff banging their heads against the wall.
The linebackers missed some tackles, but they had a solid showing overall.
Grade: B
Secondary
7 of 10
Leodis McKelvin will not be looking forward to watching the game tape. He had an absolutely awful game. When I think of the low water mark for Eagles corner play, I think of Roc Carmichael being helpless and completely overmatched in 2013. This performance may take its place.
Jaylen Watkins was promoted to the starting nickel defense after Ron Brooks' injury ended his season. The Eagles may be reevaluating that decision this week. Watkins has made great strides as a tackler since he first arrived in Philadelphia in 2014, but he seemed lost today.
Rodney McLeod and Malcolm Jenkins were solid. Each had a bad play that led to a touchdown, but they both contributed more positive than negative.
Nolan Carroll's interception was a thing of beauty. He simply outmuscled the receiver and took the ball away. Carroll isn't the best cover corner in the league, but he's a gamer and does the little things well.
Defensive backs coach Cory Undlin needs to get things straightened out. There were simply too many blown assignments.
Grade: D+
Special Teams
8 of 10
The outcome of this game is probably different if Sproles is able to tight-rope the sideline and score on his long punt return. The Eagles return game in all phases has been excellent all season. Their kickoff and punt coverage units are also generally superb.
The big blemish for the Eagles special teams was the blocked field goal. Rookie offensive lineman Halapoulivaati Vaitai was beaten to the inside by Jason Pierre-Paul. That's a cardinal sin on field-goal protection, and it cost the Eagles three important points.
Grade: C
Coaching
9 of 10
Coach Pederson had another bad game. He was overly aggressive early in the game and caused the team to turn the ball over on downs twice. The Eagles left a lot of points on the field in a five-point loss. The clock management at the end of the game was poor, if ultimately nondecisive.
The offensive game plan was good. The Eagles put up a ton of yards. Poor play-calling and execution in the red zone ended up being the biggest issue for the Eagles offense. The designed-quarterback-run section of the playbook needs to be shredded then lit ablaze.
Defensively, there just seemed to be too much confusion in the secondary.
Grade: D
Final Grades
10 of 10
| Position | Grade |
| QB | C |
| RB | D+ |
| WR and TE | B |
| OL | C- |
| DL | D+ |
| LB | B |
| Secondary | D+ |
| ST | C |
| Coaching | D |
Cumulative Grade: C-
The Philadelphia Eagles deserved to lose this game. They were too sloppy. They were given extra chances to win and still couldn't get it done. A frustrating way to lose to a division rival.
The Eagles are now 4-4 on the season and 0-3 in the division. The playoffs are becoming less likely every week. The Eagles now enter a particularly brutal portion of their schedule. Their next four games are versus the Falcons, at the Seahawks, versus the Packers and at the Bengals. If the Eagles want to make the playoffs, they likely need to win at least three of those games.
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