Week 15 Eagles grades by position after tough win over Bears

CHICAGO — It wasn’t easy … but they can’t all be blowouts.

And it’s the Eagles’ ability to find ways to win that has them with an NFL-best 13-1 record after Sunday’s 25-20 win over the Bears at Soldier Field.

The Eagles had to overcome a lot in this win — frigid temperatures, three turnovers, etc. — but they still found a way. Sometimes, that’s the mark of a great team.

Let’s get to the grades:

Quarterback

Jalen Hurts: 22/37, 315 yards, 0 TDs, 2 INT; 17 carries, 61 yards, 3 TDs

This is a tough game to grade for Hurts, who had his first 2-INT performance of the season. But he showed some real resiliency in this game too. He overcame those two picks and a bunch of hits throughout the game. And he still managed to throw for 315 yards and rush for 3 touchdowns. It wasn’t a perfect game but Hurts still showed a lot and did enough in a gritty performance to help the Eagles move to 13-1.

Grade: B

Running back

Miles Sanders: 11 carries, 42 yards, 1 catch, -13 yards, 1 fumble lost

The Eagles were very slow to get the run game going with the running backs in this game and it took over a quarter for Sanders to get his first carry. And then there was the Sanders fumble in the third quarter that led to a touchdown. Kenny Gainwell didn’t get a ton of touches but made a really nice play on a 7-yard grab on that long drive at the end of the second quarter.

Grade: D+

Receiver

A.J. Brown: 9 catches on 16 targets, 181 yards

Brown ended up setting a career high in receiving yards but he actually got off to a slow start. After the game, he said he should have had around 300 yards. But he came through when the Eagles really needed him with that 68-yard catch-and-run down the sideline. And DeVonta Smith had a huge game too, catching 5 passes for 126 yards. Weird game for Quez Watkins, who kept getting the ball on horizontal plays and didn’t do much with it.

Grade: A

Tight end

Jack Stoll: 1 catch for 6 yards

The Eagles could have really used Dallas Goedert in this game. They’ll hope to have him back off IR for the Dallas game on Christmas Eve. The Eagles’ tight ends did an OK job blocking against the Bears but were almost non-existent in the pass game. Just 1 catch on 3 targets for the group.

Grade: C-

Offensive line

Hurts attempted 37 passes in this game and was sacked just one time. The Eagles’ OL didn’t get much of an opportunity to run block early in this game but they did their jobs in pass protection, giving Hurts enough time to throw for 315 yards.

Grade: B+

Defensive line

Haason Reddick: 2 sacks, 4 tackles, 2 QB hits, 1 TFL, 1 PBU, 1 FF, 1 FR

The Eagles’ defensive line continues to hunt in passing situations and they’re wrecking games. The Eagles had 6 sacks in this one, 2 apiece for Reddick, Javon Hargrave and Josh Sweat. They were able to hold the Bears’ running backs in check too. And while Justin Fields ran for 95 yards, it’s hard to fault the line too much.

Grade: A+

Linebacker

T.J. Edwards: 9 tackles

Edwards continues to put together solid game after solid game. He had one tackle to blow up a screen play that was especially nice. It’s probably time to start thinking about getting Edwards that contract extension.

Grade: B

Secondary

Avonte Maddox: 6 tackles, 2 forced fumbles

That blown coverage on the game’s final touchdown to keep it close wasn’t ideal. You’d like to see the Eagles prevent giving up that play and making this one a little more comfortable. But Fields threw for just 152 yards in this game and his other touchdown pass went to running back David Montgomery. The Eagles used a combination of K’Von Wallace and Avonte Maddox at the safety spot opposite Marcus Epps. Maddox played really well in his second game back.

Grade: B+

Special teams

Boston Scott: 3 kick returns, 92 yards, long of 58

Scott continues to give the Eagles juice as a kick returner. He had a 66-yarder last week and followed it up with a 58-yarder against the Bears. New punter Brett Kern had two punts for 90 yards (45.0), which was good enough. DeVonta Smith fell on that onside kick in the fourth quarter. Sure, Jake Elliott doinked one off the right upright from 38 but the wind was brutal and he also made a shorter kick earlier in the game.

Grade: A-

Coaching

Record: 13-1

The offensive game plan in this matchup left a ton to be desired. None of the running backs had a carry into the second quarter. Sure, some of those were zone-reads but there’s nothing wrong with simply calling a running play to a back. Because they didn’t, the offense struggled to get going and Hurts took a ton of hits. And all that horizontal game with Watkins? Not working. But this team is super resilient and that doesn’t happen by accident; it trickles down from the coaching staff. Plus, hard to fault Gannon’s defense too much. They gave up that one first-half drive, another touchdown on a 15-yard field and the late one with 2:43 left. They didn’t give up any points on the ensuing drives after the two interceptions.

Grade: B-

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