Week 4 Eagles grades by position after OT win over Commanders

It was way closer than it should have been but the Eagles escaped Sunday against the Commanders with a 34-31 win in overtime to move to 4-0 on the season.

After the Dolphins lost, the only undefeated teams in the NFL are the Eagles and the 49ers, who also won on Sunday.

Let’s get to the grades:

Quarterback

Jalen Hurts: 25/37, 319 yards, 2 TDs, 112.3 rating; 9 rushing attempts, 34 yards

Hurts had his best game of the season. Although it wasn’t perfect, he trusted his play-makers to make plays and they did. He spread the ball around, made good decisions and didn’t turn the ball over. Hurts’ second touchdown pass to Brown was a perfectly placed ball. There were also moments in this game where he looked really good escaping pressure in the pocket to take off running.

Grade: A-

Running back

D’Andre Swift: 14 carries, 56 yards, 1 TD; 4 catches, 23 yards

It wasn’t a huge performance from Swift but he had some really nifty runs and finally got on the field in high-leverage situations toward the end. In overtime, Swift caught a short pass and showed off his jets getting around the corner to gain 11 and pick up a first down. Kenny Gainwell added 4 carries for 14 yards and had 2 catches for 7 yards but Swift is clearly the top back and he deserves that spot.

Grade: B

Receiver

A.J. Brown: 9 catches on 13 targets, 175 yards, 2 TDs 

A monster game from Brown, who became the first Eagles player to have 130+ receiving yards in back-to-back games since Jeremy Maclin in 2014. Sure, he has to know better than to get a taunting penalty late in the fourth quarter but the production was incredible. And then DeVonta Smith had a big game too with seven catches for 78 yards including a beautiful catch on a 50-50 ball late in the first half to set up a field goal.

Grade: A+

Tight end

Dallas Goedert: 2 catches on 4 targets, 25 yards

The Eagles opened up in 12 personnel but didn’t run much of it in this game after using it a ton in Weeks 2 and 3. Goedert has been very quiet early this season and he and Hurts didn’t seem like they were on the same page a couple times. But he moved the sticks on both of his catches in this one. The offense needs to get him going more.

Grade: B-

Offensive line

Some early struggles from Jordan Mailata working against Chase Young, who beat him to pick up a sack. And the Eagles weren’t as dominant in the run game as they had been in recent weeks. But they ultimately gave Hurts enough time to throw the football. Cam Jurgens injured his foot and was replaced at right guard by Sua Opeta. Jurgens left the locker room with a walking boot on his right foot, so this is something to monitor going forward.

Grade: B

Defensive line

Josh Sweat: 5 tackles, 1 sack, 1 QB hit, 1 TFL

The Eagles didn’t get after Sam Howell the way many expected them to in this game. But Haason Reddick has a dominant stretch in the fourth quarter that included his first sack of the 2023 season. Josh Sweat also picked up a sack and Brandon Graham hit Howell’s arm on a play that nearly resulted in an interception. The Commanders found a bit of success on the ground with 107 yards but got just 3.8 per attempt.

Grade: B-

Linebacker

Nicholas Morrow: 11 tackles, 3 sacks, 3 QB hits, 1 FF

Before Sunday’s game, Morrow had four career sacks in 81 NFL games. And then he comes out and blitzes his way to a three-sack performance against the Commanders. While there were moments when the Commanders caught Morrow and Cunningham in coverage, they mostly held up OK. Cunningham led the Eagles with 13 tackles and Morrow had 11.

Grade: B

Secondary

Reed Blankenship: 8 tackles, 2 PBUs

Blankenship’s play on Terry McLaurin on 3rd-and-5 in overtime might have been the difference in this game. Blankenship was able to get McLaurin to land out of bounds on 3rd-and-5 and the Commanders were forced to punt. As you’d probably expect, the Commanders attacked Terrell Edmunds and Josh Jobe as much as they could. The Eagles were without Justin Evans (neck) and Sydney Brown (hamstring) in this game and they missed them. Howell ended up with 290 passing yards and touchdown, while McLaurin had 86 yards on 8 catches.

Grade: C-

Special teams

Jake Elliott: 4/4 on field goals, 54-yard game-winner in OT

Elliott is just an absolute stud. He made all of his field goals, including the game-winner in overtime. Even though punter Braden Mann got off to a rough start in this game, his 47-yard punt to pin the Commanders at their own 7 in the fourth quarter was a beauty. And Britain Covey continues to impress as a punt returner. He had 3 returns for 38 yards, including a 20-yarder.

Grade: A+

Coaching

Record: 4-0

There are things to nitpick. The play-calling late in the game, especially the Kenny Gainwell run on 3-and-11 from the Washington 16-yard line to start the fourth quarter. And you can also question the series that led to the touchdown in regulation instead of running out the clock to kick a field goal. But the Eagles found a way to win and they’ve done that each week so far. Coaching isn’t all about the X’s and O’s. Sometimes it’s about creating a resilient team that can overcome obstacles; it seems like Nick Sirianni has done that.

Grade: B-

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