Eagles grades by position after ugly loss to Buccaneers

Eagles grades by position after ugly loss to Buccaneers originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

TAMPA — The Eagles got off to a horrible start on Sunday at Raymond James Stadium and never recovered in a 33-16 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Under Nick Sirianni, the Eagles are now 1-4 against the Buccaneers dating back to 2021. The Eagles limp their way into an early Week 5 bye week with a 2-2 record.

Here are the position grades from Sunday:

Quarterback 

Jalen Hurts: 18/30, 158 yards, 1 TD, 85.1 rating; 8 attempts, 20 yards, 1 TD

In his postgame press conference, Hurts said he needs to play better and he’s absolutely right. He struggled on Sunday without his top receivers A.J. Brown (hamstring) and DeVonta Smith (concussion). In a game without room for mistakes, Hurts missed too many throws and fumbled away the football in the red zone when the Eagles were still trying to claw their way back into the game. That’s his seventh turnover of the season; it’s becoming a big problem.

Grade: D+

Running back

Saquon Barkley: 10 carries, 84 yards; 2 catches 32 yards

The Eagles had a few quick three-and-outs to start this game and it’s fair to wonder why they didn’t work to get the ball to Barkley more, especially on first downs. After having just 8 carries for 22 yards in the first half, he broke off a 59-yarder early in the second half to help give the Eagles some hope. There’s no doubt that through four games, Barkley has been one of the biggest bright spots.

Grade: B

Receiver

Parris Campbell: 4 catches for 17 yards, 1 TD

The Eagles were without Brown and Smith in this game so we’re grading on a bit of a curve. The Eagles entered this game with Jahan Dotson, Johnny Wilson, Parris Campbell and John Ross and Wilson eventually left to be evaluated for a concussion. Campbell led the way with 17 yards. Dotson has been with the Eagles for over a month and in a game without the top two guys had just 2 catches for 11 yards. That’s not great.

Grade: C-

Tight end 

Dallas Goedert: 7 catches on 8 targets for 62 yards

While Goedert didn’t follow up his 170-yard game in New Orleans with another all-time game, he was still productive. But the one target that Goedert didn’t catch was a drop early in the game that loomed large. That was when the Eagles couldn’t get anything going on offense and that would have been a nice gain. Grant Calcaterra also had a 26-yard catch.

Grade: B-

Offensive line

The Eagles missed Lane Johnson in this game and then lost Cam Jurgens with some cramps. The Eagles got off to a really slow start on the ground before Barkley busted a 59-yarder. Hurts was also sacked six times in this game. Not all of that is on the line but they could have performed better.

Grade: C+

Defensive line

Brandon Graham: 2 tackles, 1 sack

The Eagles weren’t gashed in the run game but they also didn’t completely shut it down either. While Baker Mayfield was getting the ball out quick, they still didn’t get much pressure. Two sacks for 13 yards — at least they came from Brandon Graham and Josh Sweat to get the Eagles’ edge rushers on the board this season.

Grade: C-

Linebacker

Nakobe Dean: 7 tackles, 1 TFL

After a really strong performance in New Orleans, this was not a good game for Dean. He missed several tackles and wasn’t able to get in throwing lanes in coverage. Zack Baun also had a quiet day. We’re used to him filling up the stat sheet but didn’t in this game with six tackles.

Grade: D-

Secondary

Darius Slay: 9 tackles, 1 pass breakup

Mayfield in this game completed 30 of 47 passes for 347 yards and 2 touchdowns and it wasn’t like it was bombs away. Mayfield was hitting everything underneath and then letting the Eagles miss tackles and turn short gains into longer ones. The Eagles failed to pick up an interception in this game.

Grade: D

Special teams

Braden Mann: 5 punts, 282 yards, 1 touchback

The Isaiah Rodgers blocked PAT that was returned for two points by Kelee Ringo was a great play. But both flubbed plays earlier in the game with Cooper DeJean returning punts. Rodgers blocked his man into DeJean to force a fumble and on a different punt Ringo ran into DeJean. Jake Elliott kicked just two extra points in this game. Mann was a buy guy with five punts.

Grade: C-

Coaching

Record: 2-2

The Eagles did not look like a well-coached team on Sunday. They didn’t seem prepared in any phase against the Buccaneers and that has to fall squarely on the shoulders of Nick Sirianni. Sure, there’s plenty of blame to go around after a loss like this but Sirianni has to take the most. The Eagles got off to such a horrendous start on Sunday they could never recover. Also, not a promising game from Kellen Moore or Vic Fangio. A rough way to go into the bye week.

Grade: F

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