With a 41-7 victory over the Cowboys on Sunday, the Eagles easily won the NFC East. It didn’t matter that they started the game with their backup quarterback and ended up using their third-stringer. The Eagles swept their fiercest opponent on Sunday. They secured the NFC’s second seed and the division.
Now let’s discuss the grades:
The quarterback Kenny Pickett: 143 yards, 1 touchdown, 10/15 Despite Kenny Pickett’s serious rib injury, the Eagles started him since Jalen Hurts was out with a concussion. With some additional padding in his flak jacket, Pickett fought through the injury until he was forced to leave the game after taking a few hits in the second half. Tanner McKee, a third-stringer, took over and finished well, completing three of four throws for 54 yards and two touchdowns. In a game to win the division, it’s difficult to expect more from your backup and third-string quarterbacks. The Eagles lost late in the 2022 season the past two times they had to start a backup. Thus, Pickett and McKee’s performance was outstanding.
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tackles and a pass breakups. Trotter had 3 tackles, a QB hit and half a sack.
Grade: A-
Secondary
C.J. Gardner-Johnson: 1 tackle, 2 INTs, 2 PBUs
There were some leaky moments early for the secondary and there were a few passes given up by Darius Slay and Quinyon Mitchell. But Gardner-Johnson had his second-career 2 INT game and returned the first one back 69 yards for his first-career touchdown. He now leads the team with 6 interceptions. Rush ended up completing just 15 of 28 passes for 147 yards with 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions.
Grade: A
Special teams
Jake Elliott: 2/2 on FGs, 5/5 on PATs, 5 touchbacks on kickoffs
In addition to making all of his field goals, Elliott also took over kickoff responsibilities and did a good job of keeping the ball away from dangerous return man KaVontae Turpin.
Grade: A
Coaching
Record: 13-3
I didn’t love Nick Sirianni’s decision to punt on 4th-and-1 from their own 46-yard line in the first quarter but let’s not get too nit-picky after a 41-7 win. The Eagles’ offense operated at a high level with the second-string and third-string quarterbacks. And the defense really settled down after a 70-yard drive in the first quarter. Also, the decision to go to Elliott as the kickoff guy paid off.
Grade: A
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