Grayson’s Grades: Eagles at Giants

EAST RUTHERFORD - The Philadelphia Eagles were outplayed on all sides of the ball and suffered their second loss in four days after the New York Giants beat them 34-17. The Eagles turned it over twice and failed to get off the field on third down.

The Eagles played this game with two key starters out. Defensive Tackle Jalen Carter and Offensive Guard Landon Dickerson both missed this game due to injuries. The Eagles also lost starting corner Quinyon Mitchell in the first half due to a sore hamstring.

The talk in the locker room after this loss saw many players indicating this is not the time for anyone to point fingers. They also told me this loss stung more than the one to the Broncos.

The Eagles are 4-2. They have a mini-bye with their next game ten days away on October 19th at the Minnesota Vikings. They are banged up and need this extra time to try and get healthier especially after some of the injuries they encountered tonight.

Here is the latest edition of Grayson's Grades:

A

Dallas Goedert - Goedert did what he could to help the offense. He was targeted 11 times and caught nine passes for 110 yards and a touchdown.

AJ Brown - Brown was more of a factor in the offense in this game and really should have been an even bigger part of it. On Jalen Hurts' interception Brown ran a seam route to Hurts' right and was wide open in the endzone for a touchdown. Hurts instead fired a pass at Jahan Dotson to the sideline on his left and it was picked off and returned a long way. It was a huge mistake. The Eagles were down by ten so a touchdown there would have cut the deficit to three. Instead, it led to a Giants touchdown and a 17 point deficit. Brown caught six passes for 80 yards.

DeVonta Smith - Smith could have had an even bigger game. He was beating his man pretty well on several routes and was targeted on a deep ball where he put about ten yards between himself and the defender. Jalen Hurts overthrew him. Had they connected it likely would have gone for a long touchdown. Smith caught four passes for 49 yards.

B

Saquon Barkley - Barkley had just nine touches in Sunday's loss to the Broncos. He touched the ball 14 times in this one. Barkley got the first two touches of the game and turned those two carries into 31 yards. He is not getting great holes to run through from the offensive line. That being said, Barkley did carry the ball 12 times for 58 yards for an average of 4.8 yards per carry. He added two receptions for nine yards.

C

Jalen Hurts - Hurts left some big plays on the field in this loss. He overthrew a wide open Devonta Smith. He also did not see a wide open AJ Brown in the endzone and instead chose to try and hit Jahan Dotson on the sideline. It was picked off and returned a long way into Eagles territory. Hurts also made a huge mental mistake at the end of the first half choosing to run the ball and slide not realizing his team did not have a timeout. The Eagles failed to get to the line fast enough to spike the ball and stop the clock. It was perhaps a missed opportunity at some points going into the locker room.

Kevin Patullo - Patullo continues to struggle to get his offense into a consistent rhythm. When they put together a good drive, they fail to remain one step ahead of the opposing defense. The opponent adjusts, and the Eagles do not adjust off of that. They keep trying to do more of what they thought was working. Patullo needs to work more on getting a running game going. That in turn, would allow for a more balanced attack which would be less predictable. His offense put up 339 total yards; however, it managed to convert just one of nine third down attempts. It turned the ball over twice. These are not key ingredients to success.

D

Adoree Jackson - Jackson entered the game when Quinyon Mitchell suffered a hamstring injury in the first half. Once he got into the game, the Giants started testing him and finding success against him. Jackson was tied for the team lead with seven tackles because the Giants continued to throw in his direction. He did break up two passes as well.

Offensive Line - The offensive line is struggling. After the loss Jordan Mailata pointed the finger straight at himself saying he played poorly and made some mistakes. Sure, the line was without a starter in Landon Dickerson; however, it should be able to open some holes for Saquon Barkley. They failed to do that after the first two rushes of the game. They also gave up three sacks.

AJ Dillon - Dillon entered the game to spell Saquon Barkley a few times. He tried to provide a change of pace and had a decent gain in the fourth quarter with the Eagles putting together a drive and had the ball punched out of his hands and it was recovered by the Giants. Dillon also went into the game to return kickoffs after Tank Bigsby muffed another kickoff this season. However, Dillon did not do much better as one kickoff went off his hands and out of bounds forcing the Eagles to start at their own five yard line. Dillon carried the ball one time for two yards. He also caught two passes for 18 yards with a fumble lost.

Vic Fangio - Fangio would not use this as an excuse, but I am at least going to make sure it is noted. His defense was missing two of its biggest contributors. Defensive Tackle Jalen Carter was out with a heel injury. Cornerback Quinyon Mitchell left the game in the first half with a sore hamstring. That severely affected this defense. Adoree Jackson and Kelee Ringo were the two corners, and the Giants picked on them repeatedly. It's hard to pin that on Fangio. However, he does oversee the defense that allowed the Giants to go 11-for-15 on third downs. They also gave up 34 points. They also did a poor job tackling and lost contain on Giants Quarterback Jaxson Dart multiple times including on a 20-yard touchdown run.

Nick Sirianni - One of the biggest things a coach has to do is have his team ready to play. Everyone expected this team to come out and blast the Giants as a means for exercising their frustration from losing Sunday to the Denver Broncos. That did not happen. They had poor tackling and discipline. They made mental mistakes. They also appeared to get outplayed on all three sides of the ball. Sirianni usually has his team focused and ready to play. That was not the case in this game. His team faces some huge adversity heading into this mini-bye with their next game not scheduled to be played for ten days. I will definitely be watching to see how he prepares his team for that game and it will show whether he can get through to this team to play up to their potential.

F

Kelee Ringo - Ringo was frequently tested by Giants Quarterback Jaxson Dart and failed to make the play most of the time. He was beat on several routes by receivers and also called for a big pass interference in the endzone that led to a touchdown. He committed some other penalties in this game as well. Ringo finished with three tackles in this game.

Tank Bigsby - Bigsby has struggled repeatedly securing kickoffs and it has forced the offense to start inside their own ten yard line multiple times. Bigsby muffed another kickoff early in this game and was benched after that. Those kickoffs should be returned to around the 30 yard line at a minimum and the muffs caused the Eagles to start inside their own ten. That lost yardage can snowball into field position issues resulting in a shorter field for the Eagles defense to defend.