Grayson’s Grades: Eagles at Jets

The Philadelphia Eagles have never lost to the New York Jets. They are a perfect 12-0 all-time against the Jets after beating them 33-18. The win keeps them right in the mix for a potential playoff spot.

Jalen Hurts was inactive for the Eagles with a sore ankle so Gardner Minshew got the start at Quarterback and played well. The move allowed Hurts to rest his ankle for two weeks with the bye next week. Minshew played well and helped by a solid rushing attack from the Eagles.

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There were plenty of moments of concern for the Eagles defense. The Jets seemed to move the ball with ease throughout the first half. To their credit, the defense did not allow a single point in the second half.

The Eagles improve to 6-7. They will enjoy a bye this week and hope to see many of their players get healthy and ready for a potential run into the playoffs.

This report card is a mixed bag of grades. Here is the latest edition of Grayson's Grades:

A

Dallas Goedert - Goedert was targeted early and often in this game. As a result, he had one of the best games of his career. Goedert scored two first half touchdowns. He was a target on screens as well as downfield. He also does a great job of taking contact and staying on his feet. Goedert caught six passes for 105 yards and two touchdowns.

Gardner Minshew - Minshew played well. I like how comfortable he looked out there. He extended plays and was also smart enough to throw it away when nothing was there. I did not see any particularly strong throws so I question Minshew's arm strength. He was a good game manager here and did show trust in his receivers. Minshew completed 20 of 25 passes for 242 yards and two touchdowns. He also carried it four times for 11 yards.

Miles Sanders - Sanders got a significant workload and turned in a solid effort. He did not get to finish the game after suffering an injury in the fourth quarter. He was the first 100-yard rusher of the season for the Eagles. Sanders carried the ball 24 times for 120 yards. He also caught three passes for 22 yards.

Kenneth Gainwell - Gainwell served as the second back on the depth chart in this game. Boston Scott was active but barely saw the field after missing a lot of practice this week due to illness. Gainwell did a good job with his touches. He scored on an 18-yard touchdown run. Gainwell carried the ball 12 times for 54 yards and one touchdown. He also caught five passes for 33 yards.

Nick Sirianni - Sirianni did a good job of putting together a very manageable gameplan for backup quarterback Gardner Minshew. Once again that plan was built around dominating the ground and mixing in some key passes through the air. Sirianni's offense racked up 185 rush yards and had the ball for 11 more minutes than the Jets. They had the ball for all but 70 seconds of the third quarter.

Offensive Line - The offensive line once again dominated the line of scrimmage. The Eagles rushed for 185 yards in this one and had their first 100-yard rusher of the season with Miles Sanders going for 120 yards in this one. Jordan Mailata, Landon Dickerson, Jason Kelce, Nate Herbig and Lane Johnson all paved the way for a solid ground game. They also did a good job of protecting Minshew when he dropped back to pass.

Quez Watkins - Watkins popped up at some key moments to help move the ball. He made three good catches to help move the chains. Watkins longest catch went for 28 yards. He finished with three receptions for 60 yards.

Jake Elliott - Elliott has been nearly automatic this season. He was once again perfect in this game. He booted four field goals and three extra points to help the offense keep putting points on the board.

B

Josh Sweat - Sweat had a good day rushing the passer. He got to Zach Wilson multiple times and finished with 1.5 sacks. Unfortunately the Eagles did not get quite as much pressure as the really should have. Sweat seemed to do his part though. He finished with three tackles, 1.5 sacks, one tackle for a loss and two quarterback hits.

Marcus Epps - Epps had the only turnover for the Eagles intercepting a pass in this one. He also delivered some big hits including one that at the time saved a touchdown a few yards in front of the goal line. Epps finished with five tackles and one pass successfully defended.

C

Steven Nelson - Nelson was on the coverage of the first touchdown of the game. He was the nearest defender but appeared to be frustrated with Rodney McLeod after the touchdown. Nelson looked like he expected inside help from McLeod and did not get it. Nelson left the game with an injury. However, he seemed to be getting picked on a bit by the Jets and was giving up several completions in the first half.

Rodney McLeod - McLeod was part of a secondary that was giving pretty sizable cushions to Jets receivers. I'm not sure that falls totally on him as it appeared to be the plan by Defensive Coordinator Jonathan Gannon. McLeod looked to have inside help on the first touchdown of the game by the Jets, but was late in coming over to provide that help. McLeod finished with three tackles.

D

Jonathan Gannon - Gannon appeared to go back to a conservative game plan. Once again it featured plenty of cushion giving receivers a lot of room to work with. I did not see many blitzes by the defense giving Zach Wilson time to find open receivers from within the pocket. I frankly do not understand that philosophy. This is a young quarterback who has shown the ability to make mistakes when pressured so I expected a variety of stunts and blitzes on the defensive line to help force those mistakes. The defense had a solid second half not giving up any points, but the first half was troubling as we saw the Jets move the ball with ease and score three touchdowns.

F

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