Grayson's Grades: Eagles at Rams

The Philadelphia Eagles made a statement to the league with a dominating 37-20 win over the Los Angeles Rams. It was a solid all-around team victory with a historic performance from Saquon Barkley.

Barkley rushed for 255 yards and two touchdowns. AJ Brown had over 100 yards receiving and a touchdown. The defense recorded five sacks and forced a turnover.

The Eagles extended their winning streak to seven games and will visit the Baltimore Ravens next Sunday. They are 9-2 overall and closing in on an NFC East division title.

Here is the latest edition of Grayson's Grades:

A+

Saquon Barkley - I mean this is a no-brainer, right? He had two touchdown runs of at least 70 yards and finished with 255 rushing yards. Barkley also added four catches for 47 yards. So Barkley ended his night with over 300 total yards. He is clearly in the MVP discussion and the spark plug that gets this offense going each and every week. His cuts are impressive. Barkley is great at reading the defenders and juking them out of his way. He also had a crushing stiff-arm casting a would-be tackler backwards and into the ground. Barkley is a lot of fun to watch and it's still surreal to see him doing this in an Eagles jersey after all those years with the Giants.

AJ Brown - The Eagles were without DeVonta Smith so it seemed natural that AJ Brown would get extra attention. He found a way to produce anyway. The most impressive part of his day was the yards after the catch. He did a great job of catching the ball and breaking tackles to gain extra yardage. Brown is such a strong, physical receiver and runs great routes. He caught six passes for 109 yards and a touchdown.

Jalen Hurts - Hurts once again did a great job of protecting the ball. He had another turnover-free game. Hurts did a good job using his arm and his legs. There were a few times Hurts held the ball too long leading to pressures and one sack. Overall he played a good game. Hurts completed 15 of 22 passes for 179 yards and a touchdown. He also ran it 12 times for 39 yards.

Nick Sirianni - Sirianni called a great game. Since I am quick to question some of his decisions, I also want to be fair and compliment him on some of the decisions he faced in this one. I was happy to see him take the points and kick those field goals in the first half for two reasons. Get the points early in the game and get Jake Elliott back on track after his rough game last week. Sirianni also deserves credit for accepting a Rams penalty to give them a third-and-long instead of declining it and seeing the Rams go for a fourth-and-three. It resulted in a sack and a longer field goal attempt which was missed in the second half. Off the field, Sirianni continually has this team ready to play and focused on that game. They play hard for him and I continue to see him growing as a Head Coach.

Kellen Moore - Moore does a great job of making adjustments. He also sticks with the run and allows Saquon Barkley and his offensive line to wear down an opponent which pays dividends in the second half when they seem to be tired. Moore has found a formula that works. He stays dedicated to the run, allows the passing game to feed off of that and lets his offense be more physical than the opponent. The Eagles racked up 481 total yards, were nine of 15 on third downs, and possessed the ball seven and a half minutes longer than the Rams.

Offensive Line - This offensive line is fun to watch. They tend to dominate their opponents throughout the game and wear them down. They also win at the line of scrimmage allowing Saquon Barkley to go several yards before contact. They give him some pretty big holes to run through and also do a good job in pass protection. The only time Hurts got sacked was due to holding the ball too long in my opinion. They also have a lot of fun blocking for Barkley. They tell you they enjoy winning their block and looking up to see Barkley breaking away for those home run touchdowns.

Nakobe Dean - Dean is really having a solid season. It is fun to watch him target a ball carrier and shift gears into another speed and chase them down. He had one tackle for a loss that made me say 'wow'. He shot through a hole and chased down the ball carrier from behind for a yard loss. He plays fast and is trusting his instincts more than he has at any other time in his pro career. Dean also had a sack in this game where he flattened the running back that tried to block him. Dean literally blew right through him to get the sack. Dean led the team with eight tackles. He added one sack, two tackles for a loss and one quarterback hit.

Brandon Graham - Graham seemed to turn back the clock and looked like a younger version of himself. He was quick off the line of scrimmage, beat his opponent an frequently got to the Quarterback. Graham moved into third all-time for sacks in franchise history when he got to Matthew Stafford early in this game. However, he did leave the game in the fourth quarter and later told the media he tore his tricep and is likely out for the rest of the season. It's hard to swallow the fact that we may have just seen his final game in an Eagles uniform. Graham said he will continue to lead and be a resource for his teammates. He finished with two tackles, one sack, two tackles for a loss, one pass successfully defended and three quarterback hits.

Jalen Carter - Carter is another young player who is coming into his own. He is a lot of fun to watch. Carter will not blow up the box score, but his impact is huge. He takes on double-teams and fights through them to still collapse the pocket. He is so strong and fast off the line of scrimmage that he forces the offensive line to use more resources to slow him down. That allows his teammates to win their battles and get home for pressures or a sack. Carter only had one tackle in this game, but he was a beast and affected a lot of plays in a positive way.

Cooper DeJean - This was a good test for the rookie. I talked to him earlier in the week about facing the likes of Puka Nakua and Cooper Kupp and he didn't hesitate in saying he just needed to keep playing the way he has been. DeJean definitely held his own against them playing well in coverage and successfully defending two passes. One of them he stuck with Kupp throughout this route and reached in front at the last minute to bat away the pass. DeJean finished second on the team with six tackles and added a pair of pass breakups.

Milton Williams - Williams is another player that is playing his role well on this defensive line. He was constantly creating pressure on Matthew Stafford and benefitting from the presence of Jalen Carter on that line. Williams led the Eagles with two sacks. He had two tackles with those two sacks and two tackles for a loss. Williams also added three quarterback hits.

Quinyon Mitchell - Mitchell continues to shine at corner. The rookie did a great job in coverage. Some of the completions he allowed were just great passes from Matthew Stafford put in only a place where his receiver could get it while Mitchell was blanketed on them in coverage. This kid continues to be a big bright spot in the secondary. He finished the game with five tackles and one pass successfully defended.

Vic Fangio - Fangio's defense is a lot of fun to watch. He deserves a ton of credit for the adjustments he makes within a game. The Rams were able to move the ball well on their first two possessions and then had trouble moving it most of the rest of the game. Fangio creates different looks between four or five down linemen to where he chooses to bring pressure. His linebackers are so versatile that they can either rush the passer or drop in coverage. Fangio has the top defense in the league. They did not allow the Rams to complete one third down conversion. The Rams were 0-for-8 on third down. They also produced yet another turnover. I look forward to seeing what Fangio tries to do next week against Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry and the rest of the Ravens.

Josh Sweat - Sweat is on a tear. He is consistently creating pressure game in and game out. He has at least one sack in six of his last eight games. That includes one against the Rams. Sweat is looking more and more comfortable in Vic Fangio's defense and will be counted on for even more snaps after the injury to Brandon Graham. Sweat had two tackles with one sack, one tackle for a loss and one quarterback hit.

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