Grayson’s Grades: Eagles lose to Commanders in Season Finale

PHILADELPHIA - The Philadelphia Eagles had a chance to earn the two seed in the NFC Playoffs but closed out the regular season with a 24-17 loss to the Washington Commanders.

Head Coach Nick Sirianni decided to rest most of his starters to ensure his team would go into the playoffs rested and healthy. He did that despite knowing there was a chance his team could earn the two seed. The Eagles needed to beat the Commanders AND have the Bears lose to the Lions. The Lions beat the Bears 19-16 on a last-second field goal. But the Eagles' backups could not beat the Commanders so the Eagles settle for the three seed.

The backups did give the Eagles a 17-10 lead at one point in the second half before allowing the Commanders to score 14 unanswered points. Some criticize Nick Sirianni for the decision to rest most of his starters. He argued after the game that he could not guarantee the Bears would lose, but he could guarantee the rest for his key players.

It sets the stage for the defending Super Bowl Champs to open the playoffs as the three seed hosting the sixth seeded San Francisco 49'ers Sunday at 4:30 pm.

Here is the final regular season edition of Grayson's Grades for this season:

A

Nick Sirianni - I know this may be an unpopular grade, but I give Sirianni credit for making a decision and sticking with it despite what was going on in the Bears-Lions game. Let's be clear, the decision to rest most starters was likely made by Sirianni AND the front office. I'm sure there were some sort of analytics that showed the rest carried with it more success in the playoffs than competing for a higher seed. Sirianni remained firm and let his starters go into the playoffs healthy. I agree with the decision and we will see as the postseason begins if he made the right decision.

Tank Bigsby - Bigsby is a hard runner who provides a burst and has done a solid job running the ball for the Eagles. When you watch him run, you wonder why he doesn't get a few more carries to provide a change of pace for Saquon Barkley. Bigsby is not afraid of contact and typically drives the pile forward for an extra yard or two. He carried the ball 16 times for 75 yards and a touchdown. Bigsby averaged 4.7 yards per carry.

Jalyx Hunt - Hunt was a beast in this game. He read a floated pass from Josh Johnson out toward the sideline, got a good jump on it and picked it off setting the Eagles up with great field position. They were unable to turn it into points because Tanner McKee threw an interception at the goal line. Hunt later recovered a fumble on a bad snap to Johnson. The Eagles did convert that into a touchdown. Hunt finished with two tackles, a pass successfully defended, an interception and a fumble recovery.

DeVonta Smith - We can debate whether playing DeVonta Smith was the right choice. He needed just 44 receiving yards to kick in a performance incentive in his contract of reaching the 1,000 yard receiving mark for the season. I like the idea to let him play. He reached the mark in three receptions in the first quarter. It's those kinds of decisions that players respect and appreciate and it does matter in the locker room. Had it been much more than 44 yards he might have been held out, but the staff felt it was easy enough to get and they were right. Smith made a 27 yard reception which put him over the mark and the Eagles promptly removed him from the game. Smith finished with 1,008 yards making him the leading receiver on the team passing AJ Brown who had 1,003 yards on the season.

Jeremiah Trotter, Jr. - Trotter had a great performance in this game. He made some huge tackles when the Commanders got near the goal line. If he did not make the tackle on other plays, he did have a big role in creating stops due to his ability to stand up a blocker in the hole. He took advantage of his opportunity and led the Eagles with 12 tackles. He also had one tackle for a loss and two quarterback hits.

Jihaad Campbell - Campbell also got some more valuable snaps. The rookie started the season at linebacker until Nakobe Dean returned. He has come a long way in his rookie season and seemed to be flying around the field and involved in tackles. Campbell finished second on the team with 10 tackles and one pass successfully defended.

B

Jahan Dotson - Once DeVonta Smith left the game, Jahan Dotson saw a fair amount of targets. He looked to run good routes and probably should have had a few more catches if Tanner McKee threw the ball a little more accurately. Dotson was targeted eight times and caught three passes for 40 yards.

C

Kevin Patullo - Stop me if you have heard this before, but Patullo had a seven point second half lead before failing to score another point in the final quarter plus. Some of that blame certainly falls on McKee who missed some open receivers. But the Eagles had success on the ground with Tank Bigsby and seemed to shy away from giving him too many carries in the fourth quarter. I will be curious to see how Patullo calls the offense in the playoffs. It seems to get way too conservative in the second half. This offense should have the opposite philosophy and try to remain aggressive later in the game.

D

Tanner McKee - McKee has a lot of nice tools and I believe will make a good NFL Quarterback when given the chance. He has great size and typically throws a nice ball. He seems to make quick reads, but failed to extend plays very well and that led to a lot of incomplete passes. That being said, he was leading the second team offense against the Commanders starters. Put McKee in with the starters and I wonder how much better it would have looked. Ultimately, he had an opportunity to lead the Eagles on a drive late in the game to try and tie it up. That drive ended with some incomplete passes and off-target passes and the Eagles went on to lose the game. McKee completed 21 of 40 passes for 241 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He also carried it twice for three yards.

Mac McWilliams - McWilliams appeared to struggle in coverage. He had his hands full with some of the Commanders top receivers and several times failed to turn around and play the ball. It led to some pass interference penalties that helped the Commanders move the ball down the field. He finished with no tackles and one pass successfully defended.

F

Kelee Ringo - Ringo infuriated me in this game. His most egregious mistake happened with the game tied at 17 and the Commanders facing a third and goal. Josh Johnson rolled out to his left, Ringo seemed to thwart Johnson's thoughts of running it and then for no reason at all, Ringo turned around and gave up the goal line for Johnson to run it in and put the Commanders ahead. Earlier that drive, Ringo did a poor job in coverage. He had his hands all over Terry McLaurin resulting in a 32-yard pass interference penalty. I was very disappointed in Ringo's effort. He had five tackles including one tackle for a loss and one pass successfully defended.