Grayson’s Grades: Eagles survive in Green Bay

The Philadelphia Eagles went into Green Bay and survived with a 10-7 victory. It was their first game in 15 days. The win put the Eagles back on top of the NFC standings meaning they control their own destiny regarding the top seed and a first-round bye.

The Eagles made a questionable decision to go for it on fourth down at the Green Bay 35 with a 10-7 lead and 27 seconds left. The Packers had no timeouts left. The decision gave the Packers a chance to try a 64-yard field goal to tie it as time expired. It was wide left and the Eagles survived.

This was an absolute struggle for both teams offensively and ultimately the Eagles defense made enough plays to propel their team to victory. Jaelan Phillips had quite a debut for the Eagles making a huge impact in this win.

Nick Sirianni improves to 5-0 after a bye in the regular season. The Eagles will have a short week before hosting the Detroit Lions Sunday night.

Here is the latest edition of Grayson's Grades:

A

Jaelan Phillips - Phillips had a great debut with the Eagles. Howie Roseman acquired Phillips during the bye via a trade with the Dolphins and Phillips was a beast. He had a big fumble recovery, two quarterback hits, one tackle for a loss and six total tackles. Phillips did not record a sack but his pressure definitely played a role in helping his teammates get some sacks. Phillips gave Eagles fans a lot to be excited about, especially as he gets more and more comfortable with this defense and the other players on the field.

Nakobe Dean - Dean has a great football gut and seems to dissect a play well enough to try and blow it up. He can shoot the gaps well and was able to do that one time tonight on a blitz and earned a sack for his effort. Dean finished the game with seven tackles, one sack, one tackle for a loss, one quarterback hit and a forced fumble.

Jalyx Hunt - Hunt was part of the group that did a good job of creating pressure and making Jordan Love uncomfortable in the pocket. Hunt was one of three players that recorded a sack in this game. He finished with five tackles, a sack, two tackles for a loss and a quarterback hit.

Nolan Smith - Smith made a positive impact in his first game back from injury. He had one of the three Eagles sacks in the game. Smith's presence had a positive impact on the pass rush and also helped with creating more depth on the defensive line. Smith had two tackles, a sack and two quarterback hits.

DeVonta Smith - Smith was the only offensive player to earn an 'A'. He is so good at getting open and appears to have glue on his hands the way the ball sticks to them when it is thrown his way. Smith had two huge catches in this game. One of them was on a third and long and he made a great catch by the sideline to move the chains. He also made a huge touchdown grab by beating a defender and going up and catching the ball at its highest point in the catch zone. Smith runs great routes and if you truly watch him, you can see how he sets up moves on defenders to create space and give Jalen Hurts a good window to throw the ball through. Smith had four receptions for 69 yards and a touchdown.

Vic Fangio - Fangio did a great job incorporating newcomer Jaelan Phillips into the mix. He also did a great job managing the defensive line rotation which included Brandon Graham at times in the second half. He got pressure on Jordan Love and saw his defense force a pair of turnovers along with two big stops on fourth down. They did a good job in coverage, but I thought the big key was keeping Jordan Love uncomfortable in the pocket. Holding the Packers to just seven points was impressive.

Jalen Carter - Carter once again made a huge impact in the middle of that defensive line. He helped collapse the pocket multiple times and when he could not get there, he did a great job of getting his hands up and deflected a pair of passes away. It will be fun to watch Carter wear down the middle of a defense while Jaelan Phillips does his thing on the outside. Carter finished with three tackles and two passes defended.

Quinyon Mitchell - Mitchell did a great job of breaking on the ball and knocking it away. He blanketed receivers with great coverage throughout most of the game. There was a scare early in the game when he left with an apparent injury. However, he did return on the next defensive series and went on to have a good game. Mitchell had two tackles and two passes successfully defended.

B

Saquon Barkley - Barkley had a hard time getting a big lane to run through but did take advantage of opportunities when they presented themselves. His biggest contribution was in the second half when he took a pass he caught in the flat, made a great spin move and went 41 yards. That helped to set up the touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith. Barkley finished with more than 100 total yards in this game. He had 22 carries for 60 yards. Barkley also had three catches for 41 yards.

Dallas Goedert - Goedert seems to always be good for at least three to four receptions per game. He did that in this game catching four passes for 43 yards. Goedert could have padded those stats even more if he would have turned his head a little sooner in the fourth quarter. Goedert was in the flat with open space ahead of him, but he was a little late in turning his head around and did not see the ball coming. Goedert is a mismatch at times and the Eagles need him to stay healthy so they can continue to exploit that later in the season.

C

Jalen Hurts - Hurts struggled against a really good defense. He did a decent job of taking what the defense gave him at times. However, he did cough up the football when he rushed for a first down. The Dolphins punched it out before he hit the ground. That ended a 16-play drive that covered 77 yards prior to the turnover. The most painful part of that turnover was coming away from that possession with zero points. Hurts completed 15 of 26 passes for 183 yards and a touchdown. His best pass was the touchdown to DeVonta Smith. Hurts also deserves credit for spotting Saquon Barkley in the flat with a lot of green grass in front of him. Barkley turned it into a 41-yard gain.

Offensive Line - The Offensive Line was inconsistent once again. Jordan Mailata had a few big mistakes. One of them was when he slipped and fell in the hole Saquon Barkley was looking to run through. It led to a loss of yardage. Mailata also committed some false start penalties.In general, the line struggled to open up some holes for Barkley. Lane Johnson left the game and missed a couple of quarters due to an ankle injury. He did return in the fourth quarter.

Nick Sirianni - Sirianni improved to 5-0 following a regular season bye. He did have some questionable calls in this game. The biggest by far was choosing to go for it on fourth and eight with 27 seconds left and no timeouts remaining for the Packers. The Eagles were clinging to a three-point lead and failing to get a first down gave the Packers a chance to try and get into field goal range to force overtime. The Packers did try to tie it, but the 64-yard field goal attempt sailed wide left. It was apparent this game was going to be low-scoring at halftime. At that point it was still scoreless. So it appeared that there was the need to remain conservative and protect a lead. He chose to go for it twice on fourth down and the Eagles failed to convert both times. I don't necessarily hate the decision to go for it with 27 seconds left; however, I do strongly question the decision to throw it deep with AJ Brown covered well. Sirianni was caught on camera saying "why?" after that pass was thrown deep. I think he was looking for a more high-percentage play on a shorter pass or even a decision to see Hurts run it.

D

Kevin Patullo - Patullo's offense struggled to get into a sustained rhythm. It did have some drives that were consistently moving the chains while also having too many three and outs. As referenced above, I don't necessarily hate the decision to go for it on fourth down but I did hate the play they ran. They needed to go with a more high-percentage pass play in that spot and Hurts has to know that with AJ Brown covered well there needed to be a better option to get a first down. I also think this offense needs to do a better job of getting AJ Brown some catches early in the game. He finished with two catches for 13 yards. Patullo's offense at times seemed predictable and the Packers shot through and blew up some run plays as a result.

F

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