Grading Each Position After Eagles Loss To Rams: Bad Marks Across The Board

If Philadelphia Eagles losses couldn't get any worse, Nick Sirianni's team found a way.

The Eagles blew a 10-point fourth quarter lead in Sunday's loss to the Los Angeles Rams, a game they somehow led despite not having five starters on offense. This was a game the Eagles weren't supposed to win, yet they found a way to lose in the worst of ways.

The defense collapsed and the offense was worse. Nick Sirianni made questionable decisions, and the Eagles are 2-2 as a result.

The report card for this week is ugly, and it might be the ugliest report card of the year. Here are the position-by-position grades for this week:

Quarterback -- D

This may be a generous grade for Jalen Hurts, given he finished 12-of-27 for 93 yards. Hurts averaged just 3.4 yards per attempt, but he also threw for two touchdowns and ended up with a 78.2 passer rating.

Hurts was 2-of-9 for 10 yards and a 39.6 passer rating in the second half -- 1.1 yards per attempt. He couldn't get anything moving on offense, but was also without DeVonta Smith, Dallas Goedert, Saquon Barkley, Landon Dickerson and Lane Johnson on offense.

While Hurts has to elevate the offense, this offense is an absolute mess. Hurts is a square peg in a round hole right now, and teh Eagles don't have the personnel to help him out.

The Eagles have failed Jalen Hurts with the way this offense was built, and Hurts has struggled to adapt.

Running back -- C

When Saquon Barkley is out for the game on his second carry, it's going to be a poor day for the running backs. Tank Bigsby didn't have a bad day (14 carries, 55 yards), but the explosiveness isn't there without Barkley and a healthy offensive line.

Even if the offensive line were healthy, the holes weren't there for the backs outside of one drive. Will Shipley had six carries for 23 yards and the two combined averaged 3.9 yards per carry.

The Eagles are what they are at running back without Barkley.

Wide receiver -- C-

Without DeVonta Smith, the wide receiver position isn't strong. Dontayvion Wicks is a good player, but the mindset changes as a WR1 compared to a WR2. He finished with just three catches for 18 yards, and couldn't make a play to get the pass game going.

Darius Cooper could, as his two touchdown catches are the only reason this grade is as high as it is. Makai Lemon was also open on a few plays, but Jalen Hurts couldn't get the ball to him due to the offensive line not protecting him.

The Eagles needed Smith on Sunday. They won't have him for a few games, so this group will be tested.

Tight end -- F

This position isn't good, relying on 36-year-old Zach Ertz to even be competent. Ertz had two catches for 13 yards, while Johnny Mundt and E.J. Jenkins had a goose egg in the box score.

Mundt played an overwhelming majority of the snaps (80%), compared to Ertz's 21% and Jenkins' 20%. Known as a good blocker, Mundt wasn't good at doing that Sunday either.

This is a bad tight end group that really needs Goedert.

Offensive line -- F

Somehow this unit gets worse and worse by the week.

Without Lane Johnson, Markel Bell is called upon to start in emergency duty -- and his first start didn't go well. Bell allowed six pressures and an 18.8% pressure rate allowed per dropback, completely being exposed on the right side.

Cam Jurgens allowed five pressures and a 12.5% pressure rate allowed per dropback. Drew Kendall allowed three pressures and a 9.4% pressure rate allowed per dropback. All three players were awful in pass protection on Sunday, and they're the different players from the Week 1 offensive line.

The Rams blitzed Jalen Hurts obsessively because they could. Bell and Jurgens weren't stoping them , as the right side and interior of the offensive line were exposed. The push up front wasn't good either on run plays as Bigsby averaged 0.57 yards before contact per carry and Shipley was at 0.67.

This is a bad offensive line, and will be slightly better if Johnson does decide to come back.

Defensive end -- C

The pass rush just don't get enough pressure on the quarterback, no matter when it occurs in the game. Nolan Smith did have a sack, but he also had two missed tackles and a 5.7% pressure rate. Jalyx Hunt had three pressures and a 7.7% pressure rate.

Jonathan Greenard is a difference maker, and his pressure did lead to the Andrew Mukuba interception in the first half. Greenard did have a 21.4% pressure rate, but this unit took a major hit once he left with an ankle injury.

Greenard is a good player, but it's fair to question that contract. He just can't stay on the field.

Defensive tackle -- D-

The wrist injury is affecting Jalen Carter, who had three pressures in 52 pass rushing snaps. Carter wasn't a difference maker on Sunday, although the Eagles are paying him to be one. He did have a quarterback hit for what it's worth.

Jordan Davis played 25 snaps and didn't have a pressure, not even seeing close to as many snaps as Carter and Moro Ojomo. While Ojomo had a 9.1% pressure rate, his plays doesn't make up for the lack of production the Eagles are getting from Carter and Davis.

This is an overpaid, underperforming group.

Linebacker -- C+

The missed tackle on the Kyren Williams touchdown late in the game is the play that highlighted Jeremiah Trotter Jr. -- but he had a good game. Trotter Jr. finished with 15 tackles, five of which were against the run (10 were solo tackle).

Jihaad Campbell had nine tackles and two pressures, and has shown he can rush the passer. Now for the coverage numbers for both...

Campbell was targeted 12 times and allowed 80 yards, as Matthew Stafford had an 85.4 passer rating targeting him. This was better than Campbell has performed in previous weeks. Trotter. Jr. allowed 7-of-8 passes targeted his way for 49 yards and a 92.2 passer rating -- but no 20+ yard completions.

Trotter Jr. deserves to be on the field somewhere.

Cornerback -- C

Seeing the fire from Quinyon Mitchell on Davante Adams was excellent to see, but the Rams passing game challenged the outside cornerbacks. Mitchell allowed just three catches for 27 yards, but Tariq Woolen was picked on throughout the game.

Woolen allowed three catches for 91 yards and a 99.8 passer rating when targeted (one touchdown), with two 20+ yard completions and one coverage penalty. This was Woolen's worst game with the Eagles, but he's been very good through four games.

Cooper DeJean had an interception and allowed a 0.0 passer rating in coverage. DeJean has either been great in the slot -- or horrible. The Eagles got a great game from DeJean Sunday.

Safety -- B

Surprised to see a grade this high? That's because the safeties played well on Sunday.

Mukuba did have two missed tackles, but he also had an intercpetion and allowed just two yards in coverage. He was all over the field, and not getting exposed as much.

Perhaps that's because Michael Carter was playing next to him. Carter was targeted three times and allowed just seven yards in coverage. His range in coverage showed when targeted and appeared to get more comfortable playing safety as the game went on.

The safeties were good on Sunday, which is way better than they've been the first three games.

Special Teams -- A-

Jake Elliott hit a 56-yard field goal and was 2-of-2 on field goal attempts, remaining perfect on the season. Britain Covey averaged 19.7 yards per punt return, including a 41-yard return that led to a touchdown two plays later.

Smael Mondon made plays on kickoff coverage to prevent big returns and Kelee Ringo had a good tackle in punt coverage. Braden Mann was his usual self, having two punts inside the 20-yard line and averaged 43.8 net yards per punt.

The Eagles may have been awful Sunday. Their special teams were not.

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