LANDOVER, Md. — The Eagles were actually down at halftime on Saturday before pulling it together and beating the Commanders 29-18. They clinched the NFC East for the second consecutive year for the first time in over two decades and improved to 10-5 on the season. Let’s take a look at the grades by position: Quarterback Jalen Hurts: 22/30, 185 yards, 2 TDs, rating of 111.1; 7 rushing attempts, 40 yards After a really rough stretch during the Eagles’ three-game losing streak, Hurts has played well in back-to-back wins over the Raiders and Commanders. He wasn’t perfect on Saturday. He missed a few throws, including one to a wide-open A.J. Brown on second down in the second quarter when the Eagles had to settle for a field goal. But Hurts made up for it. His best play of the day was a touchdown pass to Dallas Goedert off-schedule on a 3rd-and-goal from the 15-yard line. Hurts also showed off his ability to scramble and picked up 40 yards on the round. Grade: B+ Running back Saquon Barkley: 21 attempts, 132 yards, 1 TD Barkley went over 100 yards for the third time this season and surpassed the 1,000-yard mark on the season in the win. He did it in multiple ways against the Commanders too. He showed off his ability to pick up yards after contact on his 12-yard touchdown but then showed incredible elusiveness on a spin move in the backfield on his 48-yard run. Barkley forced six missed tackles on Saturday for a season-high 63 yards after missed tackles. And when Barkley came out, Tank Bigsby played well. Bigsby had 4 carries for 37 yards, including a 22-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to put the game away. Grade: A Receiver A.J. Brown: 9 catches on 12 targets for 95 yards Early in this game, it was the A.J. Brown show. Eventually, Hurts began to spread the ball around a little bit more. Brown finished with 95 yards, while DeVonta Smith had 6 for 42 and a touchdown and Jahan Dotson had 3 for 13. The Eagles didn’t go crazy through the air but they were efficient against the Commanders. Brown had an important block on Barkley’s touchdown run and Smith helped spring Barkley on that 48-yarder. Grade: B+ Tight end Dallas Goedert: 3 catches on 3 targets, 32 yards, 1 TD Goedert’s touchdown catch in the third quarter was his 10th of the season, tying a longstanding franchise record. Pete Retzlaff held the record for touchdowns from an Eagles tight end and 10 in 1965 and Goedert tied it in this game. He didn’t have the volume on Saturday that he’s had in recent weeks but that touchdown might have been the play of the game. Without Cameron Latu (stinger), the Eagles elevated E.J. Jenkins from the practice squad and he got some run on offense. Grade: B+ Offensive line The line did have a couple of costly false starts in the red zone but that unit had a good day overall. Hurts was sacked just 2 times in this game and looked pretty comfortable in the pocket. And the Eagles rushed for 200 yards for the second time all season, so the line was able to open up some holes. Grade: B Defensive line Jordan Davis: 6 tackles, 2 TFLs The Commanders had a little tiny bit of success running the football early but that evaporated pretty quickly. They held the Commanders to 3.5 yards per rushing attempt. They sacked Marcus Mariota once and sacked Josh Johnson once. Brandon Graham and Byron Young got those sacks. Nolan Smith got the hit on Mariota’s hand that forced him out of the game. Jordan Davis was a force in the middle of the defense and continues to have a breakout season. Grade: A Linebacker Zack Baun: 9 tackles As he does most weeks, Baun led the Eagles in tackles and had another really strong performance. Nakobe Dean left in the first half with a hamstring injury and did not return, which meant Jihaad Campbell played most of the game. Campbell began the season as the starter but then lost that job when Dean came off PUP. Grade: A Secondary Cooper DeJean: 4 PBUs, 1 INT Adoree’ Jackson gave up a couple of chunk plays, including one to Terry McLaurin down the left sideline. But there just wasn’t much offense for the Commanders. DeJean was excellent in coverage. He was targeted 8 times and gave up just 4 catches for 32 yards and had an interception in the fourth quarter off Johnson. Quinyon Mitchell had another couple pass breakups and is still almost impossible to throw on. Grade: A Special teams Jake Elliott: 0/2 on FGs (from 43 and 52) It was a really rough game for special teams. Jake Elliott officially missed two field goals but he also missed a 57-yard attempt that didn’t count. He missed all three of those kicks on the field wide left. Elliott has been shaky recently and that’s a big concern heading into the playoffs. It was also a tough game for kick returner Will Shipley, who fumbled on the first play of the game and then had a blunder returning another where he couldn’t keep his body in the end zone for a touchback. Sydney Brown did have a great tackle on punt coverage and Shipley came back with a big tackle on kickoff coverage. Grade: D Coaching Record: 10-5 Saturday was a good time to take a step back and appreciate this era of Eagles football. The Eagles have been in the playoffs for all five of Nick Sirianni’s seasons at the helm and became the first back-to-back division winners in the NFC East in over two decades. Of course, some of Sirianni’s decisions are still worth questioning. There was another confusing end-of-half sequence and his decision to go for a 2-point conversion in the fourth quarter worked but might have also led to a fight that got the right guard ejected. The offense used some new elements this week with empty sets and more tempo, which seemed to work. Vic Fangio’s defense continues to look elite. The final score is a bit misleading because of a garbage-time touchdown. Grade: B+ ...read more read less