Eagles grades: Coaching gets a mixed review, but the defense held up in a win against the Browns

Instant grades on the Eagles’ performance in a 20-16 win over the Browns:

Whether it was his execution or the script, Jalen Hurts struggled out of the gate again. The Eagles clearly wanted to test the Browns’ outside cornerbacks, and get A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, going upon their return from injury. But Hurts was either inaccurate or his receivers weren’t open on the deep shots.

The quarterback did settle down once offensive coordinator Kellen Moore dialed up some shorter, one-read passes, and once he found Brown on more inside routes. Hurts also had some nice unscripted passes, including one to Brown for 17 yards just before the half. His kill-shot 40-yard pass to Brown iced the game.

Saquon Barkley had some impressive early runs in which he broke tackles, but the Browns kept him in check for most of the game. He rushed 18 times for 47 yards. As good as he has played this season, Barkley has had some costly mistakes. He had a couple of mental errors before the half. He ran out of bounds before picking up the first down, and then missed a blitz pickup on the next play. Of course, an argument could have been made for coach Nick Sirianni to just hand the ball off to Barkley on third-and-1.

Kenneth Gainwell had a nice 19-yard scoot off the left edge in the third. Rookie Will Shipley didn’t play much on offense again.

» READ MORE: Eagles squeak past the lowly Browns, 20-16, as A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith return with TD catches

Brown injected some life into Hurts and the passing game in the second quarter. He caught four passes for 64 yards and a touchdown during the frame. On his 22-yard score, he ran a slot fade and beat cornerback Martin Emerson and somehow held onto the jump ball with one arm. He finished with six catches for 116 yards.

Smith’s 45-yard catch and run on a mesh concept play gave the Eagles a 20-13 lead midway through the fourth. He had only two catches for 19 yards until that point.

Jahan Dotson finally got to touch the ball in the third on a pass thrown behind the line that counted as a run. He gained 13 yards, but left meat on the bone when he beelined for the sideline. Dotson did have a nice 10-yard sideline grab down the stretch. Parris Campbell was signed to the active roster, but he wasn’t targeted, and neither was rookie Johnny Wilson, who had some nice blocks.

Tight end Dallas Goedert left after the first series with a hamstring strain. The Eagles still employed a lot of two-tight end sets in his absence — at least early on. Grant Calcaterra produced a career-best four catches for 67 yards. His 34-yard catch and run in the second quarter may have benefited from a schemed-up naked bootleg, but the tight end hit the turbo on his engine. He false-started in the third.

Jack Stoll ran the crossing route that rubbed out the Browns corner who was man-covering Smith on his 45-yard touchdown.

Jordan Mailata more than held his own against the formidable Myles Garrett. He didn’t receive a ton of help and mostly kept Hurts’ blindside clean. Mailata did have a false start in the third. He left in the fourth quarter with a hamstring injury and had to be helped off the field. His replacement, Fred Johnson, didn’t have any discernible problems.

Lane Johnson’s return was a welcome one. The right tackle took care of Garrett on the few occasions he saw the defensive end switch sides, but he mostly stood up on his side in pass protection.

Cam Jurgens had a bad snap to open the Eagles’ second possession. Luckily for the center, the ball bounced directly back to Hurts. Jurgens had some solid seal blocks in the run game and kept the pocket from crushing on Hurts. Guards Mekhi Becton and Landon Dickerson struggled in run blocking at times, but the Browns stacked the box.

Jalen Carter dominated a Browns interior offensive line that was already shorthanded before center Nick Harris was carted off in the first. He often clogged his gaps against the run and got penetration as a pass rusher. He teed off on quarterback Deshaun Watson for an early hit and notched his first sack of the season in the second quarter.

The entire Eagles defensive line, for that matter, took advantage of one of the worst quarterbacks and offenses in the NFL. Josh Sweat, Milton Williams, Nolan Smith, and even Bryce Huff recorded sacks. Huff also had a third-down pressure that forced Watson to step up into the arms of Carter. He appeared to be rushing more from a four-point stance — a more natural position for him to get off.

Brandon Graham played in his 200th career game — the first time an Eagles player accomplished the feat. The veteran defensive end had a tackle for loss on a third-down run in early in the third quarter. Browns kicker Dustin Hopkins missed a 52-yard field goal on the next play. Defensive tackle Jordan Davis was quiet as a rusher, but had several stops against the run. Reserve defensive tackle Moro Ojomo was more active as a rusher and had several pressures. He drew a hold in the fourth.

Nakobe Dean led the Eagles with 12 tackles, but also missed several including a sloppy open-field attempt in the fourth. Zack Baun was more efficient. He diagnosed an early screen pass for no gain. He was a one-man wrecking ball on a blitz up the middle, but he took it one man too far and was flagged for roughing the passer.

Cooper DeJean got the first start of his career in the slot. The rookie had a solid debut. In coverage, he ran step for step with receiver Jerry Jeudy’s fade route into the end zone that ended up incomplete in the second quarter. DeJean was sent on several blitzes off the edge and split the sack with Huff and had the initial pressure on a later sack.

Outside cornerback Darius Slay left early in the third quarter with a knee injury. He wasn’t tested much before he departed. Isaiah Rodgers took his spot and left as well in the fourth. His replacement, Kelee Ringo, drew a face-mask penalty.

Quinyon Mitchell mostly held down his side of the field. He almost had the first interception of his career in the second quarter, but safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson came over from the post and the two collided. Mitchell got animated after neither caught the ball.

It was sink or swim for Gardner-Johnson again. He had a big pass breakup in the red zone late in the fourth. Earlier in that drive, he had a tackle in the open field in the fourth. But Gardner-Johnson also was hesitant on other tackle attempts in space. And in coverage, he got beaten inside by tight end David Njoku on a Browns fourth-down converted pass.

Reed Blankenship didn’t get beaten over the top in the deep middle. Watson lacked the chops to test the Eagles’ deep zones, though. Still, Blankenship rebounded from the Buccaneers game when he had to leave early because of the heat. Avonte Maddox lost his starting nickel spot to DeJean, but he was the sixth defensive back in dime personnel.

Michael Clay’s special teams have been responsible for momentum-turning negative plays the last three games: a blocked punt vs. the Saints, a muffed punt vs. the Bucs, and lastly, a blocked field-goal attempt that the Browns returned for a touchdown. Garrett gets credit for a superhuman feat: leaping over Tyler Steen before getting a hand on Jake Elliott’s 57-yard attempt, as does former Eagle Rodney McLeod for the 50-yard return. But it was an ugly turn of events before the half.

Elliott did hit a 49-yard field goal for the Eagles’ first points. DeJean averaged 12.8 yards on four punt returns. Oren Burks was called for holding on a second-quarter return, but DeJean may have contributed to the penalty when he unnecessarily bumped outside. Rodgers took over kick return duties from Gainwell. He had two returns for an average of 26.5 yards. Braden Mann angled a 47-yard punt out of bounds at the Cleveland 7 in the third.

Sirianni’s squad didn’t look much better off the bye, but it did get the win. There were some notable personnel changes, but schemes on both sides lacked imagination. Sirianni also oversaw some sloppy moments before the half that got a lowly Browns team back in the game. He did win an early challenge to give the Eagles a sack.

Moore’s offense got off to another slow start as the Eagles have yet to score a first-quarter point through five games. He has some nice calls later in the game. Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio didn’t allow a subpar Browns offense into the end zone, so he gets credit for that. There were some leaky moments, but allowing only nine points has to be labeled a success no matter the opponent.