Eagles grades: Saquon Barkley, linebackers earn high marks; Nick Sirianni not so much

Instant grades on the Eagles’ performance in their 28-23 win over the Jaguars:

Jalen Hurts was effective when he needed to be through the air and on the ground. He had some dubious moments, but the quarterback went a fourth straight game without a turnover. He had two nice touchdown passes to Saquon Barkley and DeVonta Smith and threw a downfield beauty to the latter, setting up the eventual game-winning score. Overall, he completed 18 of 24 passes for 230 yards.

Hurts may have taken off too early on a few occasions, but he had some nice scrambles, including a 7-yard, third-down rumble in which he lunged forward for the first down. He got away with a near interception when Jaguars safety Andre Cisco couldn’t hang onto an overthrown pass in the third quarter.

» READ MORE: Eagles hold on for 28-23 win over the Jaguars thanks to Saquon Barkley and Nakobe Dean’s heroics

Saquon Barkley was the best player on the field once again. He rushed 27 times for 159 yards and caught three passes for 40 yards. He had rushing and receiving touchdowns. Barkley dropped jaws again with what may have been the first-ever successful backward hurdle in NFL history. Barkley’s ridiculous leap came at the end of a checkdown 14-yard catch in which he had already broken one tackle and spun away from another.

He made a difficult over-the-shoulder catch in the end zone and just inside the boundary for the Eagles’ first points in the first quarter this season. Just before the break, Barkley ran for a 19-yard touchdown on a third-and-17 draw vs. the Jaguars’ phantom defense.

His fumble in the third quarter was returned for a touchdown and gave the Jaguars life.

Kenneth Gainwell gave Barkley a spell here and there and finished with five carries for 9 yards. Ben VanSumeren got the start at fullback. He caught his first NFL pass on a checkdown. VanSumeren left the game with a concussion just before the half.

DeVonta Smith was outstanding in the fourth quarter with the game in balance. The wide receiver got behind the Jaguars defense for a 46-yard catch. A few plays later, Smith made a spectacular one-handed, feet-dragging, 25-yard touchdown snag in the back of the end zone to give the Eagles a 28-16 lead. On the day, he caught 4 of 6 targets for 87 yards.

A.J. Brown left the game with a knee injury. He was slow to get up after getting hit on a late second-quarter catch. Brown came out after the half with trainers by his side, but he soon went back to the locker room never to return. Brown caught two passes for 36 yards before he left.

Rookie receiver Ainias Smith was featured on a jet sweep and screen pass — both of which netted the Eagles little yardage. Fellow rookie Johnny Wilson had a touchdown catch for a brief moment just before the half, but was flagged for pass interference. With Brown out, Jahan Dotson caught his first and only target of the game — a juggling, 36-yard grab — in the third quarter.

Grant Calcaterra started his third game in place of the injured Dallas Goedert. The tight end was often Hurts’ safety outlet and caught five passes for 30 yards. Fellow tight end Jack Stoll had some nice run blocks. He had a false start on the fourth-down Tush Push try on the Eagles’ first drive.

The O-line helped Barkley go over 100 yards for a fifth time this season. The unit gave Hurts ample time in the pocket for most of the game. Fred Johnson hung in there in his third straight start at left tackle. Jaguars defensive end Josh Hines-Allen had two sacks rushing from the right, but Johnson wasn’t completely at fault. He was up and down as a run blocker. He led the way on Hurts’ touchdown run and was upended by Cisco, who was penalized for diving at the tackle’s knees.

Right tackle Lane Johnson was on an island vs. Jaguars end Travon Walker and kept his side clean. Left guard Landon Dickerson played through a knee injury and, along with center Cam Jurgens and right guard Mekhi Becton, helped keep the Jaguars from pushing the pocket into Hurts. Becton was back after missing a game because of a concussion and had a number of key run blocks.

» READ MORE: Jalen Hurts saves Nick Sirianni’s bacon in a messy Eagles win over the Jaguars and Doug Pederson

Lane Johnson, Becton, and Jurgens opened a hole for Barkley to pick up 11 yards in the first. The latter two had a combo block that paved the way for Barkley’s 21-yard scoot in the fourth quarter. Lane Johnson had an effective pull block on Barkley’s 13-yard rush off the left edge in the third quarter. Jurgens had a key second-level block on Barkley’s 19-yard touchdown bolt. Earlier, he was flagged for holding on a run play in the second. Becton got beaten inside on a Jaguars tackle for a loss. He had a false start in the third quarter.

The Eagles’ impressive defensive performance took all hands on deck. The D-line dominated the Jaguars up front and allowed just 60 yards on the ground. Jalen Carter was the monster in the middle. The defensive tackle destroyed a blocker at the point of attack and got a run stop near the line in the second quarter. The Eagles didn’t employ a lot of five-man fronts, but nose tackle Jordan Davis helped plug the middle against the run. Milton Williams ate up blockers that helped the off-ball linebackers swarm to the ball.

The D-line was just as effective in the pass rush. Carter had a couple of hurries. Defensive end Josh Sweat had a third-down sack off a bull rush on the Jaguars’ first possession, thanks in part to Williams’ initial pressure up the middle. Bryce Huff didn’t play until late into the second quarter for whatever reason. The end got pressure on an inside rush that helped force a third-down stop. He played sparingly the rest of the way.

Nolan Smith started and played significantly more snaps than Huff. He had a relatively quiet game but closed on Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence and ran him out of bounds on a short scramble. Brandon Graham also saw an uptick in snaps with Huff watching more than playing. He got after Lawrence a few times.

The Eagles’ off-ball linebackers were instrumental in the victory. Zack Baun was maybe the best all-around defender and led the way with 10 tackles. He also had his first interception of the season — and the second of his career — when he caught a bobbled pass in the second quarter. On Jacksonville’s first series, Baun had a downfield pass breakup. On the next play, he shed a block for a run tackle near the line. And then a few plays later, he made an open-field tackle on a checkdown.

Nakobe Dean made a leaping catch on the game-ending interception. He wasn’t around the ball as much as Baun, but didn’t have any egregious mishaps. He had a pass breakup on a first-quarter throw over the middle and was in coverage when Jaguars running back Travis Etienne’s bobble deflected to Baun for a pick.

Isaiah Rodgers got the nod on the outside with Darius Slay sidelined. Rodgers and counterpart Quinyon Mitchell get the credit for keeping No. 1 receiver Brian Thomas in check. Thomas was questionable heading into the game with a chest injury, but his two catches for 22 yards showed how the Eagles cornerbacks performed.

Slot corner Cooper DeJean continued to shine in his first season. He plastered Jaguars tight end Evan Engram for fourth-down pass breakup — a week after he had another big fourth-down stop — in the second quarter. A drive later, DeJean had sticky coverage on a third-down pass to receiver Austin Trammell that he also knocked to the grass. He trailed Trammell on his 18-yard catch in the third quarter.

Avonte Maddox didn’t play much in the Eagles’ dime personnel, but he was flagged for pass interference late in the game.

Eagles safeties played a significant role in the Jaguars gaining just 32 yards in the first half. With Lawrence forced to pass more after the break, there were a few breakdowns on the back end. But Reed Blankenship and C.J. Gardner-Johnson, ultimately, never got beaten over the top.

Gardner-Johnson had a couple of loose moments on the Jaguars’ first touchdown and was beaten by Thomas on the two-point conversion. Blankenship allowed Engram to get a step on him on the Jaguars’ next two-point conversion. He had a run stop for no gain on the Jaguars’ first series of the second half.

Sydney Brown had the Eagles’ first big play of the game when he knocked the ball out of Trammell’s hands on a punt return and Kelee Ringo recovered. The turnover set up the Eagles’ first touchdown. Rookie Will Shipley had an open-field tackle on Braden Mann’s second punt.

Mann averaged 45 net yards on three punts. Kicker Jake Elliott wasn’t called upon much with the Eagles gambling on fourth down and with two-point conversions. He did connect on a 43-yard field goal and one extra point but missed from 57 yards late. DeJean made fair catches on all four of his punt-return attempts.

Nick Sirianni was probably sweating it out toward the end of what probably shouldn’t have been a close game. He was on the losing end of a bunch of fourth-down and two-point conversion gambles. But the coach has the Eagles 6-2 and on a four-game winning streak ahead of a divisional matchup against the Dallas Cowboys.

While the Tush Push wasn’t as effective on a couple of failed two-point conversion tries, Sirianni’s decision to try a fake sneak on fourth-and-inches late in the third quarter was a questionable one.

Kellen Moore stuck with the Eagles’ new run-based identity, but the offensive coordinator may have been too conservative against one of the worst pass defenses in the NFL. He had some nice moments, as well. Moore dialed up a quarterback draw — with a new wrinkle that had Gainwell motion into the backfield — that resulted in Hurts scrambling into the end zone from 18 yards out. The Ainias Smith sweeps and fake sweeps didn’t amount to much.

Vic Fangio’s defense was dominant in the first half but not so much in the second half. He got strong performances from his players in clutch moments down the stretch.