Eagles grades: Jalen Hurts bounces back, Shaquille Leonard steps up for Birds

Instant grades on the Eagles’ performance in their 33-25 win over the New York Giants:

Jalen Hurts was up and down and wasn’t always sharp — just like his team — but when needed to he made the necessary throws and the right decisions. His best pass of the night came on a 32-yard strike to receiver A.J. Brown on third-and-20 in the fourth quarter. Hurts stepped up and zipped a pass just over the outstretched hand of a Giants defender. Hurts did toss a pick-6. It was unfortunate. Tight end Dallas Goedert slipped on his break. It came after Hurts was nearly intercepted when he didn’t see the middle linebacker over the middle. Early on, he had a few shaky one-read throws, one of which was also nearly intercepted. He also had some struggles vs. Wink Martindale’s blitzes. He shook off a few would-be sacks. Hurts had a bad mental mistake before the half when he didn’t run out of bounds, which could have cost the Eagles four points. Hurts finished 24-of-38 passing for 301 yards. He set the NFL quarterback record for single-season rushing TDs with 15. He has 28 rushing touchdowns over the last two seasons and 41 total in four seasons.

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D’Andre Swift finished off the Giants in the four-minute offense by gaining some tough yards up the middle and with one nifty reverse run with Hurts blocking. He wisely slid before going out of bounds. Swift finished with 92 yards rushing on 20 carries. With fans at the Linc chanting for Brian Johnson to — “RUN. THE. BALL.” — Swift’s 5-yard touchdown run early in the fourth expanded the Eagles’ lead to 27-18. Earlier in the series, Kenneth Gainwell ripped off a 22-yard gain. Giants-killer Boston Scott wasn’t utilized much against his favorite opponent.

DeVonta Smith produced the Eagles’ first passing touchdown in three games — a 36-yard grab over the middle with most of the yards coming after the catch. He benefited from an Olamide Zaccheaus downfield block in which the receiver took Giants cornerback Adoree’ Jackson on a 10-yard ride into the end zone. Brown uncharacteristically dropped a couple of passes. But he also had some nice grabs and finished with six catches for 80 yards. Goedert caught the Eagles’ first from-under-center pass of the season — an 18-yarder in the first. The tight end converted several third downs and had his best receiving game — seven catches for 71 yards — in months. Grant Calcaterra received his first target of the season and his catch couldn’t have come at a better time. Center Jason Kelce torpedoed a snap by Hurts, but the quarterback scooped the loose ball up and flung a pass that the third tight end reeled in for a first down. Calcaterra added a 12-yard reception in the third. Receiver Julio Jones had one catch for 5 yards. Quez Watkins wasn’t targeted.

Jeff Stoutland’s unit wasn’t at its best. It struggled vs. Martindale’s pressures and committed more than its share of penalties. But in the fourth quarter, the O-line was able to open some holes to help close out the Giants. The Eagles’ pass protection was otherwise solid vs. four-man rushes and a few exotic simulated rushes. The offense also converted all three of its Tush Push quarterback sneaks. Kelce had the early bad snap and had yet another false start penalty. The center appeared to have the occasional issue with the Giants’ beefy nose tackles — Dexter Lawrence and Jordon Riley — in the run game. But Kelce helped keep the pocket from getting pushed back too often. Cam Jurgens, back after missing a game with a pectoral injury, had a sweet pull block on a Swift 13-yard tote in the third. Sua Opeta got the nod at left guard ahead of rookie Tyler Steen for the injured Landon Dickerson. Lane Johnson was called for holding in the third quarter. But he mostly owned edge Kayvon Thibodeaux. Jordan Mailata committed a couple of penalties — an early false start and an illegal block in the back in the third. He also appeared to miss a third-down run block on the Eagles’ opening drive of the second half.

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The Eagles run defense held Saquon Barkley to 80 yards on 23 carries. The D-line was held without a sack. Haason Reddick had a big tackle in the backfield on fourth down with the Giants driving deep into the Eagles territory before the half. Earlier, he forced a throwaway with a pressure. Josh Sweat had another quiet game and didn’t notch a sack for the sixth time in his last seven games. Fletcher Cox was again the Eagles’ most consistent interior D-lineman. He notched five tackles and drew a holding penalty on a third-quarter rush. Defensive tackle Jalen Carter had a few impressive rushes up the middle. He recorded one tackle. Nose tackle Jordan Davis made a heads-up tackle on a Tommy DeVito draw in the second quarter. He didn’t stand out much on pass downs. Milton Williams had a tackle for loss on a screen to Barkley. Defensive end Brandon Graham was shut out. Nolan Smith seemed to play more snaps than normal, some of them coming at off-ball linebacker. He might have been out of position on DeVito’s longest completion — a 14-yarder — before he was yanked. Smith later had strong pursuit from the edge on a screen pass.

With Zach Cunningham (knee) and Nicholas Morrow (abdomen) sidelined, Shaquille Leonard was the top off-ball linebacker. He might have been the Eagles’ best defender in the first half. He notched four tackles, a sack, and another tackle for loss before the break. Undrafted rookie Ben VanSumeren, forced into the lineup, didn’t look overwhelmed by his first-ever start on defense. It was a strong outing considering the personnel issues.

James Bradberry had somewhat of a bounce-back performance after the last-minute disaster in Seattle. Full disclosure: The Giants’ pass offense isn’t very good. With Darius Slay still out following knee surgery, Kelee Ringo got his second straight start on the outside and snagged the game-ending interception. He didn’t have much to do, at least when DeVito was at quarterback. But credit also has to be given to the rookie for denying Giants receivers much space. Eli Ricks split some outside corner snaps with Ringo and took Bradberry’s spot when he moved inside in four-cornerback dime personnel. Bradley Roby was solid in the slot. A few passes were completed with him in coverage, but he was close by.

Reed Blankenship got roasted deep by receiver Darius Slayton for a 69-yard touchdown that kept the Giants alive late. He saved some Barkley runs up the middle from becoming big gainers, though. Sydney Brown continued to get more playing time. The rookie didn’t show up much in the stat sheet, but he had tight coverage on Tyrod Taylor’s fourth-down pass to receiver Wan’Dale Robinson that was also tossed a touch too wide. Who knows how the game might have turned out had Taylor gotten the start, but Kevin Byard did well to cover the deep third.

Special teams were the Eagles’ only sound unit over the three-game slide, but they had some subpar moments vs. the Giants. The lowest came on the opening kickoff of the second half when Zaccheaus ran backward into Scott, who fumbled. The Giants, with Taylor in at quarterback for the benched DeVito, scored three plays later to cut the Eagles lead to 10. Earlier, Carter didn’t get off the field in time on a second-quarter punt and was called for offsides, giving the Giants a little life. Nick Sirianni reamed out the rookie until Graham stepped in and appeared to settle him down. Britain Covey was the early hero. He had his longest return of the season with an electrifying 54-yard dash in the first. He did a nice job fielding his next punt — a short, high hopper — and picking up 11 yards. He nearly lost his third punt return try, but was sure-handed the rest of the way. Covey even had his number called on offense and picked up 7 yards on a screen in the first. Braden Mann had two booming punts for a 49-yard net. Jake Elliott connected on all three of his field-goal attempts, including a 44-yarder in the fourth to put the final nail in the Giants’ coffin. Long snapper Rick Lovato forced a fumble on punt cover that the Giants retained.

The Eagles won against a bad team, looked sloppy in doing so, and were not victors until the very last play. Big-picture concerns still exist, but the Birds are back in the win column after a three-game losing streak and control their own destiny in the NFC East. Sirianni’s early fourth-and-5 gamble paid off as the Eagles would go on to score a touchdown on the drive. Matt Patricia had a solid game plan for stopping DeVito and Barkley. He also neutralized tight end Darren Waller for the most part. Brian Johnson listened to the angry mob at the Linc, but taking their foot off the gas at the end might have allowed the Giants to hang around.