Eagles grades: Saquon Barkley, the entire secondary deserve game balls vs. Commanders

Instant grades on the Eagles’ performance in a 26-18 win over the Washington Commanders:

Jalen Hurts had another rocky first half. He missed open receivers, dropped his eyes toward the rush, and held the ball too long. But he settled down, righted the ship, and played within himself as the Eagles rode Saquon Barkley and the run game in the second half. Hurts, perhaps most importantly, didn’t turn the ball over. He made some impressive throws and picked up first downs on the ground.

» READ MORE: Eagles-Commanders stock watch: Saquon Barkley, defense lift Eagles to win

In the first half, he appeared to miss an open DeVonta Smith on third down on the Eagles’ second possession. But Hurts missed him and was sacked. Later, he threw wide of A.J. Brown on third down. Hurts’ move out of the pocket seemed unnecessary. He got checked out by a neurologist for a possible concussion just before the half, but he was cleared to return.

In the second half, he was much better. His best throw was when he hit Brown on the move to his left for 17 yards.

Barkley went over 100 yards rushing for the sixth time this season. He iced the game with a 23-yard scamper late in the fourth quarter. All told, Barkley ran 26 times for 146 yards. He also had the Eagles’ longest catch — a 43-yarder on a third-quarter third down. Earlier in the game, Barkley went over 1,000 yards rushing for the fourth time in his career. It was the earliest he hit the mark. He broke a tackle on a 9-yard rush just before the half.

Kenneth Gainwell spelled Barkley early in the fourth quarter and came up huge. He had three carries for 34 yards that advanced the offense to the 4-yard line. Gainwell also had a nice downfield block on Hurts’ scramble before the break. He finished with 49 total yards on five touches.

Tight end Dallas Goedert and Brown led the Eagles with five receptions apiece. Goedert’s most important grab came in the fourth quarter when he ran free into the secondary and caught a 32-yard pass. The tight end lost the ball, but backup tight end Grant Calcaterra was Johnny-on-the-spot and recovered Goedert’s fumble. Brown took a slant 25 yards on a run-pass option play on the Eagles’ first drive. He did well to come back to the ball on a Hurts scramble and picked up 17 yards.

Smith caught 4 of 6 targets for 29 yards. He got going with a 21-yard slant just before the half, but earlier dropped a pass near the sideline in the first quarter. Jahan Dotson got his number called on his first play against his former team, catching a screen pass for 8 yards. The receiver then dropped a first-quarter pass on a third-down slant.

Tight end C.J. Uzomah was called up from the practice squad and played a few snaps as a blocker.

The O-line kept Hurts clean for most of the night. He was sacked a few times, but they were more on the quarterback than anyone else. The return of Jordan Mailata, who missed four games due to a hamstring injury, was welcomed. The left tackle, along with right tackle Lane Johnson, kept Hurts protected on the edges.

But it was the O-line’s run blocking that helped the Eagles prevail. The unit took over in the trenches in the second half as the Eagles rushed for over 200 yards overall. Johnson had a key kick-out block on Barkley’s first touchdown run. Landon Dickerson was a bully in the middle even though the left guard got his right leg rolled up on the third play from scrimmage. Tyler Steen stepped in for the rest of the drive before Dickerson returned. Right guard Mekhi Becton had some shaky moments. He was called for an early hold. In the third quarter, he whiffed on a pull block and Barkley was dropped for no gain.

Center Cam Jurgens struggled at times early on, but he got rolling in the second half. He appeared to miss his assignment on a run in which Barkley was tackled in the backfield on the Eagles’ opening drive. Jurgens took his frustration out on the next series when he steamrolled a Commanders defender on a Barkley 8-yard stretch run. In the third quarter, he had a second-level block vs. linebacker Bobby Wagner that sprung Barkley loose.

» READ MORE: Eagles pulling out Commanders’ hearts in a battle of ‘Thursday Night Football’ attrition is the mark of a really good team

The Eagles’ run defense settled down after some difficult early moments. Nose tackle Jordan Davis was at the center of it all, even though he finished with just three tackles. The entire defense played a role, but the D-line helped keep Commanders running backs to under 4 yards a carry. Quarterback Jayden Daniels never got going in the read running game, either.

Defensive tackle Jalen Carter had some big run stops and was credited with several pressures on his rushes. He flashed into the backfield for a loss on a Brian Robinson rush in the third quarter and got the initial pressure on end Josh Sweat’s second-quarter sack.

Brandon Graham didn’t play like someone 36 years old. The defensive end led the way on a third-and-1 stop in the fourth quarter. Graham was credited with what can only be described as a coverage sack in the second quarter. He wasn’t fooled by a Daniels draw play in the third quarter.

Nolan Smith got a third-down sack in the third quarter when he turned the corner on Commanders left tackle Brandon Coleman. Bryce Huff didn’t get on the field until late in the first half. The end is playing with a cast on his left wrist, but he has clearly dropped on the depth chart.

Defensive tackle Milton Williams left in the fourth quarter with a foot injury.

Zack Baun led the Eagles with 15 tackles. The reigning NFC defensive player of the week delivered another game-changing play when he knocked Daniels out of bounds on the Commanders’ fourth-down gamble in the fourth quarter. He also made a diving third-down pass breakup on Washington’s first series. Baun had some struggles in coverage as Daniels went at him through the air. He was late to cover a swing pass and Austin Ekeler then carried him for about 10 yards. A few plays later, Baun couldn’t bring down Robinson on a run up the middle.

Nakobe Dean was solid all game. He had an early run stop for no gain and did well to hold his ground and stop a scrambling Daniels from converting a third down in the first quarter. He got his fingertips on a third-down wobbler that was dropped.

If we’re giving out game balls, each of the Eagles’ cornerbacks — Quinyon Mitchell, Darius Slay, and Cooper DeJean — get one. Mitchell gets special notice for locking down Terry McLaurin, the Commanders’ top receiver. The rookie helped keep McLaurin in check for the entire game. Slay was just as sticky on his side of the field. The veteran notched a tackle for loss on a check down in the first quarter.

DeJean was flagged for a third-down pass interference in the third quarter when he appeared to grab Commanders receiver Noah Brown’s jersey. McLaurin’s only catch came at DeJean’s expense — a 10-yard grab on a comeback route in the fourth quarter.

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Reed Blankenship grabbed his third interception of the season in the fourth quarter and added 10 tackles. With the Eagles seemingly playing a fair amount of two-high shell coverages, C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Blankenship didn’t get tested much downfield — and that’s to their credit. They kept Daniels from throwing downfield much.

Both safeties also helped in run defense.

Jake Elliott had a nightmarish night. He missed two field goals and one extra point. Elliott did rebound to make his last two extra points along with two earlier short field goals. He hooked 44- and 51-yard field goal attempts wide left in the first half. Elliott’s five misses in the first 10 games matches his combined miss total from the two previous seasons.

Braden Mann finished with a 42-yard net average on three punts. Will Shipley had a 33-yard kick return in the first quarter. Jalyx Hunt forced a fumble that Washington recovered on the second-half kickoff. Sydney Brown had a holding penalty that brought back a decent kick return from Gainwell in the third quarter.

Nick Sirianni has the Eagles 8-2 and alone in first place after beating NFC East rival Washington. His squad was sloppy early, but it came out after the break and blew the doors off the Commanders. Sirianni’s fourth-down decision-making was sound. He had Elliott attempt the 51-yarder on fourth and seven when the analytics suggested going for it was a toss-up. It was also a flip of the coin on the decision on fourth-and-goal at the 3-yard line. Sirianni opted for a short field goal and a 7-3 deficit at the half.

Vic Fangio’s defense was outstanding for the most part. The unit keeps getting better. Aside from Washington’s lone scoring drive, Fangio’s defense was stout in the first half. He tightened up the run defense and had Daniels checking down for most of the night.

Kellen Moore had a few shaky calls. The offensive coordinator dialed up an inexplicable double reverse on first down at the Washington 39. The Commanders snuffed it out and Hurts was sacked and had the back of his helmet hit the ground. His mesh concept play call before the half resulted in Brown and Smith running into each other.