Eagles grades: Jalen Hurts’ picks costly, James Bradberry gets beat, and defense’s late woes persist

SEATTLE — Instant grades on the Eagles’ performance in their 20-17 loss to the Seahawks:

Jalen Hurts played through an illness and had some good moments passing and running. But he just wasn’t precise enough through the air and threw two costly interceptions in the fourth quarter — the first on a deep pass to Quez Watkins and the second on a last-second prayer to A.J. Brown. Hurts opened the second half with a number of pinpoint throws. He hit Brown on an 11-yard out on third-and-9. He connected with receiver DeVonta Smith for 17 yards with an outside-the-pocket dart. Hurts opened the first drive of the game with a 13-yard scamper and ended it with a 3-yard drive into the end zone for a touchdown. In between, he had his best toss of the first half — an 18-yard BB to tight end Dallas Goedert on third-and-long — and completed 5-of-5 passes during the possession. But he went 4-of-10 for 40 yards the rest of the half with two two passes deflected near the line.

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D’Andre Swift had his most carries since Week 9 and finished with 74 yards on 18 rushes. He had a number of explosive runs and wisely stayed in bounds on a fourth-quarter tote for a first down. But he couldn’t pick up a first down on the next set of downs to ice the game. Kenneth Gainwell had four carries on the Eagles’ opening drive, but had just two carries the rest of the way. The running backs struggled to get anything going in the passing game. Swift and Gainwell caught 2 of 4 targets for 1 yard.

On his first target in two games — a deep shot in the fourth quarter — Watkins was undercut by Julian Love for Hurts’ costly interception. Could the receiver have done better on his route? He seemed to ease up and not fight back for the ball. Eagles coaches got wise and dialed up first reads to Brown on slant routes. The receiver didn’t get much going downfield, though, and finished with five catches for 56 yards. Smith was rewarded with several passes after stop-on-dime routes. He had a sweet 15-yard pickup on a comeback route in the second. But Smith had just five catches for 50 yards. Goedert helped address the Eagles’ deficiencies in throwing over the middle with an early 18-yard catch on third down. Receiver Julio Jones caught his first pass in four games and it was an important one, converting fourth-and-4 with a 6-yard grab over the middle in the second. Tight end Jack Stoll had some solid blocks on split zone runs. Third tight end Grant Calcaterra left just before the half with an injury.

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Hurts wasn’t under a significant amount of pressure as a passer. The Seahawks surprisingly didn’t blitz much, but the protection was sound when extra rushers were sent. The run blocking was solid, especially in creating space for Hurts on designed runs, but the Eagles couldn’t put the game away on the ground. Jordan Mailata and Landon Dickerson kept Hurts’ blind side clean for most of the evening. They cleared some lanes for Swift, as well. Sua Opeta got the nod ahead of rookie Tyler Steen and started at right guard for the injured Cam Jurgens (pectoral muscle strain). He had some decent run blocks in the first half. Jason Kelce’s false start on an attempted “Brotherly Shove” pushed the Eagles back on a third down they didn’t convert in the red zone. It appeared as if he was penalized for moving the ball up about a foot before the snap. Before the penalty, the center had pull blocks on 11- and 9-yard runs by Swift. Lane Johnson appeared to miss his assignment on a run that led to a tackle for loss on the first drive. He was pushed back by Seahawks linebacker Boye Mafe, who deflected a Hurts pass incomplete in the second. He left briefly with an apparent left ankle injury, but he was his usual solid self upon his return.

The pass rush wasn’t much better than it has been the last few weeks. The Eagles notched just two sacks and didn’t pressure Seattle quarterback Drew Lock enough. Jordan Davis was up and down as a run defender, both as the nose in the 5-man front and at the 4i-technique position in the 4-man. The Seahawks also found ways to run away from the mammoth defensive lineman and gained 100 yards on the ground. Josh Sweat jumped a block attempt and notched an early, tone-setting tackle for loss against the run. Edge rusher Haason Reddick had one of his quietest games of the season. Jalen Carter put a vicious move on the Seattle right guard that led to a sack in the third. It was the rookie’s first in five games. One of the defensive changes this week was to have defensive end Brandon Graham rush more from the inside. The move paid off, particularly in the third quarter, when he met defensive tackle Fletcher Cox at Lock for the Eagles’ first sack of the night. Rookie edge Nolan Smith had three tackles before exiting with a shoulder injury. Defensive tackle Marlon Tuipulotu appeared to get pushed around some in the run game. Rookie defensive tackle Moro Ojomo was active and was part of a four-man rush that applied no pressure on a Seattle third-and-10 conversion in the second quarter.

Shaquille Leonard filled in for the injured Zach Cunningham (knee) for his first start with the Eagles. He finished with just four tackles and wasn’t around the ball much. Nicholas Morrow was erased on a Kenneth Walker 13-yard run up the middle in the second. He had a stick on a third-and-2 run stop in the third. He had a pass breakup on the Seahawks’ last drive. Patrick Johnson got one of his first snaps at off-ball linebacker this season and promptly missed a tackle on the edge.

James Bradberry allowed the game-winning touchdown by receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba — a 29-yard score on a corner route. Earlier, the cornerback committed yet another pass interference on a key fourth down in the third. In the first half, it looked like Bradberry got too deep in a quarters zone later in that drive on a Smith-Njigba third-and-10 conversion. With Darius Slay sidelined after arthroscopic knee surgery, the Eagles rotated at his outside cornerback spot. Kelee Ringo got the start, and Eli Ricks spelled him on occasion. He had a nice run support stop for no gain on the edge in the second. He later broke up a pass to Seattle receiver DK Metcalf. Ricks, who had been playing mostly as the third-down slot in previous games, had a nice third-down pass breakup in the fourth quarter. Josh Jobe got some defensive snaps for the first time in a while as Bradberry watched from the sideline. He was flagged for pass interference on Metcalf on one of his first plays. Bradley Roby played almost all of the snaps in the slot. He played press coverage on third-and-9 on the Seahawks’ first drive and tackled Metcalf short of the sticks.

Sydney Brown played more of a quasi-linebacker role in the big dime package. He led the defense with four tackles in the first half, but he had two missed tackles on the Seahawks’ touchdown-scoring opening drive of the second half. Brown played aggressive and flashed athleticism, but he couldn’t bring down Walker on a later rush that turned into a 7-yard gain. Brown was late to get over from the post on a Metcalf 44-yard grab late. Reed Blankenship left last week’s game with a concussion, but returned in time for Monday night. He and Kevin Byard kept the middle of the field mostly covered. Byard had the coverage on tight end Noah Fant that forced Seattle’s second punt.

Braden Mann has settled into the punter job. He dropped a clutch 42-yard punt that was downed at the 8-yard line late in the game. Mann had five punts for a 48.2-yard net average. Jake Elliott made all his kicks and had four touchbacks on all his kickoffs. Britain Covey had three punt returns for 30 yards. The Eagles’ cover units didn’t allow a single long return.

Matt Patricia, in his first game calling plays on defense, kept the scoring down. But he didn’t do much better than the demoted Sean Desai in the late-game situations. Nick Sirianni’s decision to switch at defensive coordinator may be the right one in the long run, but right now it looks like just a moving of deck chairs with the Eagles now in a free fall. In terms of game management, Sirianni had a successful challenge that awarded Carter a sack and forced the Seahawks to settle for a third-quarter field goal. Offensive coordinator Brian Johnson had a good opening drive play calling. But he struggled to get into a rhythm the rest of the way with Hurts looking like a shell of himself.