Eagles grades for their loss to the Jets: Jalen Hurts finishes with a brutal fourth quarter

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Instant grades on the Eagles’ performance Sunday in their 20-14 loss to the New York Jets:

Jalen Hurts carried the Eagles for three quarters, through countless mistakes by his teammates, but he succumbed in the end with one of his worst quarters in the NFL. He tossed a brutal interception that led to the Jets’ game-winning score and he couldn’t mount a comeback in the end. Hurts, overall, tossed three interceptions. The first was mostly on Dallas Goedert, who had the ball knocked out of his hands. The second was partly on right tackle Jack Driscoll, but Hurts needed to get the ball out faster.

D’Andre Swift made his mark as a receiver in the first half — on both sides of the ledger. He caught five passes for 31 yards in the half, including a 9-yard touchdown in which he broke a tackle on the way to the end zone. But Swift fumbled after Hurts dumped a pass to him, leading to a Jets field goal before the break. The ground game was mostly nonexistent. Boston Scott got more early touches than Kenneth Gainwell, probably because of his previous MetLife Stadium success vs. the Giants. He caught an early pass for 14 yards.

A.J. Brown had the catch of the game — a 36-yard fade just inbounds in the fourth quarter — until Hurts’ interception. The Eagles took advantage early of the Jets’ top cornerback, Sauce Gardner, being sidelined and hit Brown for several third-down conversions. The receiver eased up on a deep post route in the second quarter that would have been a likely six points. Brown rebounded with a 49-yard catch-and-run grab. Goedert caught several screens designed to offset the Jets’ penetrating front. The brutal deflected interception was mostly on the tight end. DeVonta Smith’s lack of production had little to do with targets. He dropped two passes, the second of which was egregious. Olamide Zaccheaus stepped in again for the injured Quez Watkins but wasn’t very active in the receiving department.

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The unit was dealt a blow in the second quarter when Lane Johnson left with an ankle injury. Driscoll took over at right tackle, and with another backup to his left in Sua Opeta, Hurts was often under duress. Driscoll was the guilty party when Jermaine Johnson turned the corner and hit Hurts’ arm, resulting in a third-quarter Bryce Hall interception. Jordan Mailata and Landon Dickerson did much better on the left side and mostly kept Hurts’ blindside clean. Center Jason Kelce started in a franchise-record 145th straight game and helped to keep defensive tackle Quinnen Williams from going off.

The D-line was one of the few units to not play down to its opponent. Haason Reddick led the way with two sacks, including a minus-12-yard takedown of quarterback Zach Wilson that forced the Jets to settle for a field goal in the third. Josh Sweat was a beast on the edge and notched a sack. Jordan Davis and Brandon Graham split a third-down sack. Fletcher Cox drew a red-zone holding penalty before the half. The interior, despite missing the injured Jalen Carter (ankle), helped bottle up running back Breece Hall (12 carries for 39 yards) and the Jets ground attack.

Nicholas Morrow got the start, but Nakobe Dean split time in the middle after missing the previous four weeks with a foot injury. They made sure tight end Jack Conklin didn’t produce, but Hall was effective out of the backfield. Zach Cunningham missed a tackle before the half, but he was one of the more effective second-level run defenders.

The secondary looked like a M*A*S*H unit by the second half, but they somehow made do with a patchwork unit. Already down Darius Slay and Avonte Maddox, the corner group lost Eli Ricks to a knee injury and slot Bradley Roby to a shoulder injury. Ricks was sharing time on the outside with starter Josh Jobe, who struggled and was called for two early penalties. James Bradberry was sounder on the other side and had a couple of pass breakups. Roby was solid before leaving, but Mario Goodrich was the next man up inside and held up.

The Eagles entered with just two healthy safeties — Reed Blankenship and Terrell Edmunds — with Justin Evans and Sydney Brown not active. Blankenship and Edmunds played a lot of two-high shell coverage and hardly got beaten over the top. Mekhi Garner, an undrafted rookie, was tossed into the fire when Blankenship left in the third quarter with a rib injury.

Jake Elliott missed a 37-yard field goal wide right that would have given the Eagles a five-point cushion in the fourth quarter. Braden Mann hasn’t been given many chances to punt since joining the team last month. He had just two attempts vs. the Jets and averaged a 40.5-yard net. Britain Covey couldn’t get much going in the punt-return game and averaged just 3 yards on three returns. Michael Clay’s cover units were fine.

Nick Sirianni didn’t have his squad properly prepared. Yes, injuries have caught up to the Eagles, but that doesn’t excuse the mistake-filled effort of the offense. Offensive coordinator Brian Johnson’s play calling was a little better in the red zone as the Eagles went 2-for-2 right away. But something is still missing this season. Sean Desai did all he could to offset the offense’s four turnovers.