Eagles grades: Jalen Carter and the D-line stood out vs. the Saints. What about the coaching performance?

NEW ORLEANS — Instant grades on the Eagles’ performance in the 15-12 win over the Saints:

Jalen Hurts came through when the Eagles needed it late. He had a forgettable first half with two more turnovers. He has 26 giveaways in his last 20 games. He was also leaving the pocket too early and too often and struggled against the blitz. But he came through in the clutch despite being without his top two receivers and drove the Eagles to a comeback victory.

He made another terrible decision that resulted in a red-zone turnover when he threw to a covered DeVonta Smith and was intercepted by Saints safety Tyrann Mathieu. Smith’s route wasn’t great, but Mathieu was sitting on the pass. Later, Hurts was loose with the football and had it knocked out for a fumble.

Saquon Barkley scored both of the Eagles’ touchdowns. His 65-yard touchdown bolt gave the Eagles a 7-3 lead early in the fourth quarter and he scored the game-winner when he lowered his shoulder from 4 yards out. He also converted the two-point conversion on the latter touchdown. Barkley led all runners with 147 yards on 17 carries. And Barkley didn’t have a carry until the Eagles’ third series and went into the break with just five rushes. But he got going in the second half when coordinator Kellen Moore emphasized the ground game.

Kenneth Gainwell had one carry that was negated by a penalty.

A week after Dallas Goedert saw only four targets, Hurts went to him early and often. He led the Eagles with 10 catches for a career-high 170 yards. Goedert’s second catch was a beautifully drawn-up and executed 43-yard gain that came with three tight ends on the field. His 61-yard catch-and-run set up Barkley’s game-winner.

Smith carried the outside receiver load again with A.J. Brown (hamstring) sidelined for a second straight week. He caught 7 of 10 targets for 79 yards before getting knocked out of the game with a concussion in the fourth quarter. Receiver Britain Covey also left with a shoulder injury in the first half. Before that, he was the hot route on an early Saints blitz and picked up 11 yards and a first down.

The Jahan Dotson project still hasn’t gotten off the ground. He had just one catch for 3 yards before Smith left. Rookie receiver Johnny Wilson caught and broke a tackle for a first down in the second quarter. A few plays later he was flagged for holding on a screen pass. He couldn’t hang onto a pass that hit him in the hands late in the game. Second tight end Grant Calcaterra struggled at times as a run blocker. He got beaten on a failed fourth-down run and was called for holding in the third quarter.

The unit was dealt a blow when the entire right side of the line — guard Mekhi Becton (shoulder) and tackle Lane Johnson (concussion) — left with injuries. Their replacements had some early hiccups. Guard Tyler Steen appeared to miss an assignment on a run play. And he missed the silent-count tap on center Cam Jurgens and tackle Fred Johnson false-started. But the O-line, overall, held up and often gave Hurts plenty of time in the pocket. Fred Johnson did surrender pressure off the edge on a key third down in the fourth.

Center Cam Jurgens and left side of the line — guard Landon Dickerson and tackle Jordan Mailata — opened up some massive lanes for Barkley when the Eagles shifted into run mode to open the second half.

The D-line showed vast improvement vs. the run and took advantage of a Saints O-line that lost a couple of starters. Some of that could be attributed to being able to use more of the five-man front and to coordinator Vic Fangio’s schematic changes. But Jordan Davis, Jalen Carter, and Milton Williams were seemingly more physical at the point of attack. Josh Sweat, Bryce Huff, and the other ends also did a better job of setting the edge. Brandon Graham blew up a Saints fourth-and-1 run early in the fourth quarter.

The Eagles’ front also got immediate pressure on quarterback Derek Carr. Carter was often in the Saints’ backfield. He had several pressures and batted two passes incomplete. Davis had his first solo sack in over a year off a first-quarter stunt. The defensive tackles, along with Williams, Moro Ojomo, and Thomas Booker, got significant push up the middle. Booker batted down a pass.

Sweat took an encroachment penalty on the Saints’ opening series, but he also hurried Carr into a couple of errant throws. Graham was able to generate pressure off the edge. Huff was mostly quiet again, as was Nolan Smith, in the pass rush.

Nakobe Dean and Zack Baun answered the bell. The off-ball linebackers were consistently around the ball in run defense and led the Eagles in tackles. Dean had a couple of early stops that helped set the tone.

Baun had the stop on the Saints’ fourth-and-1 attempt in the fourth. A week after struggling against chop blocks, he did better in fending off the Saints’ O-linemen at the second level. He had a bead on an early screen pass. Baun was in coverage when Kamara caught a 27-yard pass on a wheel route in the fourth.

Devin White was again a healthy scratch.

With the improved pass rush, the Eagles’ pass defense was effective for most of the day. Outside cornerbacks Quinyon Mitchell and Darius Slay were hardly tested, but when they saw action, they were mostly tight in coverage. Mitchell did well to catch up and notch a pass breakup on a deep Carr pass that was underthrown. He nearly had a pick-six when he jumped a route later in the second half. Slay had a pass breakup when challenged in the end zone in the fourth. He got hurt late in the game when Saints tackle Trevor Penning kept blocking him out of bounds for a personal foul.

Kelee Ringo initially played as the big dime sixth defensive back, but was called upon when Slay left. He got beaten right away by receiver Chris Olave on a 29-yard pass. Avonte Maddox started at slot cornerback and didn’t have his name called much, which suggested he mostly did his job.

C.J. Gardner-Johnson was active despite missing the last two practices of the week with a foot injury. His return started off well, but he was in coverage when Olave caught the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth on a corner route. Gardner-Johnson did offer strong support in run defense and also had an early pass breakup. Reed Blankenship didn’t get much action in the deep middle, until the end when he intercepted Carr to tie the bow on the Eagles’ win.

Michael Clay’s unit had been mostly sound through the season’s first 10 quarters, but the punt unit imploded when the Saints’ J.T. Gray blocked a Braden Mann kick in the third quarter. It looked like Nolan Smith missed his blocking assignment on the edge. He wasn’t the only one.

Jake Elliott didn’t get a chance to kick a field goal until the fourth after coach Nick Sirianni elected to go for it on two red-zone possessions in the first half. His 60-yard attempt was wide right.

With Covey out, rookie Cooper DeJean handled punt returns and made no discernible mistakes. Gainwell averaged 25.5 yards on two kick returns. Will Shipley had a 26-yard return in the fourth.

Sirianni deserves credit for what may seem like an improbable win. He had multiple questionable decisions on fourth down. His team often looked sloppy, as well. There was an inexcusable 12-men-on-the-field penalty on the offense in the third quarter followed by a blocked punt. The Eagles offense advanced into Saints territory five straight times during one spell and didn’t score a point. Sirianni rolled the dice again on another first-half fourth-down gamble in the red zone. His clock management up until that point was suspect, and even if the Eagles converted, they would have had to use their last timeout with around 10 seconds remaining. Maybe they could have run two plays, but the end result was likely to be a field-goal attempt. But the play call and execution might have been just as questionable. The Eagles have run fakes off the Tush Push before, but they may not have had enough success with it this season to try it that early. Sirianni said afterward that decision fell on him and not offensive coordinator Kellen Moore.

A third-and-6 run call that netted only 3 yards on the opening drive of the second half was also dubious. Moore can be faulted for neglecting Barkley for too long, but switching to a ground-heavy attack in the second half paid off with obvious dividends. He may want to ditch the zone read, run-pass option plays that were mostly ineffective.

Fangio made obvious changes in scheme and personnel that improved the Eagles’ run defense. He tightened up the gaps and had his off-ball linebackers play closer to the line. He also had interior linemen like Milton Williams play on the edge in four-down looks to protect against outside runs vs. his nickel package. Fangio’s defense finally showed some teeth.