Eagles-Patriots report card: It wasn’t pretty, but the Birds won their season opener

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Grading the Eagles’ performance in their 25-20 win over the Patriots:

Jalen Hurts did well to protect the ball for 56 minutes, but he had a bad fumble on a late draw that could have cost the Eagles. Lucky for him and the Eagles, the Patriots offense wasn’t able to capitalize there — or when he failed to complete a pass on fourth down with two minutes left. The quarterback otherwise struggled through the air and on the ground. Bill Belichick’s defense deserves credit for keeping him in check, and Hurts ultimately got the win, but it wasn’t a strong day.

Kenneth Gainwell got the start and the majority of carries — to some surprise. He did pretty well on the ground and caught a bunch of checkdown passes, but the Patriots gladly accepted him as the Eagles’ lynchpin. D’Andre Swift was a virtual nonfactor and didn’t have a rush in the first three quarters.

» READ MORE: Kenneth Gainwell emerges as Eagles go with three halfbacks in the opener

For much of the first half, it seemed like play-caller Brian Johnson forgot he had A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. But the receivers got cooking in the second half and caught a combined 14 passes. Dallas Goedert, though, didn’t have a target until the fourth quarter. Belichick took the tight end away for most of the game with double teams, but zero catches is never a good look.

Hurts was under a lot of pressure early on, and a lot of that had to do with the O-line’s inability to protect him. Lane Johnson and Cam Jurgens allowed Matthew Judon a free pass and sack of Hurts on the Eagles’ first drive. Jordan Mailata had pass protection issues as well, and took two penalties overall. The run blocking was marginally better.

Jordan Davis forced an early fumble and had a late sack split with Josh Sweat. The front did well to contain the Patriots’ run game. The pass rush didn’t sack Mac Jones until the end, but Haason Reddick had him in his grasp on a big fourth-down stop earlier in the fourth quarter. Rookie Jalen Carter had several pressures, a sack, and clearly is the real deal. Brandon Graham drew a holding penalty that negated a Patriots two-point try late in the game.

» READ MORE: How Jalen Carter is learning to be a pro after a turbulent path to the Eagles helped provide a fresh start

Maybe the worst unit for the Eagles, Nakobe Dean, Zach Cunningham, and Christian Elliss were targeted often in the middle of the field. Cunningham, it appeared, was yanked for Elliss in the third quarter. But Dean left with a foot injury, and the Eagles were down to just two off-ball linebackers, neither of them effective.

Darius Slay had the big play of the game with a 70-yard pick six in the first quarter. Later, he nearly had another interception when he recovered on a deep pass and tried an over-the-shoulder catch. His counterpart, James Bradberry, got beat inside on a touchdown pass. Avonte Maddox was his usual up-and-down self.

Justin Evans got the start, but that didn’t mean he deserved it. He made virtually zero memorable plays, and was late to help Bradberry on a touchdown pass down the middle. Reed Blankenship was a little better, but he got beat by Patriots tight end Hunter Henry in the end zone. Terrell Edmunds got some snaps.

Jake Elliott may have been the player of the game, connecting on field goals from 56, 48, and 51 yards in the second half. Sydney Brown and Josh Jobe had nice tackles on punt coverage and Britain Covey had a few nice punt returns, but Michael Clay’s units otherwise were pretty dreadful. They allowed a few long returns, had one costly penalty, and, worst of all, cost Nick Sirianni two timeouts when they didn’t have enough men on the field.

It wasn’t pretty, but the Eagles escaped Gillette Stadium with a victory. Sirianni’s game management was fine, but it was lame to run out the clock at the half with 25 seconds left. The coordinators were the bigger problem. Johnson didn’t have a solid first game as the play-caller, and defensive coordinator Sean Desai probably had Jones more to thank than his scheme. Clay didn’t show he deserved to return.