Week 11: The Eagles Are Ranked By Position After Defeating The Chiefs On MNF

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – How the hell did the Eagles win this game?

Uh, that doesn’t matter. They did. And after their 21-17 victory over the Chiefs in the second leg of Super Bowl LVII, they are in the driver’s seat of the NFC at 9-1.

It wasn’t always nice on Monday evening. The offense sputtered for long stretches of the game and the defense was on the ground at times. But they made enough plays on the road to defeat the reigning Super Bowl champions.

quarterback

Jalen Hurts: 14/22, 150 yards, 1 INT; 12 carries, 29 yards, 2 touchdowns

This wasn’t a repeat of Hurts’ masterful Super Bowl performance. On Monday, he didn’t get it on the scoreboard and there were moments of serious lull in offensive production. But he hit DeVonta Smith with that deep ball, setting up the go-ahead touchdown. And he also showed some ability with his legs after recovering during the break week. He rushed for a couple of touchdowns in that game. Hurts’ 64.6 passer rating is pretty ugly, but this was a game where the stats really don’t tell the whole story for the QB.

Grade B-

Run back

D’Andre Swift: 12 carries, 76 yards, 1 touchdown; 3 receptions, 31 yards

At least one Swift appeared Monday evening. It’s been a while since the Eagles’ running back put on a performance like we saw against the Chiefs. He averaged 6.3 yards per carry and his 35-yarder on a sweep was one of the biggest plays of the entire game. The rest of the running backs didn’t contribute much, but in a relatively low-scoring game, Swift did contribute.

Grade: A-

Recipient

DeVonta Smith: 6 catches on 8 targets, 99 yards

With L’Jarius Sneed following him on Monday, AJ Brown posted his worst performance of the season. He was targeted four times and had just one catch for 8 yards. But Smith was there to make plays. The Eagles’ other No. 1 receiver rushed for 99 yards for the second time in three games – yes, that got to him. His 41-yarder in the fourth quarter that set up the go-ahead touchdown was the play of the game. We saw a lot of WR screens that didn’t work in this game, but that’s probably more due to play-calling.

Grade B

Close end

Jack Stoll: 1 catch for 3 yards

The Eagles played their first game of the 2023 season without Dallas Goedert on Monday. Goedert has a broken forearm and the team hopes to have him back within the next month. In this game it was Jack Stoll, Grant Calcaterra and Albert Okweugbunam. The Eagles will miss Goedert’s depth. The only catch by tight ends in the game was a 3-yarder by Stoll. And Calcaterra suffered an ankle injury in the game. But the tight ends had to block, and Stoll is very good at that.

Grade: C+

Offensive line

It wasn’t the cleanest game for the Eagles’ offense. The Birds gave up five sacks for 26 yards to the Chiefs, but it’s also important to point out that all five sacks came in the first half. And the Eagles were able to run the ball pretty well in this game, scoring 114 on the ground.

Grade: C+

Defensive line

Haason Reddick: 1 sack, 3 QB hits, 1 TFL

It was a strange game for the Eagles defensive line. Reddick started the game with a sack on Mahomes on the second play, but they didn’t get it again. Although…the intentional grounding Josh Sweat forced in the fourth quarter was essentially a sack. After giving up 121 rushing yards in the first half, the Eagles only gave up 47 in the second half. Overall, it was a solid performance from the guys up front and they seemed to wear down the Chiefs’ offense.

Grade: B+

Linebackers

Zach Cunningham: 7 tackles, 1 PBU

The Eagles will have to continue without Nakobe Dean, who is back on IR after Lisfranc surgery. The good news is that the duo of Cunningham and Nicholas Morrow have played well together all season. Cunningham was second on the team in tackles and Morrow added five tackles of his own and recovered Travis Kelce’s fumble in the second half.

Grade B

Secondary

Kevin Byard: 8 tackles, 1 INT, 2 PBU

There was certainly a miscommunication on that touchdown pass from Mahomes to Justin Watson in the first quarter. But after that? The Eagles defensive backs made some big plays with two takeaways in the red zone. One came after a Kevin Byard interception and the other came when Bradley knocked the football out of Roby Kelce’s arms. Mahomes attempted 43 passes and totaled 177 yards on Monday night.

Grade: A-

Special teams

Britain Covey: 3 punt returns, 53 yards, long from 26

It wasn’t a perfect day for the Eagles’ special forces unit. Kadarius Toney’s 21-yard punt return hurt and there was a particularly bad punt from Braden Mann. But Mann ended up with a 47.7 average on seven punts with a long of 63. Britain Covey had three punt returns with a 17.7 average and a long of 26. And the tackle of Josh Jobe on the punt near the end of the In the fourth quarter, the Chiefs were pinned at their own 9-yard line. It was one of the biggest plays of the game.

Grade: B+

Coaching

Record: 9-1

For much of this game I was very confused by Brian Johnson’s offensive playcalling. It really seemed like he was focused on the horizontal passing game and the Eagles offense was stuck in the mud. But eventually he named a few plays that worked and helped them get out of the hole. And in general this is a well-coordinated team. Being 10 points behind at halftime and never panicking speaks volumes about coaching and leadership. Nick Sirianni’s team keeps winning, and he deserves some of the credit for that.

Grade B-