Grayson's Grades: Eagles vs. Packers

The Philadelphia Eagles won the first NFL regular season game ever played in the Southern Hemisphere 34-29 over the Green Bay Packers. It was not a pretty game as both teams certainly had their miscues in the form of penalties and turnovers. But in the end, it was the Eagles who did enough to enjoy the nearly ten hour victory flight home.

The Eagles offense showed its potential at times while also showing some rust from not playing in the preseason. They ran 74 plays totaling 410 yards and scoring 34 points. After the game, AJ Brown said "We can do a lot better."

The defense had trouble with footing leading to some missed tackles and failures in coverage. They also had some miscues in the form of penalties and blown coverages. However, the defense kept the team in the game after a pair of turnovers on the Eagles' first two possessions. They held the Packers to a pair of field goals which gave the offense a chance to start finding some positive momentum.

We have reached yet another year of Grayson's Grades. So with a new red pen in hand, here is the first report card of the new season:

A

AJ Brown - Brown did what he does best and that is make big catches for chunk yardage to help light up the scoreboard. By far his biggest catch happened on the opening drive of the second half. He caught a Jalen Hurts pass in stride and cut towards the middle of the field and turned on the jets. Brown did not stop until he went 67 yards for the touchdown. He finished the game catching five passes for 119 yards and a touchdown.

Saquan Barkley - Barkley went right to work in week one and showed why he deserved the size of the contract he received to come to the Eagles. He was a threat in the air and on the ground. It was impressive to watch. Barkley had 10 total touchdowns all last year. He already has three with the Eagles after just one game. Barkley's first touchdown came on an 18 yard reception. He added two more on the ground. Barkley carried it 24 times for 109 yards and two touchdowns. His longest rush went for 34 yards. He also caught two passes for 23 yards and a touchdown.

Reed Blankenship - Blankenship seems to do a great job of recognizing the right time to try and jump a route. He did that in the third quarter and came up with a huge interception that eventually turned into a touchdown after the offense punched it in. Blankenship has great hands and did an excellent job of making sure he controlled the ball and secured the interception. He was also flying around and making tackles. Blankenship finished second on the team with eight tackles. He added one pass successfully defended.

Zack Baun - Baun was all over the place and perhaps his biggest play was on the final play of the game. He got into the backfield and sacked Malik Willis to end the game and secure the victory. Baun helped to stop the run early in the game. He finished as the leading tackler with 15. He added two sacks, two quarterback hits and a tackle for a loss.

DeVonta Smith - Smith made some big catches at big times to help move the chains. He had a pair of them for first downs on the final drive that helped lock up the win. Smith finished with seven receptions for 84 yards.

B

Jalen Carter - Carter played pretty well. He got the Fletcher Cox treatment receiving some double teams and a lot of attention from the Packers. His stat line does not look impressive but his impact was big. He forced pressure on Jordan Love and even recorded a sack. Carter needs to keep his temper in check. He got flagged for an unsportsmanlike conduct after the Packers seemed to provoke him. That penalty helped to extend one of the early Green Bay drives.

Nakobe Dean - Dean had some really nice plays and overall did well in this game. He did have a blown coverage assignment or two as well. That is something that can be cleaned up with film. He helped stop the run early in the game. Together he, Zack Baun and the middle of the defensive line helped to stop the run up the gut. The Packers had most of their success running the ball on the outside. Dean had four tackles, one tackle for a loss and one pass successfully defended.

Quinyon Mitchell - Overall, I was pretty impressed with Mitchell. He had some really good coverage in this game and even did a great job batting what looked like a sure catch away and force it to fall harmlessly to the ground. He did have at least one blown coverage. Mitchell took a receiver that went shallow when he should have dropped to take away the deeper receiver leading to a pretty big gain. That is to be expected for a rookie. Clearly he looked ready for the NFL and I expect huge growth over the next few weeks as he gets more and more experience.

Kellen Moore - Moore's offense got off to a slow start turning it over on each of its first two possessions. But then it started to build momentum and scored touchdowns on its next three possessions. Moore heavily featured Saquan Barkley but also got more than 100 yards receiving from AJ Brown and a great game from DeVonta Smith. There is definitely room for Jalen Hurts to grow in this offense. It was sloppy at times with multiple fumbles and an interception. One fumble was caused by Cam Juergens snapping the ball too early with another coming on a bad snap on the 'tush push.' The most enjoyable part of this game was seeing Moore's offense take nearly seven minutes of time off the clock while nursing a two-point lead. That drive ended with a Field Goal. Moore has some work to do with Jalen Hurts in terms of taking better care of the ball. Hurts tossed a pair of interceptions. One he threw into triple coverage. The other he threw back across his body into the end zone for an easy interception. On the plus side, this offense racked up 410 total yards and ran 74 plays. It also scored 34 points.

C

Defensive Line - The Defensive Line did some good things and also got gashed for some big gains on the ground. It also failed to get enough pressure at times on Jordan Love which allowed him to throw the ball successfully downfield. There will be a lot of positives to build off this game and a few missed tackles at the point of attack on the line did not help matters either.

Vic Fangio - Fangio's defense did some nice things. However, some of his players missed tackles. There was also some miscommunication in coverage that led to some big gains for the Packers. There is definitely room for improvement. The Packers realized their best success running the ball was to the outside and exploited that for some solid gains. Fangio's defense allowed 414 total yards and 29 points. However, after an ugly start by the offense turning it over on its first two possessions, Fangio's defense buckled down and held the Packers to a pair of Field Goals after starting those possessions with a short field.

D

Jalen Hurts - Hurts has got to take better care of the ball. The Eagles had to overcome two of his turnovers that he should have prevented. One he threw into triple coverage. The other he threw back across his body into the end zone which is a big no-no in the NFL. The two fumbles were on miscues. One happened when Cam Juergens snapped it early. On the other, Hurts just missed Juergens' snap on a tush-push and fortunately Saquan Barkley recovered. He did make some big throws and some really good throws. Hurts completed 20 of 34 passes for 278 yards and two touchdowns. He also had two interceptions. Hurts did use his legs as well, he carried it 13 times for 33 yards.

F

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