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I wish this game wasn't as close at it ended up being. This game for almost 3 full quarters was a loss and an ugly one. It was clear that this team's season was over and we could begin having the conversation about being sellers at the trade deadline. That this could be a rebuild year.
But then Wentz saddled up the team to his back and carried the team back into the game. Now the conversation about "well we have 3 division games in a row and can be 4-4-1 in 3 weeks time" continues. This was a bad game and exposed the team in so many places. Here are my positional grade:
Coaching: F
Jim Schwartz had a bad scheme today. So many times (against an insanely quick QB) the safeties split to outside of the offensive tackles, leaving Nathan Gerry as the only player in the center of the field. On the long Jackson run, Gerry snuck up and was out of position and Lamar was untouched.
Pederson is a whole different problem. Doug knew. HE KNEW that his offensive line was not experienced. And yet he forced Carson to throw the ball 40 TIMES. And not roll outs and not quick passes. Long developing routes. And never adjusted. The plays called on the 2 point conversions were terrible! Miles Sanders touching the ball LESS THAN 10x (even with his injury) is inexcusable. This was not a good game by the coaching staff.
QBs: B+
I can't knock Carson for today's game. He had zero time to read the field. He had no time to wait for his WRs to get open. And yet after taking a million hits (and some really serious hard ones at that) he still led the team to an almost victory. He does lose points for holding the ball too long in the redzone only to throw it away and take a REALLY HARD SHOT.
Jalen Hurts had a really good game as a running back. The threat of him on the field opened up Sanders for his 74 yard run.
RBs: C+
Sanders had 9 for 118 but 74 of them came on one carry. Bad fumble at the end of the carry. Then Clement and Scott did nothing to help. This group needs a solid RB2 (and no Bell was not the answer to this). However there is not point in spending money in this position group when Doug refuses to run the ball with any consistency.
WRs: C+
Fulgham was excluded from the game plan in the first half. This was because he went up against a legit CB1. Hightower had some BAD drops. JJAW was not much for WR skills but better for 'right place right time' action. Eventually this group (the group had 9 catches for 144 and a TD) helped push this back into being "a game." But not soon enough.
TEs: C-
Ertz had 4 catches. Rodgers had one. Cloom (who?) had a TD catch. But this group has been bland all year. This isn't what this group was supposed to be. This group with Goedert and Ertz was a strength. Now it's another group of "who's this guy" that doesn't help Carson win a game.
Oline: F
I feel bad dinging a bunch of backups for Jamon Brown's garbage game.
He literally stood still on this play and this was one of his better plays. He himself almost had as many sacks and hits on Carson as the Ravens defense. Mailata played well. Driscoll went down and then Toth came in and did ok. Kelce killed a few guys. BUT JAMON BROWN was responsible for a few years coming off Wentz's life.
DLine: A-
This group did great. Graham forced Lamar Jackson outside of the pocket so many times and Sweat knocked quite a few passes down. The score was so high due to bad linebacking and secondary play. DLine continued to dominate.
LBs: F
Calling Nathan Gerry trash is an insult to trash. Lamar Jackson had 108 yards rushing and the 37 yard TD run was due to Gerry being out of position. There were missed tackles all over the place. This group isn't NFL caliber.
Secondary: C
Dropped INTs but also held Ravens to under 200 passing. No rookie decimated them all over the field (like usual) and this group held their own. They do have to capitalize on bad throws which there were a lot of!
Special Teams: C
Not many opportunities here. Johnston punted 6x for an average of under 49.2 yards per punt. Jake missed one from 52. Ward is a non-threat as a punt returner.
IN CONCLUSION:
Doug called a bad game. The offensive line did ok but it was overshadowed by Jamon Brown being a joke. Schwartz schemed badly again. This team could still win the NFC East and the fanbase doesn't have a chance to give up on this team because "they've been in it the last two weeks, regardless of the outcome."
Eagles 2020. Not surprised that even JJAW scored a touchdown.