Eagles grades: Jalen Hurts has two turnovers; run defense porous vs. Bears

Instant grades on the Eagles’ performance in their 24-15 loss to the Chicago Bears:

Jalen Hurts had two costly turnovers. He tossed his second interception of the season in the third quarter when he failed to account for safety Kevin Byard in the post. And he fumbled on a third-quarter Tush Push when Bears cornerback Nahshon Wright stripped the ball after Hurts ran into a wall.

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The windy conditions at Lincoln Financial Field made it difficult on the quarterbacks. But Hurts missed too many layups and made bad decisions. He threw behind an open DeVonta Smith on a key early third down.

There were some positives. Hurts bounced back after the pick and hooked up with A.J. Brown for a 33-yard touchdown. As a runner, he had some success with the return of the run-pass option game. He also picked up 23 yards off a draw in the third quarter.

But Hurts was at the center of the Eagles offense’s terrible showing, and has been for most of the season.

Saquon Barkley had a little more success on the ground, rushing 13 times for 56 yards (4.3 average). But there was an opportunity to do more against one of the NFL’s worst run defenses and a unit that was down three off-ball linebackers. Barkley’s longest gain was for 15 yards off the left side in the third quarter.

The Eagles tried a two-back play with Tank Bigsby, but Barkley didn’t look back for the pass off an option. Even if he caught it, a defender was ready to pounce. Barkley also had a late drop.

Wide receiver A.J. Brown led the Eagles, catching 10 of 12 targets for 132 yards and two touchdowns. But a lot of his production felt empty. He came back for a jump ball on a 33-yard touchdown.

Brown had two more penalties for a team-high eight. The first — a false start — was legit. The second — a pass interference — was questionable. Brown pushed off, but it was relatively soft. The flag negated a third-down conversion.

DeVonta Smith caught a 30-yard pass on a nicely drawn-up RPO early in the second quarter, but he went long stretches without getting involved. Dallas Goedert caught just one pass for 5 yards until the last drive — despite the Bears’ issues covering tight ends coming in.

No unit gets a pass on the offensive side of the ball. The O-line just hasn’t been itself and whenever the Eagles have struggled historically, it’s been because they can’t block consistently.

Left guard Landon Dickerson just doesn’t look close to healthy. On Hurts’ interception, he allowed pressure that forced the quarterback out of the pocket. Dickerson had a false start early on. Right guard Tyler Steen was up and down, as usual. Left tackle Jordan Mailata kept Hurts’ blind side mostly clean, but he hasn’t been the same run blocker this season.

Fred Johnson started a second straight game for the injured Lane Johnson (foot). Barkley was dropped at the line after Johnson was beaten by a slanting lineman in the third quarter. He led the way on Barkley’s 15-yard tote a drive later, though. Center Cam Jurgens keeps playing through injury, but it’s hurting the offense. Jurgens and Steen combined for a lead block on a Barkley 9-yard run in the first quarter.

Stopping the run is an 11-man deal, but the front was continuously beaten at the point of attack. The Bears offense often went heavy to keep the Eagles in base personnel and they ran it down their throats. Running backs D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai each went over 100 yards as Chicago gained 281 yards on the ground.

Defensive tackle Jalen Carter made some undisciplined guesses as a run defender. He was blocked way out of his gap on Monangai’s 17-yard run off the right in the first quarter. And Carter took a bad angle on Swift’s 3-yard touchdown run at the end of that drive.

Carter did pick up a sack in the second quarter after Nolan Smith hit Bears quarterback Caleb Williams. Moro Ojomo blew up a third-down screen try in the third quarter, but was bullied at times vs. the run. Jordan Davis had a run stop for no yards after fellow defensive tackle Byron Young held up his block in the second quarter. Young was first to the ball on the fourth-down run stop on the Bears’ opening drive. He failed to bring down Swift on a later long run.

The D-line had some moments in the pass rush. Jalyx Hunt snatched his second interception of the season when he diagnosed a screen in the third quarter. The outside linebacker leaped and deflected the ball to himself. Outside linebacker Jaelan Phillips batted a third-down pass to the ground in the second quarter. Phillips also drew a holding penalty just before the half. Brandon Graham hurried Williams into forfeiting himself after dropping to pass in the third quarter.

Nakobe Dean and Zack Baun just weren’t good enough in helping to stop the run at the second level. They got bullied and erased on runs up the middle.

» READ MORE: Nick Sirianni and coaches struggle again as Eagles lose second straight with poor focus and fundamentals

Dean was blocked to the ground on Swift’s 23-yard bolt up the middle on a split zone run in the first quarter. He also gave up the edge on Monangai’s 4-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Baun got tossed on a Swift 17-yard rush in the second quarter.

Dean, who finished with 12 tackles, was also called for holding on a short third-quarter pass off play-action.

Rookie Jihaad Campbell hardly played, if at all.

Like Hurts, Williams had issues through the air. Some of it was self-inflicted, some of it was due to the Eagles’ pass defense. The quarterback completed just 17 of 36 passes for 154 yards. He had some key throws on third and fourth down, though.

Adoree’ Jackson and Quinyon Mitchell weren’t challenged much on the outside, but they didn’t surrender many catches. They had more to do in the run game and didn’t do well in the open field. Jackson couldn’t bring Swift down on a second-quarter run.

Cooper DeJean did a little more in run support. He also broke up an early pass to Rome Odunze.

Sydney Brown got his first full-time start of the season with Drew Mukuba (fractured ankle) on injured reserve. He struggled at times. Brown took a bad angle from the post on Swift’s 23-yard run. He didn’t bite on a play-action boot and held a short pass to minimal gain in the second quarter. It could have been worse had Williams been more accurate on two early throws after Brown was beaten in the end zone.

Reed Blankenship might have been worse. He got toasted by Bears tight end Cole Kmet on the game-clinching 28-yard touchdown. Earlier, Blankenship was late to Bears receiver Olamide Zaccheaus on a third-and-7 conversion. And he slipped and lost tight end Colston Loveland when the Bears converted fourth-and-5 late in the third quarter.

Blankenship led the Eagles with 14 tackles, many of them after runs into the secondary.

A steady wind wreaked havoc on the kicking game. Jake Elliott split the uprights on a 44-yard try. But he hooked an extra point wide left in the third quarter kicking again into the south end of the stadium. Elliott also missed a 52-yarder with a few seconds to play.

Punter Braden Mann did well considering the conditions. He averaged 42.6 net yards on five punts.

Britain Covey played in his first game in nearly a year and returned punts in place of the injured Xavier Gipson. Covey scooped up a roller and went 9 yards the other way in the second quarter. Covey was also back on kicks, and had one return for 22 yards. Will Shipley averaged 23.5 yards on two returns.

Nick Sirianni’s Eagles lost two games in a row for the second time this season as they fell to 8-4 — a game behind the 9-3 Bears in conference playoff seeding. Potentially more damaging is allowing the 6-5-1 Dallas Cowboys back in the division race.

Sirianni’s undisciplined team had seven more penalties — three of them of the pre-snap variety. He again showed little faith in his offense when he let the clock tick down to the two-minute warning before the half. His high-priced offense just shouldn’t be this bad and that’s on the coaching.

The execution has been bad, but offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo just hasn’t had the answers. He went with more RPOs and zone reads because of the cold and windy weather, but just wasn’t sharp enough. Sirianni may have to switch up play-calling, although there isn’t an obvious replacement on staff.

The Eagles entered last in the NFL in three-and-out percentage (33.3), and will likely remain there after Week 13 having gone three-and-out on 4 of 11 possessions. The Eagles were booed as they headed to the tunnel for the half and it seemed justified after they scored just three points.

Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s unit got manhandled on the ground and allowed its most rushing yards in his two years in Philly. The defense tightened the hatches after allowing 204 yards and 10 points to the Bears on their first three possessions. But it again surrendered under the weight of the offense’s ineffectiveness.