Eagles grades vs. Titans: Jalen Hurts steps up, O-line shaky, defense a mixed bag

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Instant grades on the Eagles’ performance in their 24-20 win over the Tennessee Titans:

Jalen Hurts was excellent. Yeah, he tossed two bad interceptions. But good far outweighed the bad and Hurts ultimately drove the Eagles to victory with his two-minute, touchdown scoring drive. He threw for 264 yards and two touchdowns on 26 of 37 passing. Hurts also had some key moments on the ground. He did all of this despite the schematic and execution issues with the offensive line.

Aside from the interception, Hurts was nearly flawless in the first half. He kept bailing the offense out on third-and-longs and converted five first-downs of four yards or more. He also did it with his legs once, running for a first down on third-and-4. Hurts has a 7-yard scramble that set up a fourth-and-2 he would subsequently convert with a throw to Wicks.

Hurts looked comfortable in the pocket despite some pressure. He hooked up with Wicks for a 27-yard pass over the middle with a rusher in his face, and later got the ball out to Wicks for a 15-yard gain on third-and-12 — just before Simmons hit him. His 22-yard touchdown pass to Smith before the break came on second-and-19.

There was the costly interception on third-and-goal, of course. The pass to Smith was undercut by safety Amani Hooker, who went 92 yards the other way. The Titans converted the turnover into a touchdown.

» READ MORE: Eagles win 24-20 thriller in steamy Nashville; Jalen Hurts atones for two INTs with epic two-minute drive vs. Titans

Saquon Barkley left on the first play when he suffered a stinger. He returned to the sideline after a brief stay in the locker room, but didn’t play until the second half. Barkley caught an 11-yard swing pass on third-and-5. As a rusher, he finished with just nine yards on four carries.

With Barkley out for most of the first half, Tank Bigsby and Will Shipley shouldered the load in the backfield. They ran hard and had some nice moments, but the blocking up front was mostly porous. The duo rushed 17 times for a combined 51 yards (3.0 average) before the break.

Bigsby kept churning on a 9-yard carry down to the 2-yard line early in the second quarter, and went into the end zone on the next play for the Eagles’ first touchdown. He slipped and lost two yards on his first carry of the second half.

Shipley got the nod on the Eagles’ last drive. He helped pick up the blitz on Hurts’ 20-yard throw to Wicks.

Receiver DeVonta Smith did all could do. He made one tough catch after another and led the Eagles with 10 catches for 117 yards. He caught a 22-yard touchdown on a corner route in the second quarter. Smith converted an early third down on an 8-yard slant. He also had a key lead block on Hurts’ third-down conversion on the ground in the second quarter. He made a difficult toe-dragging grab near the sideline and then a 19-yard snag down to the 3-yard line on the final drive.

Dontayvion Wicks was just as reliable when targeted. He caught a 27-yard pass over the middle on third and 12 on the Eagles’ first drive. Wicks converted fourth down with a 5-yard catch in the second quarter. He finished with five receptions for 74 yards, but left late with an injury. Rookie Makai Lemon is still finding his NFL legs. On his first career first down, he pulled in a 14-yard grab on third down late in the first quarter. Another screen pass, though, resulted in Lemon getting dropped for a loss in the second quarter. He had nowhere to go.

Darius Cooper made the game-winning touchdown catch when he went up for Hurts’ lob and kept both feet inbounds. Earlier in the fourth quarter, he got open and picked up 23 yards.

Tight end Dallas Goedert got upended while run blocking in the second quarter and didn’t return because of the knee injury. Johnny Mundt had more receiving responsibility with Goedert out. He drew an illegal use of the hands penalty in the second quarter. Mundt seemed to miss his assignment on an outside zone run that netted few yards just before the half. He held on a Hollywood Brown end around in the fourth quarter.

After not playing a snap in the first game, Brown was featured at times on offense. He ran nine yards on a sweep play in the second quarter.

» READ MORE: Jalen Hurts’ greatness prevails again in Eagles’ stunning last-second win over Titans

To some surprise, the Eagles made changes at two spots when they only needed to replace Landon Dickerson. They moved Cam Jurgens to left guard and started Drew Kendall at center. It was often ugly. But it was another shaky outing from new O-line coach Chris Kuper’s entire group. The run blocking just wasn’t sound. The pass protection was only a little better.

There was the matter of containing Jeffery Simmons. The All pro defensive tackle owned Kendall on the Eagles’ opening drive and forced Hurts to burn a throw into the ground. Kendall appeared to miss a block. The second-year O-lineman had a tough assignment, but it was a grind.

Jurgens struggled vs. Simmons and others. He got spun around by the defensive tackle on a run play in which Bigsby was stretched out for no gain. Jurgens also got knocked off balance by Titans D-tackle John Franklin-Myers in the second quarter. He was a turnstile on edge Jacob Martin’s third-down sack of Hurts in the third quarter.

Right guard Tyler Steen didn’t hold up either. He got beat by D-tackle Nazir Stackhouse and later by Simmons on late second quarter runs that resulted in losses. He committed a holding penalty to open the second half. Steen got beat again on a third-down rush in the third quarter in which Hurts had to escape.

Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata were decent in pass protection, but they had breakdowns, too. Johnson struggled with his block on the play in which Barkley got hurt. He also lined up illegally early in the second half. Mailata got surprised by an outside twist by Simmons, and landed on his rear on Hurts’ touchdown throw to Smith.

The front looked gassed at times, and understandably so. It was hot. There were a lot of D-linemen with hands on their hips at the end of the Titans’ 12-play touchdown drive late in the third quarter. The run defense was leaky at times. There wasn’t enough pressure on the few times quarterback Cam Ward dropped on obvious pass downs. They did stand tall and force a field goal at the end.

Jalen Carter, playing with a soft cast on his wrist, was relatively quiet for the first three quarters. He did bust through on a run play in the third quarter and sacked Ward late in the fourth. Jordan Davis didn’t dominate in the run game like he normally does. Moro Ojomo had a big tackle for loss in the fourth quarter.

Edge Jonathan Greenard (pectoral) was out for a second straight week. Jalyx Hunt got things started with a tackle for loss on Pollard’s first carry. Hunt later squeezed into the backfield to force running back Tyjae Spears into Davis’ arms. As a pass rusher, he drew a face mask when he penetrated on an inside stunt in the second quarter.

In the second half, his edge setting contributed to a Pollard run for no gain. Nolan Smith Jr. got home for a sack with an inside rush late in the second quarter. Smith also had a tackle for loss on a run in the fourth quarter.

Defensive tackles Byron Young and Ty Robinson got some snaps in the heat.

There was just too much leakage against a Titans offense that looked near-pathetic in the first week, and the off-ball linebackers were just as responsible. Zack Baun appeared to over-pursue on Pollard’s 13-yard run on third-and-1 in the second quarter. Baun also missed an open field tackle on a dump pass that sprung Spears for 27 yards just before the half. He did stop Titans running back Nick Singleton for a loss in the third quarter.

Jihaad Campbell did well to shed a block and stop a screen for no gain on the Titans’ first possession. He was targeted through the air several times. Both linebackers bit on a play fake and Ward hit receiver Calvin Ridley for a 25-yard catch in the third quarter.

Ward didn’t drop to throw much downfield, but when he did he was more efficient than he should have been. Quinyon Mitchell and Riq Woolen did keep Titans receivers from winning often on the outside. Receiver Calvin Ridley hauled in a first down on a slant in front of Mitchell. His run defense on Spears’ 27-yard run was not ideal.

Cooper DeJean rebounded from last week’s rough outing. He tackled rookie receiver Carnell Tate short of the sticks on third down in the third quarter. Mitchell and Cooper were victimized by a soft zone on third and 13 when Ward hit receiver Elic Ayomanor for 28 yards on a slant route.

The tackling at the safety spot just wasn’t good enough. Andrew Mukuba played despite being questionable after suffering a knee injury in practice. He drilled Tate over the middle early on. Mukuba appeared to lose receiver Wan’Dale Robinson on a third-and-5 conversion in the third quarter. It came when DeJean blitzed off the edge.

Mukuba made a strong run stop at the goal line in the third quarter. But he had a weak tackle tackle on a Pollard 18-yard bolt up the middle in the fourth quarter.

Marcus Epps was in the vicinity over the top on Ayomanor’s 28-yard catch in the middle of the Eagles’ Bermuda Triangle. Epps got hurdled over in the fourth quarter. Later in the drive, he totally overran the play on Spears’ 27-run on third-and-22.

Kicker Jake Elliott nailed a 58-yard field goal in the third quarter. It tied the fourth-longest kick of his career.

Braden Mann averaged 50.5 net yards on two punts. His first punt didn’t come until the third quarter when he booted a 57-yarder that was fair caught. Britain Covey averaged 15.5 yards on two punt returns and had a 23-yarder. He was also back on kickoffs, along with Shipley, given Titans kicker Joey Slye’s ability to hit knuckleballs. Alas, Slye never tried one.

Coach Nick Sirianni ended the Eagles’ streak of forgettable trips to the Music City. It looked like they might exit Tennessee with another nasty loss. But Hurts carried his team to victory and a 2-0 record despite the sloppy game against an inferior opponent. Real tests are forthcoming.

We saw the return of the Tush Push for the first time this season. It led to a Titans offsides penalty on the first try and Hurts converted on the second.

Offensive coordinator Sean Mannion is still feeling his way in the new job. The new stuff he brought from the Kyle Shanahan scheme just hasn’t clicked enough. Hurts had more success when he was in shotgun on third downs. Mannion’s play-calling had more rhythm than it did in the first week, but the issues on early downs continued. There just wasn’t a good plan nor execution on first- and second-down run plays.

Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s unit held the Titans to just 20 points, but it’s not like Ward and Co. were considered a top offense. Fangio had some suspect calls on third down and probably played it too passive on third-and-13 before the half.