Eagles grades: Another overly conservative offensive performance results in season-ending flop

Instant grades on the Eagles’ performance in their 23-19 loss to the San Francisco 49ers:

Jalen Hurts struggled in the windy conditions, especially when throwing over 20 yards. He also left the pocket too early a bunch even though he often had time. He did have a few nice moments in the drop-back game and again protected the ball. It wasn’t all on Hurts, of course. The offense went into conservative mode for like the 100th time this season.

But some of Hurts’ flaws as a passer were on display, and the Eagles may have to go back to the drawing board in finding him a compatible coach this offseason.

Hurts showed great patience on his touchdown pass to Dallas Goedert in the second quarter. Hurts waited for his tight end to break free and fired a dart for a 9-yard touchdown on fourth down. His fourth-down pass in the first quarter was late and nearly intercepted, although the play wasn’t exactly desirable vs. man coverage. In the third quarter, Hurts seemed to unnecessarily leave the pocket on a drop that resulted in a throwaway.

» READ MORE: Kevin Patullo’s offense wastes two Quinyon Mitchell interceptions in crushing playoff loss | Marcus Hayes

Saquon Barkley started hot, cooled off, and got cooking again late. He had three carries for 23 yards in the fourth quarter before a run for no gain resulted in him hobbling off. Barkley would return and finished with 106 yards on 26 carries.

He started the game with a 29-yard run off the right edge and went into halftime with 71 yards on 15 carries.

As a receiver, Barkley gained 20 yards on a screen pass in the second quarter. In the third quarter he dropped what could have been a third-down conversion.

Our first glimpse of Tank Bigsby came in the second quarter when he was split outside and motioned into the backfield. The decoy didn’t fool the 49ers, who dropped DeVonta Smith in the flat for no gain.

Bigsby spelled Barkley in the backfield later and rushed three times for 20 yards. The next time he got a handoff, he went lateral and was dropped for a loss, finishing with four carries for 19 yards.

With the Eagles ground-and-pounding, the drop-back pass offense wasn’t often featured. Wide receiver A.J. Brown was involved early, but not much after that. He appeared to get dinged up on a deep post route that ended up incomplete, but returned almost immediately and couldn’t pull in a third-down fade that bounced off his hands.

The TV broadcast caught Nick Sirianni yelling at Brown to get off the field, and the receiver didn’t seem to like it and went back at his coach. Brown later couldn’t pull in a third-down catch over the middle, which was costly.

DeVonta Smith did a lot of dirty work with catches underneath. He finished with eight grabs for 70 yards. Smith’s 14-yard pickup on a third-and-15 hitch route got the Eagles into fourth-down Tush Push range. Dallas Goedert — the Eagles’ leader in touchdowns on the regular season — scored their first of the postseason on a 1-yard jet sweep. He also had a receiving touchdown. Goedert struggled as a run blocker and had a few moments that led to losses. He made a huge fourth-down catch after Brown’s drop.

Receiver Darius Cooper converted third-and-7 in the first quarter with a 9-yard grab over the middle. Cooper’s holding penalty negated Barkley’s 11-yard catch in the fourth quarter. Tight end Grant Calcaterra had a poor blocking attempt on a Barkley run that was stopped at the line of scrimmage.

The unit mostly could push around an inferior 49ers front that was missing key players on the line and at the second level. Inside zone runs were particularly effective. The pass protection was sound as Hurts often had time in the pocket. He was sacked once.

With Lane Johnson unable to go, despite practicing in a limited capacity for the first time since a foot injury, Fred Johnson started at right tackle for an eighth straight game. He left on the opening drive, and was replaced by Matt Pryor, but missed just one play. Johnson had a third-down false start.

Center Cam Jurgens had another rough outing. His holding penalty brought back a Hurts 10-yard draw. A drive later, Jurgens was driven back and Barkley was dropped for a loss. He did have the pulling lead block on a Barkley 6-yarder in the second quarter.

The other four O-linemen all had good moments in the run and pass protection: left guard Landon Dickerson, left tackle Jordan Mailata, right guard Tyler Steen and Johnson. The Tush Push made a triumphant return with two successful attempts.

49ers quarterback Brock Purdy didn’t have a lot of time in the pocket, but he did escape containment a few times and make big throws. His 262 yards on 18 of 31 passing seemed to be more on the secondary than the pass rush. He was sacked only once, though.

The Eagles held running back Christian McCaffrey to just 1.6 yards on eight carries in the first half. Defensive tackle Jordan Davis was a beast up front, per usual, and led the Eagles with four stops before halftime. He made three straight stops on McCaffrey in the second quarter that forced fourth down.

Outside linebacker Nolan Smith was just as impactful as a run stopper and had three tackles in the first half.

Defensive tackle Jalen Carter cleaned up to sack Purdy after outside linebacker Jaelan Phillips won with an inside move and forced the quarterback to step up. Carter failed to wrap up McCaffrey on a third-quarter 9-yard rush — his longest carry to that point.

Moro Ojomo made sure Purdy didn’t turn the corner on an early third-down scramble. Jalyx Hunt had a relatively quiet day, considering how well he played in the second half of the season. Facing a future Hall of Famer in Trent Williams will make even the best look merely mortal.

The linebackers were exposed at times in pass coverage. Nakobe Dean appeared to miss the shift in coverage when fullback Kyle Juszczyk motioned across the formation and was wide-open for a 27-yard pass in the third quarter. Dean was in coverage on McCaffrey’s go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter, but Purdy had time after stepping up.

Zack Baun finished with six tackles. He made a run stop near the line in the third quarter.

» READ MORE: Eagles go cold in second half as 49ers end their bid to repeat as Super Bowl champs

The 49ers, particularly their pass offense, suffered a blow when tight end George Kittle tore his Achilles in the second quarter. But a cast of relative unknowns still gashed the Eagles’ secondary at times.

Quinyon Mitchell had two big second-half interceptions. Mitchell somehow has four postseason picks, but none in the regular season in his two-year career. The recently named first-team All-Pro had a rough opening drive. The 49ers went at him on their first pass with receiver Demarcus Robinson catching a 61-yard pass over Mitchell. Later in the drive, Robinson beat him inside on a 2-yard touchdown catch in the back of the end zone. But he bounced back on the next drive and broke up a pass to Kittle and was big time in the second half.

Cooper DeJean was closest in coverage when receiver Jauan Jennings caught a 45-yard pass out of the slot on the seam route in the second quarter. DeJean broke up a pass to Jennings into the end zone late in the game. Adoree’ Jackson played too soft on third down-and-long, and Robinson caught a 15-yard pass to convert. Jackson got beat by Robinson again on a 15-yard out route after the break.

Marcus Epps tackled Kittle after the tight end’s first and only catch of the game for 6 yards. Kittle never got up on his own and had to be carted off. Epps picked up an illegal use of the hands penalty. He had good coverage on McCaffrey on an errant third-down throw in the third quarter.

Reed Blankenship appeared to be the guilty party when a 49ers trick play freed McCaffrey for a 29-yard touchdown catch made over the shoulder to open the fourth quarter. Michael Carter was used in certain nickel packages on obvious passing downs.

Jake Elliott rebounded after an extra-point attempt doinked off the left upright after the Eagles’ first touchdown. He made his next PAT, a 41-yard field goal, and a go-ahead 33-yard field goal in the fourth quarter. Braden Mann averaged 44 net yards on four punts. He skyrocketed a 58-yard boomer with no return in the third quarter.

The 49ers kicked away from Will Shipley, but he made a nice tackle on the opening kickoff. Britain Covey averaged 30.5 yards on two kick returns. He didn’t have a punt return.

We’ve seen this movie before with Nick Sirianni’s team this season. The offense performs solidly to start the game and then goes into overly conservative mode and melts down. It wasn’t all on his game plan and the play-calling; the execution was lacking, too. But Sirianni is responsible for it all, and his team failed, once again, to get out of the first round and won’t repeat as Super Bowl champions.

He gambled early on fourth-and-2 at the San Fran 48. It was aggressive but not reckless. The Eagles failed to convert, but Sirianni was rewarded for his gumption a drive later when a fourth-and-2 attempt resulted in Hurts’ touchdown pass to Goedert.

Offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo’s successful play-calling in the red zone continued in the postseason with the Eagles converting their first two trips inside the 20 into touchdowns. After a solid start, though, the offense struggled and went three-and-out on three straight possessions. The execution wasn’t sound, but a run on second-and-18 in the third quarter was indicative of Patullo’s play-calling over that stretch. His future at his current post clearly is uncertain.

Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s unit again folded under the weight of the offense’s inefficiency. That said, his defense was way too leaky in pass coverage. Fangio quickly adjusted after his group allowed a touchdown on the opening drive. He was able to stop McCaffrey on the ground with mostly a four-man front and nickel personnel. The Eagles did allow two explosive pass plays in the first half — one for 61 yards and another that went for 45 yards.

There were more explosives allowed through the air in the second half, including a double-reverse option play with Jennings tossing the touchdown pass to McCaffrey.