Eagles grades by position after losing regular season finale

The Eagles entered Week 18 with a chance to get the No. 2 seed in the NFC but they couldn’t get it done.

While the Lions beat the Bears to open the door for the Eagles, they played their backups and lost 24-17 to the Commanders in the regular season finale. The Eagles are now the 3-seed and will host the 6-seeded 49ers next Sunday at 4:30 p.m. at Lincoln Financial Field.

But before looking ahead to the playoffs, here is the Eagles report card from Week 18:

Quarterback

Tanner McKee: 21/40, 241 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 68.9 rating

Things started out well for McKee on Sunday and he was able to get the ball to DeVonta Smith on the first couple drives. But it wasn’t a very good performance overall. McKee made some bad decisions and just flat-out missed some throws. That’s not to say he didn’t have some good moments; he did. But the misses outweighed them. And his interception in the second quarter was just awful. It was a poor decision that took points off the board.

Grade: C-

Running back

Tank Bigsby: 16 attempts, 75 yards, 1 TD

Without Saquon Barkley, the Eagles turned to Bigsby, who made some really big plays. In addition to his 75 rushing yards, he also had a 31-yard catch, which is the longest of his career. Despite the 4.7 average from Bigsby, the Eagles really got away from him in the second half more than they should have. Bigsby is a hard runner who should probably have some sort of a role in the playoffs. We also saw Will Shipley get some playing time; he had a drop in the first half.

Grade: B+

Receiver

DeVonta Smith: 3 catches on 4 targets, 52 yards

Coming into Week 18, Smith was just 44 yards shy of 1,000 on the season. The Eagles played him long enough to reach that milestone and then promptly pulled him out of the game. Smith finished with 1,008 receiving yards in the regular season. Jahan Dotson got 8 targets but caught just 3 passes for 40 yards. Darius Cooper had 3 for 33 but did get called for a costly taunting penalty that led to the McKee interception.

Grade: B-

Tight end

Grant Calcaterra: 2 catches on 3 targets, 21 yards, 1 TD

No Dallas Goedert in this game so Calcaterra was the TE1. He caught a 15-yard touchdown pass on a seam ball early in the second quarter but was injured later in the game when he was brought down with a hip-drop tackle. Kylen Granson caught 4 passes for 30 yards.

Grade: B-

Offensive line

The only starter to play in this game was right guard Tyler Steen. The line looked like this to start: Fred Johnson, Brett Toth, Drew Kendall, Steen, Matt Pryor. Eventually, the Eagles moved Pryor to guard and got rookie Cameron Williams out there. It wasn’t a great performance from the O-line but that’s to be expected for a group of backups. They got some push in the run game and McKee saw some pressure but he wasn’t running for his life.

Grade: B

Defensive line

Jalyx Hunt: 2 tackles, 1 INT, 1 FR, 1 PBU

The Eagles rested Jalen Carter and Jaelan Phillips but played plenty of regular starters in this game. Jordan Davis, Moro Ojomo, Jalyx Hunt and Nolan Smith all played on Sunday. Hunt had his third interception of the season and also recovered a fumble. The Eagles did a good job against the run on Sunday but were unable to record a single sack against 39-year-old Josh Johnson.

Grade: B-

Linebacker

Jeremiah Trotter Jr.: 12 tackles, 2 QB hits, 1 TFL

No Zack Baun or Nakobe Dean in this game so Trotter Jr. and Jihaad Campbell started. It was a very impressive performance for Trotter, whose instincts really stood out. Trotter has been a special teams player his first two years in the league but could have a future as a defensive player. Trotter looked good is several phases of the game.

Grade: B

Secondary

Michael Carter II: 9 tackles

This game reminded everyone why Adoree’ Jackson has been the Eagles’ CB2 all season. The Eagles backup cornerbacks really struggled in this game and were called for a ton of penalties. Here they are in chronological order:

Jakorian Bennett: Defensive hold, 5 yards
Jakorian Bennett: Pass interference, 23 yards
Kelee Ringo: Defensive hold, 5 yards
Mac McWilliams: Pass interference, 29 yards
Jakorian Bennett: Pass interference, 4 yards
Kelee Ringo: Pass interference: 32 yards

Grade: D+

Special teams

Jake Elliott: 1/1 on FGs, 2/2 on PATs

The Eagles had a clean game on special teams. Elliott’s only field goal attempt was from 39 yards but he drilled it. Braden Mann had 3 punts for 115 yards (38.3) with one inside the 20. Britain Covey had 2 punt returns for 20 yards and Will Shipley had 2 kick returns for 55 yards. Kelee Ringo struggled on defense but had a great tackle on punt coverage. It wasn’t a spectacular game but it was a solid one.

Grade: B+

Coaching

Record: 11-6

Nick Sirianni is going to be second-guessed for his decision to rest starters in this game. But the Eagles still had the ability to have the best of both worlds if they had put together a better performance with their backups. The offensive play-calling in the second half left a lot to be desired. The Eagles had a backup quarterback behind a backup offensive line and put the game on McKee’s shoulders instead of utilizing Tank Bigsby, who was playing at a high level. The offense still struggled with a lot of the same things we’ve seen with the starters this year and that’s troubling.

Grade: D+