Eagles Week 6 PFF Grades: Darius Slay shines under the Sunday night lights; front-four dominates Dallas’ offensive line
After a 26-17 victory over the Dallas Cowboys Sunday night, the Philadelphia Eagles have moved to 6-0 as they prepare to enter the bye week.
Philly took home the W in typical Eagles fashion. They dominated the trenches on both sides of the ball, forced turnovers while keeping the ball safe offensively, and controlled the clock with a dominant ground game.
Eagles QB Jalen Hurts completed 60 percent of his passes on 25 attempts while racking up 155 yards through the air and tossing a pair of touchdowns. On the ground, Miles Sanders led the way with 71 yards on 18 attempts while the team accumulated 136 rushing yards total. The Eagles WR duo of AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith once again paved the way for the team’s aerial assault, combining for 10 receptions and 111 yards along with a touchdown a piece.
As we do every week, let’s take a look at how Pro Football Focus graded the Eagles for their win Sunday night.
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Landon Dickerson, Jalen Hurts, and Grant Calcaterra lead the way offensively
Landon Dickerson was the best lineman for the Eagles sunday night, allowing just one pressure on 28 pass blocking reps, earning a team-high 80.3 pass blocking grade in the process.
The second-year guard was stout in the running game as well, posting a 70.3 run blocking grade on the night. Without Lane Johnson for most of the game, the entire offensive line had to work together to pick up the slack. Dickerson led that charge.
As expected, QB Jalen Hurts earned stellar marks once again in Week 6. The Eagles signal caller carried out the RPO-heavy game plan masterfully. On RPO plays, Hurts went 6-for-12 for 60 yards and two touchdowns.
His stat line wasn’t as flashy as some may have wanted for this NFC East showdown, but Hurts continues to be the steady leader this offense needs. QB1 earned a 74.7 offensive grade for his efforts and is currently the fifth-highest graded quarterback in PFF’s grading system this season, posting a 81.5 mark through six games.
Against a top-10 Dallas pass defense, Hurts became the first quarterback to post a passer rating higher than 100 and throw two touchdowns against them this season.
Rounding out the top-three was backup TE Grant Calcaterra, despite only playing seven snaps on the night. He earned a 74.5 grade on the evening and an impressive 75.4 run blocking grade.
Calcaterra’s big nock coming out of college was his blocking ability, so seeing him post high marks in that area is encouraging. Expect to see his playing time continue to increase as the season rolls along.
Eagles offensive line contains Dallas’ elite pass rush
The biggest matchup of the night was between Philly’s offensive line and Dallas’ front-four. Heading into the contest, Dallas was second in the NFL in sacks and No. 1 in pressures and pressure rate. On Sunday night, without arguably their best lineman in Lane Johnson for the majority of the contest, Jeff Stoutland’s crew did their job.
Per PFF, the Eagles offensive line surrendered two sacks, six hurries, and eight pressures on Hurts. Dickerson and Jason Kelce led the way in pass blocking grade, earning 80.3 and 75.8 grades in that category respectfully.
Jordan Mailata struggled a bit protecting the passer, allowing three pressures while posting the worst pass blocking grade of any starting lineman at 46.3, but he more than made up for it in the ground game. Mailata recorded a team-high 87.8 run blocking grade on the night; his best mark in that category this season by a wide margin.
Jack Driscoll was thrust into action once Lane went down and he understandably struggled against Micah Parsons and Demarcus Lawrence. He had the lowest pass blocking grade of anyone on the team, posting a 38.6 grade.
Driscoll started in place of Mailata in Week 5 at left tackle and had to quickly transition back to right tackle with Johnson sidelined. It’s a tough ask for any lineman, let alone a backup.
Nevertheless, Stoutland’s group was at their best Sunday night. If they can handle all of the pass rushers at Dallas’ disposal, we should feel comfortable against any defensive line in the NFL.
PFF grades for the entire Eagles offense:
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Brandon Graham, Darius Slay, and Kyzir White lead the way defensively
For the second week in a row, Brandon Graham was the highest graded player on Jonathan Gannon’s defense. On 29 defensive snaps, BG earned a 90.1 overall grade while tallying three pressures and one quarterback hit.
Graham helped generate the final interception of the night on Cooper Rush, hitting the Dallas quarterback as he released it into the waiting arms of CJ Gardner-Johnson.
On the season, the 13-year vet has a PFF defensive grade of 90.0, fourth-best among 115 qualifying edge players.
Even though he’s not a full-time starter anymore, BG deserves consideration for Comeback Player of the Year. For him to be as dominant as he’s been coming off a torn Achilles, in year 13 no less, the Eagles pass rusher needs some recognition for his efforts.
Right behind BG in PFF’s grading of Sunday’s contest was none other than Big Play Slay. Under the primetime lights, Slay is always at his best.
He didn’t disappoint on Sunday night, posting an 87.0 defensive grade and an 89.4 coverage grade. Slay was targeted twice on the night and didn’t allow a single reception. He managed to intercept one of those targets, too, giving the shutdown corner three interceptions on the season.
Slay and his running mate, James Bradberry, dominated Dallas’ receiving corps on Sunday. The duo allowed four catches on 14 targets, posted four pass breakups, all while surrendering a measly 12.4 passer rating when thrown at.
The Eagles have the best starting CB tandem in the NFL right now and it’s not close.
Coming in as the third-highest graded Eagles defender was LB Kyzir White.
He was disruptive in all facets of the game, notching five tackles and posting a coverage grade of 84.5 along with an overall grade of 82.2. White allowed just one reception for two yards on the night.
From top to bottom, the Eagles secondary is one of the best in football. Combine that with an elite coverage linebacker in Kyzir White and it’s no wonder Gannon’s group has one of the best pass defenses in the NFL.
Eagles’ pass rush steals the show Sunday night
A lot was made about the Cowboys’ pass rushing unit heading into Sunday’s matchup. When the game finally got underway, it was the Eagles’ defensive line that stole the show.
As a unit, the Eagles accumulated 16 pressures, 13 hurries, and three quarterback hits. They didn’t record any sacks in the contest, but it was apparent that the constant pressure affected Cooper Rush. All three of his interceptions were caused by pressure from the Birds’ pass rush.
Four defensive lineman (Brandon Graham, Javon Hargrave, Josh Sweat, and Haason Reddick) tallied multiple pressures on the night. Hargrave led the way with five.
The only two starters who didn’t generate much pressure were Fletcher Cox and Jordan Davis, who combined for just one pressure and hurry on the night. The lack of pass rushing prowess is to be expected from Davis, who was primarily used in running situations. Cox, on the other hand, had a bad outing by his standards. He earned a 56.7 pass rushing grade for his performance.
Nevertheless, the Eagles’ front is talented and deep enough to overcome down performances from one or two of their starters. That’s been the key for them thus far and it’ll continue to be a point of emphasis moving forward.
PFF grades for the entire Eagles defense:
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