Eagles Week 13 PFF Grades: AJ Brown dominates his former team; rookie defenders show out
Another week, another win for the Philadelphia Eagles, as they dominated the Tennessee Titans 35-10 in a game that was never in question.
Where do we even begin? It was a complete performance from Philadelphia, arguably their best overall win of the 2022 season. Jalen Hurts increased his MVP odds with an outstanding performance, throwing for 380 yards and three touchdowns while posting a 130.3 passer rating. AJ Brown, as expected, dominated his former employer, racking up eight receptions for 119 yards and two touchdowns. DeVonta Smith wasn’t far behind him on the stat sheet, recording five catches for 102 and a touchdown of his own.
Defensively, the Eagles were a force. They held King Henry to 30 rushing yards on 11 attempts (2.7 YPC) while sacking QB Ryan Tannehill six times and accounting for 19 pressures.
Even the special teams unit showed up on Sunday, with Britain Covey averaging 17.5 yards per punt return and his fellow special teamers laying the wood on opposing returners.
As we do every week, let’s take a dive into the Pro Football Focus grades from the Eagles contest.
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AJ Brown, Jason Kelce, and Isaac Seumalo lead the way offensively
It was the AJ Brown show at The Linc Sunday afternoon. He bullied the Titans secondary all day, en route to earning the best overall grade of anyone on the Eagles offense. He posted a stellar 84.0 offensive grade for his efforts.
On the season, PFF grades Brown as the seventh-best WR in football with an 86.4 overall mark. He was worth every penny.
C Jason Kelce came in right behind Brown on PFF’s grade sheet after another masterful outing from the future Hall of Fame center. He finished the day with an 80.1 offensive grade, 80.1 pass blocking grade, and an 87.3 run blocking mark.
On 44 pass blocking reps, Kelce surrendered just one hurry on the day. He’s the leader of this stout offensive line and proved it once again on Sunday.
Not to mention, he had one of the nastiest blocks I’ve seen in my entire life.
Behind Kelce, we have another offensive lineman cracking the top-three highest graded players on the Eagles offense, RG Isaac Seumalo. The 29-year-old guard is probably the most overlooked member of this offensive line but he’s quietly had a Pro Bowl level season. He earned a 70.9 offensive grade for his performance on Sunday.
Seumalo is currently the 11th-best guard in PFF’s grading system, posting a 74.2 offensive grade on the year.
Eagles offensive line was once again dominant
Tell me if you’ve heard this before – the Eagles offensive line completely manhandled their opponent on Sunday. I know I’ve written that exact sentence a few times this year, and I imagine I’ll write it a few more times by season’s end.
Jeff Stoutland’s crew really gave Tennessee the business in pass protection, where they did a fine job keeping Hurts upright all afternoon.
On 46 passing plays, the Eagles o-line allowed just one pressure on the quarterback. Seven lineman saw at least 11 snaps of action against the Titans. None of them posted a pass blocking grade under 74.0.
Here’s how the Eagles lineman graded out as pass blockers (min. 10 snaps):
- Landon Dickerson: 88.9
- Lane Johnson: 85.7
- Jordan Mailata: 85.4
- Andre Dillard: 81.7
- Jason Kelce: 80.1
- Isaac Seumalo: 79.5
- Cam Jurgens: 74.3
I don’t how Stoutland does it. Each and every week, this offensive line shows up. Even Dillard and Jurgens posted impressive marks. Unreal.
The Eagles have the best offensive line in the league and it’s not close.
PFF grades for the entire Eagles offense
TJ Edwards, Reed Blankenship, and James Bradberry lead the way defensively
For the love of God, please get TJ Edwards in the Pro Bowl this season. He’s been lights out for the past two years and has really proved himself as an all-around great LB in 2022.
He posted the highest grade of any Eagles defender on Sunday, earning a 90.4 mark. Edwards posted six combined tackles and two defensive stops on the day.
As it stands, Edwards grades out at 84.6 for the year, the third-best mark among 82 qualifying linebackers. The guy is a stud, through and through.
While Edwards has been turning heads all season long, undrafted rookie safety Reed Blankenship has been the biggest surprise as of late. Last week, he was highest-graded Eagles defender. This week, he claims the No. 2 spot.
The rookie earned an 85.9 defensive grade for his outing, while also posting an 80.3 coverage grade. Blankenship was targeted four times in coverage and allowed two receptions for just 10 yards along with one pass breakup.
With CJ Gardner-Johnson out for at least four weeks, it appears the Eagles are in good hands with Blankenship. It’ll be interesting to see how Gannon utilizes his newfound safety gem once CGJ is cleared to play again.
Rounding out the top-three for the Eagles defense is none other than James Bradberry, who continued his solid 2022 campaign against Tennessee. He earned an 85.4 defensive mark on the day, along with a team-best 86.3 coverage grade.
The veteran corner didn’t allow a reception all day against Tannehill and Co. Through 13 weeks, Bradberry is now the highest-graded corner on the Eagles roster, posting a 76.2 defensive grade, good for 13th among 119 qualifying corners. His 81.2 coverage grade ranks fifth in the league.
Let’s talk about those rookie defenders
We already touched on Blankenship, who’s been nothing short of excellent over the past two weeks. But let’s talk a little bit about third-round pick Nakobe Dean, who before Sunday had only logged four defensive snaps on the season. He saw 15 snaps against Tennessee after Kyzir White went out momentarily with an injury, and the former Georgia Bulldog didn’t disappoint.
Somehow, Dean posted a team-high five solo tackles on just 15 snaps. He flashed the potential that so many of us have been waiting to see.
I still don’t understand how this man fell all the way to the third-round in this past year’s NFL Draft. Doesn’t make sense.
PFF handed Dean a 72.0 defensive mark on the afternoon, making him the eighth-highest graded defender for the Eagles on Sunday. His 78.2 tackling grade ranked fourth on the team.
Personally, I’ve wanted Dean to start from day one. White and Edwards have really exceeded expectations this season, keeping Dean sidelined for the time being. When he finally got his opportunity to shine in Week 13, he balled out. He should continue to see defensive reps the rest of the way in 2022. He’s simply too good to keep off the field.
PFF grades for the entire Eagles defense
Mandatory Credit: AP Photo
