Eagles ratings by position after bold win over Saints originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

NEW ORLEANS – It wasn’t an easy win, but it was an important one.

The Eagles were superior to the Saints for much of the game on Sunday, but were still able to escape the Superdome with a narrow 15-12 victory.

The Birds are now 2-1 and head to Tampa before their Week 5 off.

Let’s get to the notes:

quarterback

Jalen Hurts: 29/38, 311 yards, 1 INT; 8 runs, 25 yards, 1 lost fumble

It's really difficult to rate Hurts in this game because he played really good football without his two best receivers for most of the afternoon. He delivered the ball on time and led a game-winning drive. But the turnovers have to stop. Hurts threw his fourth interception of the season in the first half when he was intercepted by Tyrann Mathieu in the red zone. And then Hurts lost the ball on the Eagles' next drive. He was a big reason the Eagles didn't score in the first half – but he was also a big reason they were able to win in the second half.

Grade: B-

Run back

Saquon Barkley: 17 carries, 147 yards, 2 TDs; 4 catches, 9 yards

On the play after DeVonta Smith was ejected from the game, Barkley broke off a 65-yard touchdown run, showing off his acceleration as he outran defenders. It was the Eagles' longest run since Miles Sanders broke off an 82-yard run in 2020. In a game with Alvin Kamara on the other sideline, Barkley was clearly the best running back in the game. After three weeks, Barkley was as advertised.

In 14 games with the Giants last year, Barkley had more than 100 rushing yards once. As an Eagle, he did it twice in three weeks.

Class: A

Recipient

DeVonta Smith: 7 catches on 10 attempts, 79 yards

The Eagles entered this game without AJ Brown, then lost Britian Covey to a shoulder injury and DeVonta Smith in the fourth quarter when he suffered a concussion on a hard hit in the middle of the field. But Smith was productive before the injury and the Eagles got help from Covey, Jahan Dotson, Johnny Wilson and Parris Campbell. The Eagles will miss Brown, of course, but every receiver who played in this game caught a ball.

Grade: B

Tight end

Dallas Goedert: 10 catches in 11 attempts for 157 meters

After the loss to the Falcons, there were a lot of questions about why Goedert wasn't catching more passes. That changed Sunday. Goedert had 170 receiving yards, which surpassed his previous career high of 135 in 2021. And his 11 receiving yards are the second most of his career. Did Grant Calcaterra miss a few blocks in that game? Sure. But we're not taking points away from the tight end group, not after Goedert put in the best performance of his career catching the football.

Rating: A+

Offensive line

The Eagles lost the right side of their line to injuries in the first half. Mekhi Becton went down with a finger injury and Lane Johnson suffered a concussion. There were some early hiccups, but substitutes Fred Johnson and Tyler Steen did enough to secure the Eagles' win. To their credit, they were willing to step in.

Grade: B+

Defensive line

Jalen Carter: 4 tackles, 1 QB hit, 2 TFLs, 2 PBUs

The Eagles were hit hard by the run against the Falcons in Week 2 and there was a legitimate fear that it would happen again against the Saints. But the Eagles held Alvin Kamara to 87 rushing yards on 26 attempts, an average of 3.3 yards per carry. The Eagles managed just one sack – that of Jordan Davis in the first quarter. But they put good pressure on Derek Carr and Jalen Carter was very good. It was by far his best game of the season so far. Brandon Graham also had an impressive performance and had a QB hit.

Class: A

Linebackers

Zack Baun: 13 tackles; 9 solo tackles

Against his former team, Baun led the game in tackles and was all over the field. Even on the pass where Kamara outran him down the left sideline, Baun was in good position. Nakobe Dean also had a good game with 8 tackles and a TFL. Believe it or not, the Eagles have really solid linebacker play right now.

Class: A

Secondary

Reed Blankenship: 2 tackles, 1 INT, 1 PBU

There were a couple of third-down conversions for Chris Olave, but the Eagles held Carr to 142 passing yards and intercepted him to decide the game in the fourth quarter. This was Blankenship's second game-winning interception in three games. Darius Slay was injured after an unfair shot by Trevor Penning and was replaced by Kelee Ringo. Ringo was targeted early when he entered the game. Quinyon Mitchell made a nice defense off a deep ball to get a PBU on Rasheed Shaheed, who is incredibly fast. CJ Gardner-Johnson wasn't perfect, but he played despite an injury and was very physical in his return to New Orleans.

Grade: B+

Special teams

Jake Elliott: 0/1, miss from 60

The Eagles had a blocked punt when JT Gray came around the corner unblocked to catch the ball that was at Braden Mann's feet. Elliott had only one chance at a field goal and missed it by a wide margin from 60 yards. After Covey got injured, Cooper DeJean stepped in. DeJean caught one punt fair and returned the other for a tough 6 yards.

Grade: C

Coaching

Record: 2-1

If the Eagles had lost that game, we'd be spending the next week talking about Nick Sirianni's game management. Some of those issues cropped up again in this game. The Eagles were 1-for-3 on fourth down attempts in that game, giving up two makeable field goals in a close game. The worst decision came at the end of the second quarter, when the Eagles made a playoff tush-push look on 4th-and-1 with just 14 seconds left on the clock. The upside was they made the first down and maybe had a throw or two in the end zone. Sirianni should have just scored the points.

The Eagles were also penalized 45 yards seven times, including for being too strong on offense.

Grade: C

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