The Eagles took care of business on Sunday, beating the Cowboys 41-7 to clinch the NFC East title.

They came into the game with their backup quarterback and finished with their third-stringer but that didn’t matter. The Eagles dominated on Sunday and swept their biggest rival.

They clinched the division and the No. 2 seed in the NFC.

Let’s get to the grades:

Quarterback

Kenny Pickett: 10/15, 143 yards, 1 TD

The Eagles were without Jalen Hurts (concussion) in this game so they started Kenny Pickett despite a significant ribs injury. Pickett battled through the injury, with some extra padding in his flak jacket, until he took a couple hits in the second half and had to exit. But then third-stringer Tanner McKee stepped in and finished strong, completing 3 of 4 passes for 54 yards and 2 touchdowns. It’s hard to ask more from your backup and your third-string quarterbacks in a game to clinch the division. The last two times the Eagles had to start a backup, they lost late in the 2022 season. So this was a big-time performance from Pickett and McKee.

Grade: A

Running back

Saquon Barkley: 31 carries, 167 yards

At halftime, Barkley had just 13 carries for 40 yards and it looked like he was going to finish this game well shy of 2,000 yards on the season. But he ended up having a big third quarter and finished the game with 31 carries for 167 yards and is now sitting at 2,005 for the season, just 100 behind Eric Dickerson’s all-time record. Barkley is just the ninth player in NFL history to go over 2,000 yards in a season.

Grade: A

Receiver

DeVonta Smith: 6 catches on 7 targets for 120 yards, 2 TDs

As has become standard, the only receivers to be targeted in this game were DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown. In this game, that wasn’t an issue. Smith had his best performance of the season and was able to catch touchdown passes from both Pickett and McKee. A.J. Brown finished with 3 catches on 5 targets for 36 yards and a touchdown. The biggest mistake a receiver made in this game was when Brown launched the ball into the stands. But Brown made up for it; he swapped out a signed game jersey to get back McKee’s first touchdown ball.

Grade: A

Tight end

Grant Calcaterra: 1 catch on 2 targets for 34 yards

Dallas Goedert will be eligible to return next week against the Giants even though that game might not have any meaning. Calcaterra had just one catch in this game but it was a spectacular one on 3rd-and-8 in the second quarter. A few plays later, Pickett hit Smith on a third down for a 22-yard touchdown to go up 14-7. Huge play from Calcaterra at a point in the game where it was still close.

Grade: A-

Offensive line

During the third quarter, some of the offensive linemen knew Barkley was getting close to 2,000 yards and told him to push for it. Even though Barkley gets credit for the huge season, the offensive line has been paving the way for him all season and they view all of his accomplishments as group accomplishments. They also gave Pickett and McKee clean pockets, keeping Micah Parsons and the Cowboys without a sack.

Grade: A

Defensive line

Nolan Smith: 2 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 FF

Cowboys running back Rico Dowdle went over 100 yards and Cooper Rush was sacked just one time in this game and it came late in the blowout. But Nolan Smith forced a fumble and the Eagles ultimately limited the damage from Dowdle and made some plays on Rush. Jalen Carter had a big batted pass that Smith nearly intercepted. Bryce Huff returned after missing five games, left with a shoulder injury but was able to return. The Eagles didn’t get a ton of pressure all game but they got enough.

Grade: A-

Linebacker

Oren Burks: 8 tackles, 1 FF

Without Nakobe Dean, the Eagles started veteran Oren Burks in his spot and then rotated Jeremiah Trotter Jr. in as the game went on. Burks ended up leading the team in tackles with 8 and also forced one of the Eagles’ two fumbles. Zack Baun had 7 tackles and a pass breakups. Trotter had 3 tackles, a QB hit and half a sack.

Grade: A-

Secondary

C.J. Gardner-Johnson: 1 tackle, 2 INTs, 2 PBUs

There were some leaky moments early for the secondary and there were a few passes given up by Darius Slay and Quinyon Mitchell. But Gardner-Johnson had his second-career 2 INT game and returned the first one back 69 yards for his first-career touchdown. He now leads the team with 6 interceptions. Rush ended up completing just 15 of 28 passes for 147 yards with 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions.

Grade: A

Special teams

Jake Elliott: 2/2 on FGs, 5/5 on PATs, 5 touchbacks on kickoffs

In addition to making all of his field goals, Elliott also took over kickoff responsibilities and did a good job of keeping the ball away from dangerous return man KaVontae Turpin. 

Grade: A

Coaching

Record: 13-3

I didn’t love Nick Sirianni’s decision to punt on 4th-and-1 from their own 46-yard line in the first quarter but let’s not get too nit-picky after a 41-7 win. The Eagles’ offense operated at a high level with the second-string and third-string quarterbacks. And the defense really settled down after a 70-yard drive in the first quarter. Also, the decision to go to Elliott as the kickoff guy paid off.

Grade: A

Subscribe to Eagle Eye anywhere you get your podcasts: 
Apple Podcasts | YouTube Music | Spotify | Stitcher | Simplecast | RSS | Watch on YouTube