ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The Eagles didn’t score at all in the second half at Highmark Stadium but were still able to hold on to beat the Bills 13-12 in Week 17 in rainy conditions. On one hand, that’s a win over a quality opponent and the NFL’s reigning MVP. On the other, the Eagles were loo king like they were going to cruise to a victory and they ended up needing a blocked PAT and a stop on a 2-point conversion to win. Just one more regular season game before the Eagles host a game in the wild-card round. Here are the grades from Week 17: Quarterback Jalen Hurts: 13/27, 110 yards, 1 TD, 71.5 passer rating This was a tale of two halves for the Eagles offensively. They were able to score on their final three drives of the first half but couldn’t get anything going in the second half. In fact, Hurts didn’t complete a single pass in the second half, going 0-for-7. It’s a bit hard to give him a grade in this game but he did some really good things in the first half, including two very impressive third-down plays and passes to move the sticks. But Hurts protected the football, which could have been the difference in this tight game because Josh Allen’s turnover led to points. Grade: C+ Running back Saquon Barkley: 19 carries, 68 yards In the first half, Barkley had 11 carries for 51 yards. So that means he had 8 for 17 in the second half. Not great. For a lot of this game, it felt like Barkley was close to breaking a long run against one of the worst run defenses in the NFL but it just never came. His longest run of the game was a 16-yarder but it didn’t look like the struggles in the second half were on Barkley. Grade: C+ Receiver A.J. Brown: 5 catches on 7 targets, 68 yards With his 68-yard first half, Brown hit 1,000 yards for the season for the fourth consecutive year since joining the Eagles in 2022. This hasn’t been his best season but that’s still an impressive accomplishment. DeVonta Smith had 2 catches on 5 targets for just 25 yards and had an acrobatic catch overturned when the replay showed it hit the ground. Still, it was a heck of an effort. Grade: B- Tight end Dallas Goedert: 3 catches on 6 targets 8 yards, 1 TD It wasn’t a very busy day for Goedert but he continues to be a threat in the red zone. On Sunday, he caught his 11th touchdown pass of the season. That broke the franchise record for tight end touchdowns in a season, which was previously held by Pete Retzlaff, who had 10 touchdowns in the 1965 season. Grant Calcaterra also had 1 catch for 3 yards, while Cameron Latu got some run as a lead blocker. Grade: B- Offensive line The Eagles’ offensive line was facing one of the worst run defenses in the NFL and they didn’t get going the way you’d expect. Saquon Barkley had 51 yards in the first half but that production really dried up in the second half. The good news is that the line seemed to protect well for Hurts, who was sacked just one time for a loss of two yards. Grade: C Defensive line Jalyx Hunt: 7 tackles, 2 sacks, 3 QB hits This was a dominant performance from the Eagles’ defensive line against the reigning MVP. The Eagles sacked Josh Allen five times on Sunday; that’s the second-most sacks the Bills have given up in a game this season. And all five came from the defensive line: 2 for Hunt and 1 each for Jaelan Phillips, Jalen Carter and Moro Ojomo. All five of those sacks came from a four-man rush, according to NFL NextGen Stats. Even on the final defensive play (the 2-point conversion attempt), both Phillips and Carter were able to get pressure to make Allen throw the ball early and incomplete. The Eagles also kept the NFL’s leading rusher, James Cook, to just 74 yards on the ground on 20 carries. Grade: A+ Linebacker Jihaad Campbell: 7 tackles, 1 fumble recovery The Eagles were without Nakobe Dean (hamstring) in this game but rookie Jihaad Campbell filled in and played well. There was one play where Campbell had very tight coverage on Cook on an incompletion. And he also chased down the loose ball after Allen’s fumble. Zack Baun played a big role in stopping Allen’s rushing ability and stuffed him on a 4th-and-goal situation. Grade: A Secondary Marcus Epps: 9 tackles, 1 TFL Quinyon Mitchell played well on Sunday but was on the receiving end of a great play from a Buffalo receiver downfield and also got called for a weak DPI on another downfield throw. The Eagles had a coverage bust for an explosive in the first half when Cooper DeJean ended up trailing the receiver deep down the field. DeJean had another strong performance and got some “Cooooop!” chants in another road stadium. Reed Blankenship had a big hit in the first half and Marcus Epps seemed to have a solid game aside from a holding penalty that gave the Bills a first down. Grade: B+ Special teams Braden Mann: 7 punts, 55.4 average, long of 65, 2 inside 20 The Eagles’ punter had a tremendous game and nearly pinned the Bills at the 1-yard line but Cameron Latu made a mistake and grabbed the ball with his foot on the goal line for a touchback. It was also a great sign to see Jake Elliott make all his kicks on Sunday. He hit field goals from 47 and 28 and also made his only PAT. Britain Covey continues to show his toughness as a punt returner. He takes some hits but keeps getting back up. The Eagles did give up a 28-yard punt return, Latu made that big mistake and they were called for a procedural penalty on the opening kickoff. Grade: B+ Coaching Record: 11-5 The Eagles won another tight game and they deserve credit. Vic Fangio is calling almost perfect games with a defense that looks elite going into the playoffs. On offense, the play-calling was suspect in the second half as they had four consecutive 3-and-outs. Offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo had a really good first half but turtled in the second. It seems too conservative. At least Nick Sirianni was more aggressive at the end of the first half, something he hasn’t done enough this year. Grade: B- ...read more read less