The Eagles trailed the whole way on Sunday in their 25-14 loss to the Carolina Panthers. They’re now 2-4 in this miserable, injury-plagued season with three games to go before their bye week. And there’s just not a ton of optimism right now. Let’s get to the grades by position: Quarte rback Tanner McKee: 26/45, 215 yards, 1 TD, passer rating of 77.5 There were definitely some good moments from McKee in this game, like when he hit DeVonta Smith on a perfectly thrown ball for a 19-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to give the Eagles a chance. But those moments were fleeting. Getting his first start in place of Jalen Hurts (who is on IR with a blood clot), McKee just wasn’t good enough, but it’s hard to expect him to be great. The Eagles struggled against the blitz, which is a group effort but some of that has to fall on him. And there were some clear miscommunications with his receivers that need to get worked out. Cole Payton was the Eagles’ backup in this game and recently signed Joe Milton was the emergency third-stringer. Grade: C- Running back Dameon Pierce: 12 carries, 35 yards, 1 TD; 4 catches for 15 yards The Eagles were already without Saquon Barkley, Tank Bigsby and Will Shipley entering this game and then they lost Carson Steele to a shoulder injury. He tried to play through it but was eventually ruled out. Daemon Pierce started and got the bulk of the work but the Eagles just couldn’t run the ball again in this game. Pierce had a few nice runs but not enough and there are times where his vision is a little suspect. He did some nice things in pass protection but that’s not going to move the needle. Grade: C- Receiver DeVonta Smith: 7 catches on 14 targets, 75 yards, 1 TD Even though it seemed like DeVonta Smith was on a pitch count of sorts, the Eagles’ WR1 still had a nice game. He caught that beautiful touchdown pass to give the Eagles a chance to stick around in this game but he and McKee also had a miscommunication on a key third down. Dontayvion Wicks had 2 catches for 24 yards, Makai Lemon had 3 for 19 and Darius Cooper had 1 for 9. Grade: C Tight end Dallas Goedert: 6 catches on 8 targets for 61 yards It has been nice for the Eagles to have Dallas Goedert back on the field for the last couple weeks. He had those 6 catches and he also drew a key DPI that helped the Eagles punch in their first touchdown in the second quarter. Johnny Mundt was called for another hold in this game; he’s supposed to be the great blocking tight end but he has three holding penalties this year. Zach Ertz didn’t play in this game because the Eagles have already used up this three elevations and he’s still on the practice squad. Grade: C Offensive line The Eagles had Drew Kendall active for this game but he was just an emergency option. They started Jake Majors, who had a costly low snap to kill a crucial fourth-quarter drive. The Eagles’ OL couldn’t get much movement in the run game and even though they gave Tanner McKee some decent pockets, it wasn’t good enough. They also had a few penalties up front. Grade: D+ Defensive line Jalen Carter: 3 tackles, 1 PBU The Eagles came into this game light at edge rusher and then Nolan Smith was knocked out of the game with a concussion. It also looked like Jonathan Greenard was on a pitch count, so we saw a lot of Arnold Ebiketie and seventh-round pick Keyshawn James-Newby. Jordan Davis also got banged up in this game. Chuba Hubbard had 28 carries for 120 yards and a touchdown and the Eagles were able to get just 2 sacks on Bryce Young; one of those came when Young evaded pressure and was still brought down behind the line of scrimmage. Grade: C+ Linebacker Zack Baun: 6 tackles, 1 QB hit, 1 PBU Vic Fangio utilized Zack Baun as a blitzer and on the edge in moments to help generate some pass rush and that seemed to help a bit. The Eagles rotated Jihaad Campbell and Jeremiah Trotter Jr. in this game, with Campbell still getting the start. Campbell looked to be in coverage on the first Tommy Tremble touchdown in the first half. Grade: B- Secondary Cooper DeJean: 6 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 PBU The Eagles actually slowed down this dynamic Panthers offense for most of the game but Bryce Young still threw for 281 yards and 2 touchdown. The last touchdown was a dagger on a busted coverage. The Panthers schemed it up and Tremble was wide open. Cooper DeJean made some good plays but has also not bee a consistent tackler this season and was also called for a personal foul. All three of the cornerbacks gave up some plays in this game. Grade: C Special teams Braden Mann: 8 punts, 42.5 average, long of 65, 2 inside 20 Up until that awful kickoff rep late against the Jaguars, the Eagles’ special teams had been really good all season. Those units were not good at all on Sunday. Sure, Braden Mann did drill a 65-yard punt down to the 8 but he also shanked one and had another blocked. Britain Covey struggled to field those dirty kickoffs and on his one good return, Smael Mondon was called for a penalty to bring it back. Grade: D Coaching Record: 2-4 The Eagles played hard and that’s not nothing. The Eagles are now in the longest losing streak of the Nick Sirianni Era but it isn’t for lack of effort. Their problems are actually deeper than that. We see that on offense where there are miscommunications and no answers for blitzes. This team isn’t good enough to make the mistakes they’re making. So they might be playing with effort — and that barely saves them from an F — but it’s not a disciplined team. And that’s on coaching too. And they also just have zero answers on offense from Sirianni or Sean Mannion and that’s scary. Grade: D- ...read more read less