Eagles-Dolphins PFF Grades: Mark Sanchez played better than Sam Bradford

Pro Football Focus is everyone's favorite site that grades NFL player performances. Let's take a look at what they had to say about Eagles players from Philadelphia's loss to the Miami Dolphins in Week 10. PFF offers explanation on their grading system on their website. Read more about that here.

OFFENSE

Best

Zach Ertz +5.0
Mark Sanchez +1.1
Josh Huff +1.0

Analysis:

Ertz led the way on offense with a really high grade. The third-year tight end finished with seven receptions for 68 yards. He also had a nice touchdown catch that was wiped out due to an illegal shift penalty by Riley Cooper. Even more encouraging for Ertz is that he earned a positive run block grade.

Believe it or not, Sanchez finished as the team's second best offensive player. He finished with 14 completions on 23 attempts for 156 yards, zero touchdowns, one interception, and a 63.0 rating. Oddly enough, Sanchez graded out better on plays when he was pressured versus plays he wasn't. Take a look at the splits:

Pressure	Drop-backs	Att.	Com.	Com. %	Yds	Yds / Att.	TD	INT	Sk	NFL QB Rating	Pff.com Rating
No pressure	15	14	7	50	78	5.6		1		37.2	-1.6
Plays under pressure	9	9	7	77.8	78	8.7				102.8	2.1

During his Monday press conference, Kelly said Sanchez graded out well in his performance against the Dolphins, but the head coach did highlight Sanchez's interception as a mistake on him and not so much Miles Austin.

Huff was targeted four times. He had three receptions for 23 yards and one touchdown. He played 42 snaps, which is three less than Austin and 10 less than Cooper. Considering how bad the latter two have been, it can't hurt to play Huff more often.

Worst

Matt Tobin -6.7
Lane Johnson -4.3
Sam Bradford -2.6
Brent Celek -2.6
Miles Austin -2.4

Analysis:

Philadelphia obviously struggled to block well in this game. Tobin earned the worst overall blocking grade. The team's starting right guard allowed one hit and four hurries on the quarterback. Johnson didn't grade out much better in his second start at left tackle. Johnson allowed a whopping four hits on the quarterback. He also had a false start, which which marks his ninth penalty on the season. The only positive is that Johnson earned a positive run blocking grade.

Celek had a huge game as a pass catcher, but he graded out very, very poorly as a run blocker.

Austin was obviously terrible. He didn't record a reception despite being targeted four times. He also played a part in Sanchez's interception near the end of the game.

As for Bradford ... it seemed like he was playing relatively well before getting hurt. PFF doesn't seem to agree. His traditional stats sure look good: 19 completions on 25 attempts (76%) for 234 yards (9.4 average), one touchdown, zero interceptions, and a 118.1 rating. Despite this, he earned a negative grade. Here's some explanation via BGN's PFF correspondent:

"Bradford's passing grade was about average (he had a +0.5 passing grade) but he was downgraded for some poor pocket awareness. Still waiting on some checks which might tinker with the pocket presence grading."

DEFENSE

Best

Fletcher Cox +4.9
Malcolm Jenkins +3.7
Walter Thurmond +2.9
Cedric Thornton +2.7
Bennie Logan +2.6
Vinny Curry +2.3
Connor Barwin +2.1
Brandon Graham +1.5

Analysis:

The Eagles' defense played well. Cox led the way with one sack, two hits, and a total of NINE hurries on Ryan Tannehil. He was also a beast as a run stopper.

Jenkins and Thurmond continued their strong play at safety. Thurmond recorded a sack fumble on Tannehill that forced a safety.

Thornton and Logan were strong at defending the run, as always. Curry generated pressure in his regular role coming off the bench.

Barwin had a sack, three hurries, and one batted pass. Graham had a sack and one hurry.

Worst

DeMeco Ryans -1.7
Chris Maragos -1.5
E.J. Biggers -1.2

Analysis:

Ryans was marked down for his struggles as a run defender. He missed at least one tackle.

Speaking of missed tackles, Maragos missed two. He actually tackled Mychal Kendricks instead on one play, which led to a huge gain by Dolphins receiver Rishard Matthews. Maragos seems to be getting exposed as the team's nickel safety, at least when it comes to tackling.

Biggers earned a negative coverage grade for allowing 38 yards on two receptions.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Worst

Jon Dorenbos -3.5
Seyi Ajirotutu -2.0
Chris Maragos -1.0

Analysis:

Dorenbos had a number of bad snaps in this game, which contributed to the Eagles having a punt blocked and a short field goal missed. PFF rated Dorenbos as the best long snapper in the NFL prior to this season. What happened?

Ajirotutu missed a tackle and was penalized once. The penalty looked like a pretty weak call, however.

Chip Kelly noted that Maragos, in addition to a bad snap from Dorenbos, was responsible for allowing the blocked punt.