Eagles PFF Grades: Philadelphia's defense missed so many tackles in the Cardinals game

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 Arizona Cardinals in Week 15. PFF offers explanation on their grading system on their website. Read more about that here.

OFFENSE

Best

Jason Kelce +1.8
Jordan Matthews +1.4
Brent Celek +1.3
Lane Johnson +1.2
Josh Huff +1.0

Analysis:

Before we get started, Sam Bradford finished with a +0.5 grade.

Kelce finished with a positive run grade while Johnson graded out well in pass protection.

Matthews had a big day with eight receptions on 11 targets for 159 yards and a touchdown. His 77-yard score came in garbage time, however.

Celek caught two passes for 31 yards. He made an impressive catch on a back shoulder throw from Sam Bradford.

Huff had a solid receiving performance with four receptions for 52 yards.

Worst

Zach Ertz -2.5
Ryan Mathews -2.5
Nelson Agholor -2.4
Allen Barbre -1.7
Darren Sproles -1.1

Analysis:

Ertz had a productive game: he finished with eight receptions on 11 targets for 78 yards and a touchdown. He did have two drops, however. He also finished with a negative run blocking grade.

Mathews was a productive runner. He had 58 yards on 11 carries. The problem was that he coughed up a fumble late in the game. For as talented as Mathews is, he's always struggled with fumbles. Mathews was also penalized once, which hurt his grade.

Agholor played the most snaps of an offensive skill player. He was targeted once and didn't record a single catch. Agholor ranks 120th out of 120 wide receivers graded by PFF this season. Dead last. For the second year in a row, the Eagles are failing to get any kind of significant production out of their first round pick.

Barbre struggled in pass protection. He allowed three hits and one hurry on Bradford.

Sproles only gained nine yards on six rushing attempts.

DEFENSE

Best

Fletcher Cox +2.4
Cedric Thornton +1.3

Analysis:

To no surprise, Cox was one of the few bright spots on Philadelphia's defense. He had four tackles, two hits, one sack, one hurry, and one hit. He also had three run stops.

Thornton was the other player to finish with a positive grade. Usually solid in run defense, Thornton actually earned a positive grade for getting pressure on Carson Palmer. He had three hurries on just 13 pass rush snaps.

Worst

Taylor Hart -3.6
Eric Rowe -2.4
Brandon Graham -2.1
Kiko Alonso -2.1
Ed Reynolds -1.7
Beau Allen -1.5
Byron Maxwell -1.4
Jaylen Watkins -1.1
Vinny Curry -1.1
Mychal Kendricks -1.0

Analysis:

Yikes. There's a lot of bad here. The Eagles actually combined for a total of 15 missed tackles. That's really bad. Watkins led all players in whiffs with three.

Hart, Graham, Alonso, Reynolds, Allen, Watkins, and Curry all finished with bad run defense grades. Rowe, Maxwell, and Kendricks all graded poorly in coverage. So much awfulness.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Best

Josh Huff +2.5

Analysis:

Huff averaged 23.6 yards on five returns. His longest went for 39.

Worst

Chris Maragos -1.5

Analysis:

Maragos was penalized for a block in the back on one of the Eagles' returns.