Eagles vs. Cowboys PFF Grades: Top 5 players in Philadelphia’s regular season finale

Pro Football Focus releases the top five graded players from each team after every single NFL game. Here’s what PFF had to say about the Philadelphia Eagles following their Week 17 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

Top 5 Grades:

Edge Vinny Curry, 88.5 overall grade

Edge Chris Long, 81.3 overall grade

CB Patrick Robinson, 77.1 overall grade

G Stefen Wisniewski, 76.7 overall grade

DI Beau Allen, 75.8 overall grade

VINNY CURRY

Going to copy and paste what I already wrote about Curry:

Speaking of defensive ends, this was heck of a game for Vinny Curry. The stats only show two solo tackles and a quarterback hit but his impact was apparent in the game. He was the one who blew up a Cowboys running attempt on 4th-and-1.

It’s really surprising how he’s emerged as a strong run defender. That always seemed to be a weakness for Curry.

Curry finished the regular season ranked 22nd out of 109 edge rushers graded by PFF. His future with the team is unclear, but there’s no doubt he’s had a good season.

CHRIS LONG

Long finished with six total tackles (four solo), 0.5 tackles for loss, and one quarterback hit. He’s been a great “backup” for this team. He finished the season 34th out of 109 edge rushers.

PATRICK ROBINSON

Robinson had one tackle and one pass defensed. He finished the season graded fourth out of 121 corners. Who could’ve seen that coming?

According to PFF, Robinson was targeted 55 times in the slot this year. Opponent quarterbacks had a passer rating of 65.2 when targeting P-Rob. Only two corners finished better in that category.

STEFEN WISNIEWSKI

Wis played in his first game since suffering an ankle injury in Week 14.

The left side of the Eagles’ starting offensive line played the majority of the game, while the other three saw limited action against the Cowboys. Wisniewski saw 51 total snaps, allowing only two quarterback pressures and finishing with the second-highest run-block grade in the game at 77.4.

Good to know Wis is back to being healthy and effective in time for the playoffs.

BEAU ALLEN

PFF liked what they saw from Allen.

Allen looked a cut above the rest of the Eagles’ interior defenders. His extra experience is obviously a major advantage, and he even flashed a couple nice pass-rush moves. Selected to play nose tackle in a two-gap scheme, Allen was expected to depart with the arrival of the new coaching staff. Instead, he’s adapted his game, becoming more explosive to fit the penetrating style. Allen produced a beautiful hump move on one pass-rush snap, illustrating impressive conversion of speed to power. He’ll see important snaps in the postseason because Schwartz believes in rotating up front.

Honey Beau Beau graded 69th out of 124 defensive tackles in 2017. Nice.

Note that he’s going to be a free agent after this season.

HONORABLE MENTION

NATE SUDFELD

Sudfeld just missed finishing in the top five with a grade of 75.3. If he had enough playing time to qualify for the rankings, Sudfeld would be 27th out of 41 quarterbacks. Nick Foles, meanwhile, would be 38th out of 41. Only DeShone Kizer, Brock Osweiler, and Blaine Gabbert would be below Foles. Not exactly great company.

But back to Studfeld. Here’s a look at his best throw from the game.

DISHONORABLE MENTION

NICK FOLES

Surprise, surprise.

QB Nick Foles, 44.6 overall grade: It was another rough outing the Eagles’ backup signal-caller, as Foles dropped another snap from the shotgun and threw an ugly interception in the second quarter. Foles finished 4-of-11 for only 39 yards before the Eagles made a switch to put in Nate Sudfeld, the second-year man out of Indiana. Sudfeld was able to get the offense in rhythm more effectively than Foles, going 19-of-23 for 134 yards with 17 of those completions being thrown under 10 yards in the air.

Again, Foles can’t even catch shotgun snaps correctly. He’s failing on all levels right now.

Foles has stunk so bad in his last two starts.

RASUL DOUGLAS

CB Rasul Douglas, 30.8 overall grade: One of the few defensive players likely to see extensive action in the playoffs to see meaningful action against the Cowboys, Douglas did his case for playing time in the postseason no favors. He missed tackles throughout (two), committed a crucial penalty on third down and gave up a handful of big plays (the longest catch he allowed was for 51 yards). Overall, Douglas gave up seven receptions on 11 targets for 127 yards and a touchdown.

This just wasn’t a good game for the Eagles’ third-round pick. Douglas finished the season ranked 87th out of 121 corners.

SIDNEY JONES

If you were curious as to how Jones graded out, he got a 47.2. Jones only gave up one receptions for three yards on two targets but he bit on a double move that could’ve allowed a touchdown if Dak Prescott didn’t overthrow an open Terrance Williams.