Eagles Report Card: The Punt Re-Turner Did It

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

The final game of the preseason is the chance for the players remaining on the roster that haven't locked up a spot to show why they belong. In the Eagles 14-6 win over the Jets, there weren't many standouts.

This was an ugly game with plenty of mistakes, but most of the starters not playing, it's easy to brush that off and view it with indifference.

That said, for several players, this was their Super Bowl, their last chance to make it onto an NFL roster.

Here are the grades for the Eagles this week.

Pass Offense – C+ 

The best way to grade this group depends on who you put the focus on. Paul Turner and Dorial Green-Beckham were involved in the offense and showed flashes of being valuable players to the team. Chase Daniel looked decent, but made two key mistakes with interceptions including one in the redzone.

Otherwise, the offense struggled to move the ball consistently. It added up to a solid total for a whole game, but the Eagles never got the ball into the endzone, and their only trip to the red zone ended with an interception.

Run Offense – B-  

Cedric O'Neal struggled mightily, losing two fumbles. McLeod Bethel-Thompson scramble for 13 yards on one play only to lose the ball on a fumble as well. Five turnovers are far too many for any team in any game, even the ones who deal with garbage time of the final preseason game.

Pass Defense – B 

There were some errors here and there, but aside from a singular drive where the Jets scored on two plays over 10 yards, including the 44-yard strike for the score, the pass defense handled the job well.

Ed Reynolds had the big play on the night, a 90-yard interception return for a touchdown. The play was keyed by the same style we've become familiar with from Jim Schwartz's defense. Bryan Braman attacked the passer and hit him and with the pass forced into dangerous territory, Reynolds was there. The Eagles pass defense has done this like clockwork this preseason and have to hope this kind of success can translate over to the regular season.

Run Defense – B+

Remember, this game consists of predominantly reserves and fringe players. That said, even this week, the Eagles held the Jets to 67 yards, 15 of them coming on a QB scramble by Christian Hackenberg. To hold the Jets to 52 yards on the night on set running plays with backups, that's pretty good.

Special Teams – B+

There were no real field goal chances for either kicker, and both got a chance to kick an extra point. It was Caleb Sturgis' spot to lose and he's pretty much earned it at this point over Cody Parkey.

Donnie Jones just got a final tuneup before the regular season.

And back to Turner, who took punts on special teams this week. Sometimes it was an adventure, but with lots of time and space on one return, Turner returned it 71 yards for a touchdown. Turner has been productive in some way every week this preseason. It's going to be hard to keep him off the roster.

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