November 18, 2019
In the Philadelphia Eagles' Week 11 loss to the New England Patriots, the offense was on the field for 75 snaps, while the defense was on the field for 74. Let's see how those snaps were distributed, with analysis.
• 75 snaps each: Carson Wentz, Isaac Seumalo, Jason Kelce, Brandon Brooks
• 73 snaps: Jason Peters
• 51 snaps: Halapoulivaati Vaitai
• 25 snaps: Lane Johnson
• 8 snaps: Andre Dillard
Analysis: Johnson left with a head injury and did not return. His availability for Week 12 against the Seahawks will undoubtedly be a storyline to watch all week, as there is a drastic difference in the Eagles' success (or lack thereof) when Johnson is in the lineup (or not).
It was surprising -- to me, anyway -- that the Eagles opted to put Vaitai in for Johnson instead of Dillard. Yes, Vaitai has experience at RT and Dillard doesn't, but Dillard is a far more talented player. If Johnson can't go next week, with a week of preparation, the Eagles will have to decide if they want to try to get Dillard ready to start at RT, or if they're content to just put Vaitai out there again.
• 64 snaps: Miles Sanders
• 14 snaps: Boston Scott
Analysis: I was very surprised to see how many more snaps Sanders played than Scott. Sanders had 11 carries on his 64 snaps, while Scott had 7 carries on his 14 snaps. Odd.
Jay Ajayi was active for this matchup, presumably just for an emergency situation, but he did not play.
• 66 snaps: Nelson Agholor
• 64 snaps: Jordan Matthews
• 19 snaps: J.J. Arcega-Whiteside
• 13 snaps: Mack Hollins
Analysis: The group as a whole: 17 targets, 6 receptions, 75 yards. That would be 4.4 yards per target.
At least we did see Hollins come open for a change, but Wentz missed him. Hollins still hasn't had a catch since September.
Arcega-Whiteside made a 29-yard catch on an impressive off-schedule play by Wentz in the fourth quarter.
Matthews was not a savior. He was targeted 6 times, and had 1 catch for 6 yards.
And, of course, there's Agholor, who had 4 catches for 40 yards on 9 targets, including what could have been a game-tying catch near the end of regulation.
• 67 snaps: Zach Ertz
• 61 snaps: Dallas Goedert
Analysis: Ertz had a very good game, catching 9 passes for 91 yards on 11 targets. Goedert had a nice run after the catch on a screen, but add him to the list of receivers who are not making all the plays they should be making. He dropped Wentz's best throw of the day.
• 66 snaps: Fletcher Cox
• 65 snaps each: Brandon Graham and Derek Barnett
• 29 snaps: Timmy Jernigan
• 24 snaps: Josh Sweat
• 18 snaps: Anthony Rush
• 14 snaps: Vinny Curry
• 10 snaps: Genard Avery
• 8 snaps: Albert Huggins
Analysis: The Eagles' defensive line was excellent against the Pats. They pressured and frustrated Tom Brady all evening long, getting him off his spot and forcing him into bad throws. Against a different style of quarterback, they might've had 5-10 sacks in this game. They were the biggest reason for holding the Pats to just 17 points on 13 possessions.
• 73 snaps: Nate Gerry
• 40 snaps: Kamu Grugier-Hill
• 11 snaps: T.J. Edwards
• 3 snaps: Duke Riley
Analysis: The linebackers generally played pretty well against the Pats. Gerry continues to improve, though he did have a costly missed tackle.
The real encouraging bright spot, however, was Grugier-Hill, who had his best game of the season. He revealed post-game in the locker room that this was the first game that he played without his knee brace. He was finally able to fly around the field and make plays the way that he did all throughout training camp. KGH had 3 tackles for loss.
• 74 snaps each: Malcolm Jenkins, Rodney McLeod, and Jalen Mills
• 70 snaps: Ronald Darby
• 63 snaps: Avonte Maddox
• 18 snaps: Rasul Douglas
• 15 snaps: Rudy Ford
Analysis: Mills has been legitimately good since returning to the team from the PUP list. He had inside and outside responsibilities against the Patriots, and played well.
Ford and Douglas split the snaps that might have otherwise gone to Andrew Sendejo.
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