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November 19, 2018

Eagles snap count analysis: Week 11 vs. Saints

In the Philadelphia Eagles' loss to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, the Birds were playing a bunch of guys who I didn't even know existed a few weeks or months ago. That's no excuse for the wretched football they've played of late, but it does help explain their fall from grace this season.

Quarterback and offensive line

• 51 snaps each: Carson Wentz, Jason Peters, Isaac Seumalo, Brandon Brooks, Lane Johnson

• 45 snaps: Stefen Wisniewski

• 6 snaps: Jason Kelce

• 1 snap: Halapoulivaati Vaitai

Analysis: Kelce had to have his elbow popped back into its socket, and he tried his damnedest to get back on the field anyway. Is that maybe a positive takeaway from this game? No? OK, I tried.

Running back

• 28 snaps: Josh Adams

• 14 snaps: Corey Clement

• 4 snaps: Wendell Smallwood

Analysis: Adams had a nice TD run, but the Eagles need to invest in a real running back next offseason.

Wide receiver

• 51 snaps: Alshon Jeffery

• 44 snaps: Nelson Agholor

• 36 snaps: Golden Tate

• 14 snaps: Jordan Matthews

Analysis: Tate's 36 snaps look bad on paper again, though he did play 71 percent of the snaps in this game because the Eagles' putrid offense could only stay on the field for 51 total plays. Still, if the plan was for Tate to play anything other than close to 100 percent of the snaps, then trading a third-round pick for an eight-game rental was dumb, even if the Eagles season hasn't completely since gone in the toilet. It's even worse now that it has. 

Tight end

• 47 snaps: Zach Ertz

• 16 snaps: Dallas Goedert

Analysis: You take a tight end with your first pick in the 2018 Draft, the kid shows that he can actually play, and he gets 34 snaps combined the last two games in an offense that can't move the ball or put points on the board. I don't get it.

Defensive line

• 49 snaps: Fletcher Cox

• 42 snaps: Michael Bennett

• 42 snaps: Brandon Graham

• 39 snaps: Chris Long

• 33 snaps: Haloti Ngata

• 30 snaps: T.Y. McGill

• 23 snaps: Treyvon Hester

• 20 snaps: Josh Sweat

Analysis: It felt a lot more like the Eagles' defensive line played 0 snaps. They hit Drew Brees once. ONCE! He attempted 30 passes, lol. Did they even get off the plane?

Linebacker

• 70 snaps: Nigel Bradham

• 64 snaps: Jordan Hicks

• 29 snaps: Kamu Grugier-Hill

• 6 snaps: Nate Gerry

Analysis: Remember before the season when many believed linebacker was the position where the Eagles were the most vulnerable in terms of depth? Forget depth. It turns out that the starters just aren't very good.

Cornerback and safety

• 70 snaps: Malcolm Jenkins

• 61 snaps: Corey Graham

• 51 snaps: Rasul Douglas

• 43 snaps: Cre'Von LeBlanc

• 26 snaps: Chandon Sullivan

• 24 snaps: DeVante Bausby

• 22 snaps: Sidney Jones

• 17 snaps: Avonte Maddox

• 6 snaps: Tre Sullivan

 Analysis: Hmmmm, where to begin here? Graham is done, Douglas has been downright bad in the two games he has started, Jones seems to be injury-prone, and four of the above players were on practice squads at times this season.


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