December 05, 2022
Bill Streicher/USA TODAY Sports
Javon Hargrave was the Eagles' busiest defensive lineman on Sunday, and he only had to play 28 snaps.
In their Week 13 win over the Tennessee Titans, the Philadelphia Eagles played 73 snaps on offense, and 55 on defense. Let's just get right to the snap counts, and some notes.
• 64 snaps: Jalen Hurts
• 9 snaps: Gardner Minshew
Analysis: Hurts was 29 of 39 for 380 yards, 3 TDs, and 0 INTs. Remember when one of the concerns about his game was that he over-favored the right side of the field? Yeah, not anymore.
Is Hurts now the favorite in the MVP race? His two biggest competitors for that distinction — the Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes and the Dolphins' Tua Tagovailoa — both lost on Sunday.
Minshew and the rest of the backups got some playing time in mop up duty with a 25-point fourth quarter lead.
• 39 snaps: Miles Sanders
• 20 snaps: Kenny Gainwell
• 17 snaps: Boston Scott
Analysis: The Eagles attacked the Titans' young secondary all afternoon, so Sanders had a quiet game, with just 10 carries for 24 yards. He did get in the end zone for his 9th rushing TD of the season.
Gainwell contributed in the passing game, making three receptions on four targets for 38 yards.
• 63 snaps: DeVonta Smith
• 60 snaps: A.J. Brown
• 37 snaps: Quez Watkins
• 28 snaps: Zach Pascal
• 9 snaps: Britain Covey
Analysis: Brown and Smith wrecked the Titans' secondary, combining for 13 catches for 221 yards and 3 TDs. Here were their individual numbers:
| Eagles WRs | Targets | Rec | Yards | TD |
| A.J. Brown | 10 | 8 | 119 | 2 |
| DeVonta Smith | 8 | 5 | 102 | 1 |
| Quez Watkins | 6 | 5 | 37 | 0 |
| Zach Pascal | 3 | 2 | 16 | 0 |
Hurts connected on 74.1 percent of his passes to the receivers, many of which were deep shots down the field.
We should also mention Covey, who had a great day as a punt returner, averaging 17.5 yards per return on six punt returns.
• 54 snaps: Jack Stoll
• 28 snaps: Grant Calcaterra
• 8 snaps: Tyree Jackson
Analysis: The three-headed Dallas Goedert-replacement trio of Stoll, Calcaterra, and Jackson (Jantree Stolcaterson?) had its best performance of the season as receivers. Those guys combined for four catches on four targets for 60 yards.
• 73 snaps: Jordan Mailata
• 67 snaps: Isaac Seumalo
• 64 snaps each: Jason Kelce, Lane Johnson, and Landon Dickerson
• 15 snaps: Andre Dillard
• 11 snaps: Cam Jurgens
• 9 snaps: Jack Driscoll
Analysis: I'd have to go back and look at how the offensive line played for any proper analysis, but Hurts was only sacked twice for five yards on 41 dropbacks. The Eagles' versatility as an offense has largely been attributed to Hurts, and rightfully so, because of his running ability as well as his meteoric rise as a passer. However, the offensive line is also outstanding whether you need them to move bodies in the run game, or keep them away from the quarterback in the passing game. Their versatility is a huge part of the equation as well.
The pre-snap penalties have to get cleaned up, though.
• 28 snaps: Javon Hargrave
• 27 snaps each: Josh Sweat and Fletcher Cox
• 25 snaps each: Milton Williams and Ndamukong Suh
• 18 snaps: Brandon Graham
• 13 snaps: Linval Joseph
• 6 snaps: Jordan Davis
Analysis: The big takeaway here is that the Eagles' busiest defensive lineman on Sunday only had to play 28 (!) snaps. Because the team is so absurdly flush with depth along the D-line, they should be fresh for the playoffs. That could be a major, under-discussed advantage in January.
Davis only played six snaps in his return to the field. It's probably a little premature to make any assumptions on his usage in his first game back.
• 43 snaps each: T.J. Edwards and Haason Reddick
• 40 snaps: Kyzir White
• 15 snaps: Nakobe Dean
• 12 snaps: Patrick Johnson
• 10 snaps each: Christian Elliss and Kyron Johnson
Analysis: One of the interesting developments from this game was the play of Dean, who came on in relief of a banged up White. Dean had five tackles on the day in limited action. A few of those came on special teams, but it was clear to see how active Dean was in the regular defense as well.
This offseason, both starting linebackers (Edwards and White) are scheduled to be unrestricted free agents. I think the Eagles would like to keep Edwards, but White could be a player who moves on. I think Dean showed some promise that he can step into White's role in 2023, if so.
• 55 snaps: Reed Blankenship
• 45 snaps each: Marcus Epps, James Bradberry, and Darius Slay
• 41 snaps: Josiah Scott
• 12 snaps: Zech McPhearson
• 10 snaps: Andre Chachere
• 10 snaps: K'Von Wallace
Analysis: Treylon Burks made an outstanding catch on a contested catch in the end zone for a 25-yard TD, but otherwise, the Titans' wide receivers combined for three catches on eight targets for 16 yards.
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