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December 12, 2022

Eagles snap count analysis: Week 14 at Giants

What can we learn from the snap count from Sunday's win?

Eagles NFL
121122BostonScott Vincent Carchietta/USA TODAY Sports

The Eagles got to rest starters in a blowout for the second straight game, and for the third time this season.

In their Week 14 win over the New York Giants, the Philadelphia Eagles played 68 snaps on offense, and 64 on defense. Let's just get right to the snap counts, and some notes.

Quarterback

• 63 snaps: Jalen Hurts

• 5 snaps: Gardner Minshew

Analysis: This was the third time this season — and the second time in as many weeks — that Hurts was able to come out of a game early with a huge lead. His MVP season just keeps chugging right along.

Running back

• 45 snaps: Miles Sanders

• 12 snaps each: Boston Scott and Kenny Gainwell

Analysis: Sanders scored two rushing touchdowns on Sunday, Hurts scored one, and Scott scored one, bringing the Eagles' total on the season to 27, the most in the NFL by a decent margin (the Cowboys have 21). The Eagles are on pace to score 35 rushing TDs this season, which would place them third all-time behind the 1924 Frankford Yellow Jackets (38) and the 1962 Green Bay Packers (36).

Let's go ahead and update the Eagles' 2022 rushing stats vs. 2021, when they were easily the best rushing offense in the NFL:

Eagles rushing O 2021 2022 
 Rush yards per game156.1 162.2 
Rush first downs per game 9.2 10.5 
Rush yards per attempt 5.0 4.9 
Rush TDs per game 1.4 2.1 
% of rushes resulting in first down 29.6% 31.4% 

The right column is better than the left column.

Wide receiver

• 62 snaps: DeVonta Smith

• 58 snaps: A.J. Brown

• 32 snaps: Quez Watkins

• 19 snaps: Zach Pascal

• 5 snaps: Britain Covey

Analysis: Smith and Brown combined for 9 catches for 134 yards and two TDs, and it really wasn't even that great of a day for them.

Brown is now on pace for 85 catches for 1,334 yards and 13 TDs. Smith is on pace for 86 catches for 1,013 yards and seven TDs. Remember in 2020 when Travis Fulgham led Eagles receivers with 539 yards?

Tight end

• 47 snaps: Jack Stoll

• 39 snaps: Grant Calcaterra

• 9 snaps: Tyree Jackson

Analysis: Calcaterra saw a little bit of an elevated role on Sunday, as he was targeted four times. He had two catches for 24 yards, plus a nice block on Sanders' fourth quarter TD run.

Offensive line

• 68 snaps each: Jordan Mailata and Landon Dickerson

• 63 snaps each: Jason Kelce and Isaac Seumalo

• 56 snaps: Lane Johnson

• 12 snaps: Jack Driscoll

• 5 snaps each: Cam Jurgens and Andre Dillard

Analysis: Johnson came out of this game with an abdominal injury, and did not return. He said postgame that he could have kept playing if it were a competitive game in the fourth quarter. He'll undergo more testing today.

Defensive line

• 31 snaps: Javon Hargrave

• 30 snaps: Josh Sweat

• 29 snaps each: Brandon Graham, Fletcher Cox, and Ndamukong Suh

• 24 snaps: Milton Williams

• 19 snaps: Linval Joseph

• 15 snaps: Jordan Davis

Analysis: The Eagles have outstanding depth along their defensive line, and the snap counts show that. Hargrave led the Eagles' defensive linemen this week with just 31 snaps, or less than 50 percent of the team's defensive snaps. He led the D-line in snaps last week, too, with just 29.

Credit Tracy Rocker and Jonathan Gannon for getting so many players involved, and putting them in roles that accentuate their skill sets.

BG had three sacks on Sunday , while Cox, Sweat, Williams, and Haason Reddick each had one. The Eagles now lead the NFL in sacks, with 49. They have four players with a pretty good shot at topping double-digit sacks:

  1. Haason Reddick is already there (10)
  2. Brandon Graham (8.5)
  3. Javon Hargrave (8)
  4. Josh Sweat (7.5)

The team record for sacks in a season is 61, set in 1989 under Buddy Ryan. That team had three players with 10 or more sacks:

  1. Clyde Simmons: 15.5
  2. Reggie White: 11
  3. Jerome Brown: 10.5

The Eagles' pass rush should be well rested and in a position to wear opposing offensive lines out down the stretch.

On a side note, Joseph and Davis played at the same time on a number of occasions on Sunday. That's 664 combined pounds of run-stopping man beef in the middle of the defense.

Linebacker

• 55 snaps: Haason Reddick

• 48 snaps: T.J. Edwards

• 36 snaps: Kyzir White

• 14 snaps: Patrick Johnson 

• 12 snaps each: Nakobe Dean and Christian Elliss

Analysis: Edwards was very physical in this game, making several violent tackles. Saquon Barkley was held to 28 yards on nine carries, a week after Derrick Henry was held to 30 yards on 11 carries. That would be a combined 20 carries for 58 yards (2.9 YPC).

Cornerback and safety

• 64 snaps: Marcus Epps

• 52 snaps each: Darius Slay and James Bradberry

• 49 snaps: Avonte Maddox

• 46 snaps: K'Von Wallace

• 18 snaps: Reed Blankenship

• 16 snaps: Josiah Scott

• 12 snaps each: Zech McPhearson and Josh Jobe

Analysis: Blankenship was carted off in the first half with a knee injury, and did not return. The Eagles are very thin at safety, with Chauncey Gardner-Johnson on IR (lacerated kidney). If Blankenship is going to miss a substantial amount of time, roster moves are on the horizon.


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