December 23, 2019

Eagles snap count analysis: Week 16 vs. Cowboys

By Jimmy Kempski
PhillyVoice Staff

In the Philadelphia Eagles' Week 16 win over the Dallas Cowboys, the offense was on the field for 72 snaps, while the defense was on the field for 62. Let's see how those snaps were distributed, with analysis.

Quarterback and offensive line

• 72 snaps each: Carson Wentz, Jason Peters, Isaac Seumalo, Jason Kelce, Brandon Brooks, and Halapoulivaati Vaitai

• 4 snaps: Andre Dillard

Analysis: Assuming he doesn't get injured in a freak tractor accident over Christmas, Wentz is going to start all 16 games for the first time since his rookie season in 2016.

Jason Peters' penalty total is up to 11 on the year, after a false start and a block in the back call, though in fariness, the block in the call occurred when a defender turned his back to Peters, he tried to hold up, and it looked like he only put his hands on the defender to keep himself from falling. Still, his penalties this year have been costly.

I barely noticed Vaitai yesterday, which I guess is a good thing, considering most felt that his matchup against DeMarcus Lawrence was a losing one for the Eagles. The Eagles did some creative things in their pass protection schemes, likely designed to take some pressure off of Vaitai, which I'm looking forward to checking out.

Running back

• 59 snaps: Miles Sanders

• 20 snaps: Boston Scott

Analysis: Sanders is clearly the most explosive player in the Eagles' offense, and it's not even close. He also seems to be handling a heavier workload just fine. In a short amount of time, he has become a true "three-down back."

Wide receiver

• 51 snaps: Greg Ward

• 45 snaps: J.J. Arcega-Whiteside

• 29 snaps: Robert Davis

Analysis: Ward, Arcega-Whiteside, and Davis all had catches within the first 8 minutes of the game. It was good to see Wentz get them all involved early. Ward ended up with 4 catches for 71 yards on 5 targets. Is it ridiculous to suggest that he has been Wentz's most reliable wide receiver this season?

Tight end

• 65 snaps: Dallas Goedert

• 59 snaps: Zach Ertz

• 28 snaps: Josh Perkins

Analysis: We (or "I" or whatever) goof on Ertz at times for his lack of yards after the catch, but I wouldn't question his toughness, as he has played through a number of injuries throughout his career, most recently against Dallas after he took a crunching hit from Xavier Woods.

Goedert played the highest snap share of his career on Sunday, with 90 percent of the snaps, and he came up big, with 9 catches for 91 and a tuddy.

Defensive line

• 54 snaps: Fletcher Cox

• 45 snaps: Derek Barnett

• 44 snaps: Brandon Graham

• 32 snaps: Timmy Jernigan

• 28 snaps: Josh Sweat

• 24 snaps: Vinny Curry

• 13 snaps: Anthony Rush

• 8 snaps: Bruce Hector

Analysis: Cox didn't get much rest against the Giants or Washington team, and he didn't get much rest against the Cowboys either, despite getting injured at one point. He's going to have to play close to 100 percent of the snaps in each game the rest of the season.

Linebacker

• 62 snaps: Nigel Bradham

• 46 snaps: Nate Gerry

• 11 snaps: T.J. Edwards

• 3 snaps: Duke Riley

Analysis: I can't speak to how well the linebackers played without having re-watched the game, but they held Ezekiel Elliott to 47 yards on 13 carries, so I'll assume they did their jobs.