October 17, 2022

Eagles snap count analysis: Week 6 vs. Cowboys

By Jimmy Kempski
PhillyVoice Staff

Eric Hartline/USA TODAY Sports

The Eagles' lack of depth at safety was exposed a bit when Chauncey Gardner-Johnson missed some time with a hand injury.

In their Week 6 win over the Dallas Cowboys, the Philadelphia Eagles played 71 snaps on offense, and 67 on defense. Let's just get right to the snap counts, and some notes.

Quarterback

• 71 snaps: Jalen Hurts

Analysis: Hurts was 15 of 25 for 155 yards, 2 TDs, and 0 INTs. He ran 9 times for 27 yards. The Eagles came out firing out of the gate, as they called five straight pass plays to start the game. Thereafter, it was a run-heavy approach, especially after they (a) built a lead and (b) lost Lane Johnson for the game late in the second quarter.

Hurts played well enough, but the concern going forward will be how he and the Eagles' coaching staff will handle the blitz, because opposing defenses have had success with it.

We'll also quickly note here that Gardner Minshew has not yet played any snaps through the first six games of the season.

Running back

• 44 snaps: Miles Sanders

• 17 snaps: Kenny Gainwell

• 10 snaps: Boston Scott

Analysis: All three backs got involved Sunday night:

Eagles RBs	Rush	Yards	YPC	TD
Miles Sanders	18	71	3.9	1
Kenny Gainwell	5	25	5.0	0
Boston Scott	6	16	2.7	0

I'll be curious to see how well the Eagles' backs picked up the blitz on the re-watch.

Wide receiver

• 63 snaps: DeVonta Smith

• 61 snaps: A.J. Brown

• 42 snaps: Quez Watkins

• 9 snaps: Zach Pascal

Analysis: It felt like Nick Sirianni tried to get Brown involved early and often, after he was not targeted often against the Cardinals Week 5. Both he and Smith had scores. Brown's run after catch abilities were on full display Sunday night on several catches, including his score.

A.J. Brown with a Touchdown 🦅 🔥pic.twitter.com/uZu6ovxDS3
— Eagles🦅 Diehards (@DieHardsEagles) October 17, 2022

Smith also showed some veteran savvy leaking back into the end zone after showing block on the RPO.

SKINNY BATMAN@DeVontaSmith_6 | #DALvsPHI | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/5aE2hNxZrA
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) October 17, 2022

Side note: No. 6 on Dallas had a rough night.

Tight end

• 70 snaps: Dallas Goedert

• 32 snaps: Jack Stoll

• 7 snaps: Grant Calcaterra

Analysis: The tight ends only got 6 targets on the night. At the end of the first half, Stoll had more receiving yards (21) than all of the Cowboys' wide receivers combined.

Offensive line

• 71 snaps each: Jordan Mailata, Jason Kelce, and Isaac Seumalo

• 68 snaps: Landon Dickerson

• 37 snaps: Lane Johnson

• 34 snaps: Jack Driscoll

• 3 snaps: Sua Opeta

Analysis: The bye week comes at a good time for the offensive line as a whole. Johnson suffered a concussion in the second half and did not return to the game. He was the only starting offensive lineman who did not appear on the injury report heading into this game. Mailata, Dickerson, Kelce, and Seumalo all played through injuries. Mailata's shoulder was probably the most encumbering of the four injuries.

Defensive line

• 50 snaps: Fletcher Cox

• 48 snaps: Javon Hargrave

• 43 snaps: Josh Sweat

• 29 snaps: Brandon Graham

• 22 snaps: Jordan Davis

• 18 snaps each: Milton Williams and Marlon Tuipulotu

Analysis: Jonathan Gannon deployed his interior linemen in shifts, with Cox and Hargrave getting most of the work, while Williams and Tuipulotu started at least two defensive series.

This was not the defensive line's most disruptive game, as they did not register a sack, despite some opportunities against a makeshift Dallas offensive line. The lone obvious big play was Graham's hit on Cooper Rush that led directly to a Chauncey Gardner-Johnson INT on the back end.

Linebacker

• 65 snaps: T.J. Edwards

• 59 snaps: Kyzir White

• 49 snaps: Haason Reddick

• 15 snaps: Patrick Johnson

Analysis: Edwards led the team with 14 tackles, while White chipped in 8. Edwards had a physical night dealing with Ezekiel Elliott, who looked a little more spry than I have seen in watching other Dallas games this season. The Eagles got gashed in the run game at times throughout the game. Again, it will be interesting to see why there were seemingly some wide lines to run through.