January 16, 2024
In their wildcard round playoff loss the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Philadelphia Eagles played 59 snaps on offense and 70 on defense. Let's just get right to the snap counts, and some notes.
• 57 snaps: Jalen Hurts
• 2 snaps: Marcus Mariota
Analysis: As we noted in our 10 awards, Hurts' numbers don't look bad on paper, but he had a bad performance, with one of the signature plays of the game being his intentional grounding penalty in the end zone for a safety. He just kept drifting further and further back, losing his awareness of where he was on the field before being corralled by the Bucs' pass rush.
Questions about Hurts' leadership emerged late in the season, and during his postgame press conference he was given the opportunity to have Nick Sirianni's back. At first he pretended like he didn't understand why that was a question, saying, "I didn't know that he was going anywhere."
When pressed for a real answer, Hurts said, "I have a ton of confidence in everyone in the building."
Not exactly a ringing endorsement.
• 40 snaps: D'Andre Swift
• 19 snaps: Kenny Gainwell
Analysis: Swift rushed 10 times for 34 yards. Gainwell rushed 4 times for 3 yards. Together they averaged 2.6 yards per carry. The Bucs prioritized shutting down the run by packing the box, and dared the Eagles to beat them through the air without A.J. Brown. And, well, that worked.
• 57 snaps: DeVonta Smith
• 48 snaps: Quez Watkins
• 38 snaps: Olamide Zaccheaus
• 17 snaps: Julio Jones
• 3 snaps: Britain Covey
Analysis: Smith was a rare Eagles player who showed up Monday night. He had 8 catches for 148 yards. Watkins had a typical Watkins game. He caught 3 passes on 4 targets for 12 yards, and a deep ball thrown in his direction fell harmlessly to the turf. At least it wasn't picked, I guess.
Poor Julio Jones chose this team as potentially his final NFL stop. He left the game early with a concussion and did not return.
• 48 snaps: Dallas Goedert
• 24 snaps: Jack Stoll
• 1 snaps: Grant Calcaterra
Analysis: Goedert had 4 catches for 21 yards and a TD. He also had a sideline spat with Hurts.
Frustration on the Eagles sideline
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) January 16, 2024
pic.twitter.com/wxmhQpYi1V
Goedert downplayed the interaction, but, I mean, we have eyes.
• 59 snaps each: Jordan Mailata and Cam Jurgens
• 57 snaps each: Jason Kelce, Landon Dickerson, and Lane Johnson
• 2 snaps each, Jack Driscoll, Sua Opeta, and Fred Johnson
Analysis: This obviously wasn't the offensive line's best day, either. They struggled to pick up blitzes, or open up holes in the run game.
This appears to be Kelce's final NFL game. Johnson said that he has a few more good years in him.
• 49 snaps: Haason Reddick
• 47 snaps: Josh Sweat
• 33 snaps: Brandon Graham
• 16 snaps: Nolan Smith
Analysis: The pass rush actually did generate some pressure in this game, something they have not done in quite some time. Sweat had his first since since the Dallas home game Week 9.
• 42 snaps: Jordan Davis
• 38 snaps: Fletcher Cox
• 37 snaps: Jalen Carter
• 28 snaps: Milton Williams
• 17 snaps: Marlon Tuipulotu
Analysis: If this was Cox's last game with the Eagles, he went down fighting. Again, the defensive line played reasonably well Monday night, but it was too little, too late.
• 70 snaps: Zach Cunningham
• 64 snaps: Nicholas Morrow
Analysis: The linebackers made Cade Otton look like Travis Kelce.
• 70 snaps each: Kevin Byard and Avonte Maddox
• 65 snaps: Darius Slay
• 39 snaps: James Bradberry
• 35 snaps each: Kelee Ringo and Bradley Roby
• 15 snaps: Eli Ricks
Analysis: Releasing Bradberry is going to result in a huge cap hit, but the team simply cannot bring him back. He was outstanding in 2022, but dreadful in 2023. On team full of players whose play regressed, Bradberry was probably the most extreme example. He got dusted on what should have been a long TD pass to Mike Evans, but was bailed out on a bad Evans drop, and he missed several tackles.
Slay left on a cart. He was walking around postgame with a bad limp, which the team wouldn't let him do if he had suffered a serious injury. He'll very likely be back in 2024 because of his contract.
Byard and Roby were in-season pickups who did not pan out. They won't be back in 2024, I presume.
Ringo will likely be given an opportunity to win a starting job in training camp next season.
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