September 14, 2026

Game ball, three stars, and snap count analysis: Week 1, Eagles vs. Commanders

Jalen Hurts and one his favorite longtime targets, Dallas Goedert, helped bury the Commanders in Week 1.

By Jimmy Kempski
PhillyVoice Staff

Eagles v Commanders - Claggett Zack-Baun-2

Colleen Claggett/for PhillyVoice

Zack Baun had a great first game of the season.

In their Week 1 win over the Washington Commanders, the Philadelphia Eagles played 55 snaps on offense and 70 on defense. Let's just get right to the snap counts, some notes, and some special recognition.

Quarterback

• 55 snaps: Jalen Hurts

Notes: Hurts was the reason the Eagles won this game. The Eagles had no rushing attack and poor pass protection, but Hurts made about a half dozen big plays (recapped here) that made the difference.

Running back

• 39 snaps: Saquon Barkley

• 10 snaps: Will Shipley

• 6 snaps: Tank Bigsby

• 2 snaps: Cooper DeJean

Notes: Barkley had absolutely nowhere to run all evening.

After being afforded a very low yards before contact last last season, Saquon Barkley had a 2nd percentile yards before contact per attempt in Week 1. This week would rank 2,729 of 2,785 qualifying games, per @SumerSports pic.twitter.com/UILivxltGM
— Shawn Syed (@SyedSchemes) September 14, 2026

Somehow, he still averaged 5.5 yards per carry anyway. Barkley rushed 15 times for 83 yards, with 42 yards coming on one long run that led to a touchdown.

Shipley got more snaps than expected, and weirdly a pair of carries during a crucial fourth-quarter drive, just before Dallas Goedert's long catch-and-run touchdown.

Wide receiver

• 52 snaps: DeVonta Smith

• 50 snaps: Dontayvion Wicks

• 35 snaps: Makai Lemon

• 8 snaps: Darius Cooper

Notes: I think we all expected Smith to dominate targets, but the ball was spread around. Let's sort this by target distribution:

Receiving	Targets	Rec	Yards	TD
DeVonta Smith	6	3	53	0
Dallas Goedert	5	4	77	2
Dontayvion Wicks	4	2	73	1
Makai Lemon	4	3	-5	0
Saquon Barkley	2	1	-3	0
Will Shipley	1	1	8	0

I'd have to watch the film to confirm, but it felt like Smith was getting extra attention, which makes sense from a defensive standpoint. Make someone else beat you, which, of course, Goedert and Wicks did. Smith did have one incredible sideline catch:

Smith also made a GREAT play on the onsides kick. There's a world where a lesser player is trying to field that kick, it clangs off his shoulder, the Commanders recover, and kick a game-winning field goal. This was a tough bounce to handle. Video via @EaglesFans9:

Wicks had a good Eagles debut. Dude can run routes.

Makai Lemon's debut, ehhh, not quite as impressive. 3 catches, -5 yards. I do think there's value in getting Lemon snaps so that he can grow as a player instead of wasting away on the sidelines. That's the only way he's going to get better. But he's also not as good as guys like Darius Cooper, Hollywood Brown, or Elijah Moore right now. The Eagles are going to have to find a balance between getting him snaps while also not having him hurt the offense.

Tight end

• 52 snaps: Dallas Goedert

• 20 snaps: Johnny Mundt

• 1 snap: E.J. Jenkins

Notes: Goedert had a great game as a receiver and looked faster than he did at any point last season. I got some pushback on social media by asserting in my "10 awards" post that Goedert had a down year in 2025 and was potentially a player in decline.

The argument against that Goedert's decline was that he had 11 TDs last season. And, sure, that's a lot of TDs! But he also fell off drastically as a blocker and even as a receiver did not look like the high-level athlete that he had been previously. I thought that one of the rare good things the Eagles' staff was able to do last season was scheme up open red zone targets for Goedert.

So, he was a concern for me heading into 2026. But he looked great in the debut.

Offensive line

• 55 snaps each: Jordan Mailata, Landon Dickerson, Cam Jurgens, Tyler Steen, Lane Johnson

Notes: Oof. As you saw, Dickerson had a brutally bad game. The Eagles are going to have to give him help going forward. He can't be on an island in pass protection anymore, and they're going to have to slide Jurgens his way. That's going to put added pressure on Steen on the other side to win one-on-one matchups all day.

The Eagles are also going to have to consider benching him if he isn't significantly better going forward. The problem for Dickerson is that this is probably going to be the healthiest he is all season, so it can actually get worse.

Edge defenders

• 53 snaps: Jalyx Hunt

• 47 snaps: Nolan Smith

• 28 snaps: Arnold Ebiketie

• 12 snaps: A.J. Epenesa

Notes: The Eagles barely touched Jayden Daniels all night, although they did create pressure. Maybe part of the game plan was to mush rush him to keep him from making plays with his legs?

On a snap count note, Ebiketie got a fair amount of high-leverage snaps on obvious passing downs. That's likely temporary, with Jonathan Greenard returning soon.

Interior defensive line

• 66 snaps: Jalen Carter

• 48 snaps: Moro Ojomo

• 34 snaps: Jordan Davis

• 6 snaps: Byron Young

Notes: I thought Davis did a nice job of clogging up the middle as usual, Ojomo made the huge play on the Commanders' two-point attempt, and Carter had a blocked PAT that made a big difference on the scoreboard.

The Eagles barely went to the bench, with Young only playing 6 snaps, and Ty Robinson playing none. That's something to watch going forward. I think they're going to have to give Carter breaks at some point. Playing 66 of 70 iDL snaps isn't easy.