The official snap counts from the Philadelphia Eagles’ Week 8 win over the New York Giants are in! Let’s take a look and run through some analysis.
OFFENSE
- Jordan Mailata is the only Eagles player to play 100% of the team’s offensive snaps this season.
- Jalen Hurts entered Week 8 with 100% of the Eagles’ snaps played but he was pulled for Tanner McKee to close out the game. McKee made his season debut to hand off the ball once and kneel down three times.
- Brett Toth did a real nice job of filling in for Cam Jurgens at center. And this despite going up against Dexter Lawrence. Kudos to him.
- DeVonta Smith was obviously WR1 with A.J. Brown out. He accounted for nine of the team’s 20 targets (45%), six of their 15 receptions (40%), and 84 of their 179 receiving yards (47%).
- Jahan Dotson was WR2 in this game. Prior to his eye-popping 40-yard touchdown catch with 5:59 left in the game, he had zero receptions on just one target. Good to see they ultimately got him involved … but it took a little longer than it should have.
- Dallas Goedert and Grant Calcaterra saw near identical playing time. The former was obviously more productive with three targets resulting in three catches for 28 yards and two touchdowns. Calcaterra did not see a target. This was actually the second-highest snap count percentage of Calcaterra’s season.
- Saquon Barkley had his most productive game of the season despite playing his lowest snap count of the season after suffering a groin injury on the final play of the third quarter. Barkley indicated he would’ve been able to return if the team needed him to play.
- Darius Cooper was WR3 in his first game back from injured reserve. He didn’t officially log a target in the box score but he did draw a defensive pass interference penalty to turn 3rd-and-11 into a first down when Hurts threw his way. Cooper also seemed to create some separation on other plays. Could be good to see the Eagles quarterback give him more chances.
- Time to stop listing Tank Bigsby as RB/KR. He sure isn’t a natural at returning kicks … but he’s a really nice contributor to have at running back. Bigsby’s nine carries resulted in 104 yards. And that wasn’t just about one big run or the offensive line always blocking things up perfectly for him. Bigsby created yardage by running hard and breaking through tackles. With a performance like that, Bigsby is making the case to get weekly touches as RB2 behind Saquon Barkley.
- The Eagles utilized Fred Johnson as a sixth offensive lineman (or, really, a blocking tight end) at a relatively high rate.
- TE3 Kylen Granson and TE4/FB Cameron Latu saw equal playing time on offense.
- John Metchie played nine snaps on offense after logging just seven offensive snaps in the Eagles’ last three games combined. He hasn’t logged a target since Week 4.
- Will Shipley didn’t provide much on offense as RB3 but he did play well on special teams.
- Interesting to see the Eagles gave Xavier Gipson a dedicated touch on a pop pass. He also took over for Dotson as punt returner in addition to lining up on kickoff return.
- Matt Pryor and Drew Kendall logged some garbage time snaps at the end of the game. These were Kendall’s first NFL regular season snaps on offense.
DEFENSE
- The Eagles’ top defenders (in terms of playing time) only having to play 45 snaps must’ve felt pretty good after they were averaging 66.7 snaps played over their first seven games. Between this low usage and the bye week, the Eagles’ defense should be well-rested when they return to the field in Week 10.
- Jalen Carter led all Eagles defensive linemen in playing time once again. He’s on the board with his first sack of the season.
- Kelee Ringo didn’t struggle as CB2 the way he did when he last played against the Giants in Week 6.
- Jalyx Hunt led the Eagles’ three-man edge rusher rotation and generated a team-high nine pressures, per NFL Next Gen Stats. He also logged his first sack of the season. Feels like Hunt is heating up after a quiet start.
- Nakobe Dean officially started against the Giants and he outsnapped first-round rookie Jihaad Campbell. Dean is a good player, so, it’s hard to complain about him being on the field. But it’s not ideal to see Campbell losing snaps.
- Joshua Uche had a forced fumbled that was overturned. He’s only logged on sack this season but he’s been more disruptive than the traditional box score indicates.
- Jordan Davis in 55 career games before this season: 5.5 sacks, 8 TFLs. Jordan Davis in eight games this season: 3 sacks, 4 TFLs.
- Moro Ojomo is up to a team-high four sacks this season.
- Patrick Johnson didn’t log a box score stat but he contributed to some of the Eagles’ pass rush success. He also did unfortunately trip to leave Cam Skattebo wide open for a touchdown catch.
- Parry Nickerson was on the field for Hunt’s first sack with Vic Fangio breaking out the Eagles’ dime package in the red zone.
- Reserve defenders Sydney Brown, Jeremiah Trotter Jr. (who made a really good tackle on a scrambling Dart), Smael Mondon, Marcus Epps, Ty Robinson, and Mac McWilliams saw some garbage time action on the Giants’ final drive.
SPECIAL TEAMS
- Jake Elliott played a season-high 14 snaps with Eagles kicking off seven times, attempting two field goals (one that he missed from 58 yards), and tacking on five extra points.
- Cal Adomitis continues to fill in for the injured Charley Hughlett.
- Braden Mann only punted once for the first time this season. Between this and the bye week, his leg is getting some rest.
DID NOT PLAY
INACTIVE: A.J. Brown, Cam Jurgens, Azeez Ojulari, Adoree’ Jackson, Sam Howell
ACTIVE: A.J. Dillon
- Note that Brandon Graham is not listed here because he’s not yet officially on the active roster. The Eagles have a two-week exemption that started when the team signed him last week. One would figure he’ll be ready to go when the Eagles return from their bye to play the Green Bay Packers in Week 10.
- Brown, Jurgens, Ojulari, and Jackson might be able to return after the bye. We won’t get our first official Eagles injury report ahead of the Packers game until Thursday, November 6 since it’s a Monday night game.
- With Bigbsy emerging as RB2 and Shipley providing special teams value as RB3, there’s really no need to keep Dillon around. The Eagles will probably cut him when they need to open up a roster spot. It’s possible they could bring him back on the practice squad but we’ll see if he’s interested in that role or not.