Let’s break down the Philadelphia Eagles’ snap counts from their Week 4 win (!) over the San Francisco 49ers, shall we?
OFFENSE
- Jordan Mailata made his first NFL start at left tackle and didn’t miss a snap. He seemed to be OK out there!
- Zach Ertz saw the most playing time of any skill player but the 49ers kept him clamped down. Ertz had just four receptions for nine yards on five total targets. We all know Ertz isn’t good when it comes to yards after the catch but that much was especially stark after watching George Kittle be a monster in this game. Ertz hasn’t been helping his case for a new contract; he only has 139 yards so far. He obviously draws extra attention but you could say the same for Kittle, who had 183 yards on Sunday night alone.
- John Hightower led all Eagles wide receivers in playing time for the second week in a row. He only had two receptions for 22 yards but one of them came on a crucial 4th-and-4 conversion.
- Miles Sanders only logged 15 total touches in this game. He averaged 3.5 as a rusher and had two receptions for 30 yards. The Eagles curiously didn’t use him on their final offensive drive …. was he “fatigued” once again? If so, that’s kind of a problem.
- Travis Fulgham officially started and logged the third most receiver snaps. He obviously had the biggest play of the game with a 42-yard touchdown reception down the left sideline. Nice Eagles debut for the 25-year-old!
- Lane Johnson started at right tackle but was in and out of the lineup due to the ankle injury that’s been plaguing him. Jack Driscoll played at right tackle when Johnson was out.
- Richard Rodgers actually made some solid contributions with Ertz getting so much attention. He had three receptions for 35 yards and would’ve had even more if Wentz didn’t overthrow him while he was open down the field for a chunk gain.
- No targets for Deontay Burnett.
- Boston Scott logged just two carries for one yard. No targets.
- Adrian Killins outsnapped Corey Clement in his NFL debut. The Eagles used Killins in motion at times and tried with a sweep with him that resulted in -12 yards.
- Clement only had two carries for three yards. Safe to say the Eagles could afford to have better running back depth behind Sanders.
- Jalen Hurts ran for 18 yards on three attempts. 14 of those came when he ran up the gut on 3rd-and-34 late in the second quarter. The 49ers sniffed out a trick play where he was supposed to throw back to Carson Wentz.
DEFENSE
- Rodney McLeod hasn’t missed a snap this year. He came up with the Eagles’ first takeaway since Week 17 last year.
- Jalen Mills took snaps at outside cornerback with Avonte Maddox out and Trevor Williams on injured reserve.
- Nathan Gerry is on the field too much.
- Fletcher Cox’s impact admittedly goes beyond stats but he did not log a stat in this game despite playing the second most defensive line snaps.
- Duke Riley is on the field too much
- Marcus Epps saw an increased role with Mills having to play corner.
- It was an active night for Derek Barnett. The 2017 first-round pick logged half a sack, one tackle for loss, and two quarterback hits. Good to see.
- Cre’Von LeBlanc strip-sacked Nick Mullens at one point. Strap just makes plays! The Eagles shouldn’t be so reluctant to play him.
- K’Von Wallace played a career high 27 defensive snaps. He struggled against Kittle at times but that’s obviously a pretty tough draw. Good to see him on the field, nevertheless.
- Josh Sweat’s snap counts have decreased each week: 70% to 57% to 53% to 37%. Despite this, he still has one sack, one tackle for loss, and one quarterback hit in this game. That brings Sweat up to three sacks in four games this year.
- Hassan Ridgeway got in on the sack party.
- T.J. Edwards didn’t return after suffering a hamstring injury. That meant more playing time for Alex Singleton, who benefited from Nick Mullens throwing right at him to set up a pick six.
- You may have previously noticed I give Howie Roseman a lot of shit for the Genard Avery trade. In my defense, he had a bad camp, he was a healthy scratch in Week 2, and he only had one tackle (no other stats) last week. But Avery was very efficient in this one with one sack, one tackle for loss, and a team-leading FIVE quarterback hits. Now that’s the production you’d like to see more often!
SPECIAL TEAMS
- Ford left the game with a hamstring injury and didn’t return. He made a nice special teams tackle on punt coverage early in the game.
- Not listed in the graphic but Luke Juriga also played three special teams snaps.
DID NOT PLAY
INACTIVE: Alshon Jeffery, DeSean Jackson, J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, Hakeem Butler, Avonte Maddox, Nate Sudfeld, Casey Toohill
ACTIVE: Jason Huntley, Jamon Brown
