In their Week 13 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, the Philadelphia Eagles played 72 snaps on offense and 59 on defense. Let's just get right to the snap counts, and some notes.
Quarterback
• 67 snaps: Jalen Hurts
• 5 snaps: Marcus Mariota
Analysis: Hurts missed his first snaps of the season when he went inside to be evaluated for a concussion. He obviously passed, because he only missed five snaps before returning to the field. Those are the only five snaps Hurts has missed all season.
Hurts was 26-for-45 for 298 yards, 1 TD, and 0 INTs. As noted in our 10 awards column, he was mostly protected well throughout the day, but receivers had difficulty getting open or Hurts wasn't finding them if they did. The tape will tell the story on that front.
We haven't often seen the Eagles on the wrong side of a blowout during the Nick Sirianni era, so it was interesting to see how he would handle that kind of situation. With 5:13 left in the fourth quarter and a 23-point deficit, Sirianni left Hurts and all the rest of the starters in the game, even though Hurts had already gotten hurt in the game. During his postgame press conference, Sirianni was asked what the benefit of keeping starters in the game was.
"We were still down two possessions," he said. "There was some time. We had our timeouts still. Just trying to continue the game."
When he was reminded that they were down by three-plus possessions, Sirianni said, "Yeah, we're going to fight to the end."
The Eagles got bullied by the Niners on Sunday, so I can understand the impulse from a coach's perspective to not want to waive the white flag, and finish the game with the starters. However, the Eagles have a game next weekend in Dallas that is kind of a big deal, and once this game became unwinnable pulling the starters should have been the obvious decision. Sirianni failed to see the forest for the trees.
Running back
• 39 snaps: Kenny Gainwell
• 30 snaps: D'Andre Swift
• 6 snaps: Boston Scott
Analysis: While "fighting to the end," as Sirianni put it, Swift got absolutely creamed by Deommodore Lenoir in garbage time.
Swift had to leave the field after that hit, so we'll see if that will affect his playing status next week in Dallas. Jack Stoll also had to go to the blue medical during that final garbage time drive.
Swift had major contributions in each of the last two wins over the Chiefs and Bills, but the Eagles' rushing attack was non-existent against the 49ers. The running backs combined for just nine carries for 20 yards before the Eagles mostly abandoned the run.
Oddly, we're back to Gainwell getting more snaps than Swift, which simply doesn't make any sense.
Wide receiver
• 72 snaps: DeVonta Smith
• 62 snaps: A.J. Brown
• 46 snaps: Quez Watkins
• 24 snaps: Olamide Zaccheaus
• 10 snaps: Julio Jones
Analysis: Again, the tape will reveal if the receivers weren't getting open as much as they should have, but Brown (8-114-0) and Smith (9-96-1) both had good statistical performances. Smith made a hell of a play when he charged through a few Niners defenders for an unlikely first down in the second half. He and Brown came to play.
Watkins had three catches for 28 yards, and he was involved in a play deep down the field that could have been flagged for pass interference (I thought it could have gone either way), but wasn't. Ideally you'd like to see Watkins come back for the football on that type of play and force the issue.
Zaccheaus and Jones weren't targeted, and Jones' snaps were down significantly from last week. He played 47 snaps against the Bills Week 12.
- MORE EAGLES
- Handing out 10 awards from the Eagles-49ers game
- Eagles control entire playoff destiny even after loss to 49ers
- Final observations: 49ers 42, Eagles 19
Tight end
• 32 snaps: Albert Okwuegbunam
• 26 snaps: Jack Stoll
• 13 snaps: Grant Calcaterra
Analysis: Dallas Goedert should be back next week against the Cowboys. His absence against the 49ers probably allowed Fred Warner to play more of a spy role on Hurts than he otherwise would have.
The argument for signing Zach Ertz is that Okwuegbunam and Calcaterra combined for 45 snaps and did virtually nothing. Should Goedert go down again, the Eagles could use a legitimate NFL player who can at least keep opposing defenses honest.
Offensive line
• 72 snaps each: Jordan Mailata, Landon Dickerson, Jason Kelce, Cam Jurgens, Lane Johnson
Analysis: Johnson was a star in this game, as he all but erased Nick Bosa, who had the benefit of pinning his ears back and trying to attack the quarterback all day. In an otherwise miserable game for the Eagles, Johnson showed why he is the best offensive lineman in the NFL.
The line as a whole mostly protected Hurts, who had plenty of time to throw. The run game was non-existent, but again, the Eagles' offensive staff also abandoned it.
Edge defenders
• 42 snaps: Haason Reddick
• 41 snaps: Josh Sweat
• 25 snaps: Brandon Graham
• 11 snaps: Nolan Smith
Analysis: Colton McKivitz couldn't block Reddick early in the game when the Eagles were able to get the Niners into obvious passing situations, but once their offense got cooking they were able to take Reddick out of the game.
Sweat had a devastating neutral zone infraction in a goal-to-go situation that gave the Niners four points early in the game.
From a snap count perspective, Reddick and Sweat both played at least 80 snaps last week against the Bills, so this was at least a more normal game for them in terms of playing time, in case anyone is looking for any silver lining they can get.
Interior defensive line
• 38 snaps each: Jalen Carter and Fletcher Cox
• 34 snaps: Milton Williams
• 31 snaps: Jordan Davis
• 11 snaps: Marlon Tuipulotu
• 1 snap: Moro Ojomo
Analysis: Carter had an emotional moment on the sideline after drawing a personal foul on a PAT.
He hasn't experienced many losses playing football, and didn't take it well.
Otherwise, I didn't think the defensive line played all that poorly in this game. They got pressure on Brock Purdy at times, but got no help at all from the back seven. They can't do it on their own.
Linebacker
• 59 snaps: Nicholas Morrow
• 44 snaps: Christian Elliss
Analysis: Zach Cunningham has been the Eagles' best linebacker this season, and the defense sure could have used his physical presence in this game. Morrow was abysmal in this game, particularly in coverage. His lowlight was when he guessed that Christian McCaffrey was running an out route, so he ran to the sideline while McCaffrey instead ran up the field wide open. Oops!
Shaq Leonard will soon make a decision on whether he will play for the Eagles or the Cowboys. From an Eagles perspective, Leonard could have watched the linebackers on Sunday and realized that Philly needs him more than Dallas. On the other hand, he could have watched the Eagles get bullied all evening and decide that he'd rather play in a Cowboys defense that is simply better than the Eagles'. We'll see.
Cornerback and safety
• 59 snaps each: James Bradberry, Reed Blankenship, Kevin Byard
• 55 snaps: Darius Slay
• 26 snaps: Bradley Roby
• 7 snaps: Sydney Brown
• 5 snaps: Eli Ricks
• 4 snaps: Josh Jobe
Analysis: The Eagles secondary had zero pass breakups and a slew of missed tackles. As a group, they got owned by the Niners' skill position players. Alarming performance.
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