Eagles snap count analysis: Week 15 at Bears

In their Week 15 win over the Chicago Bears, the Philadelphia Eagles played 73 snaps on offense, and 59 on defense. Let's just get right to the snap counts, and some notes.

Quarterback

• 73 snaps: Jalen Hurts

Analysis: Way back in joint practices in Miami this summer, the Florida temperatures were around 90 degrees, but somehow it felt far more sweltering than the hottest days in the Philly area that occasionally surpass triple digits. It was just a different kind heat, where the temps feel way hotter than the actual number.

Similarly, Chicago feels way colder than the temps would suggest. It was around 18 degrees with winds of around 12-15 MPH on Sunday morning, when I had to choose between getting an Uber from my hotel to the game, or walking. Coming from the Philly area, I've seen plenty of 18 degree days. "Screw it, I'm a tough, rugged man, I'll walk," my dumb brain volunteered on behalf of the rest of my body. Bad idea. It was only about 1.2 miles, but that walk suuuuucked. The air coming off the Lake Michigan is just absolutely bone chilling, and I haven't been that cold in a very long time. I didn't have gloves, and my hands basically didn't work when I got to the media entrance. I was legitimately struggling to open the zipper on my computer bag so that security could inspect it.

Anyway, I'm going a long way to note that it must've been very hard to play quarterback in that weather on Sunday, and I think it affected Hurts for a while in that game, before he finally adapted and settled in.

Throughout the season, we have said that Hurts has not yet had a bad game. On Sunday, he was 22 of 37 for 315 yards, 0 TDs, and 2 INTs, for a QB rating of 64.6. He added 17 carries for 61 yards and 3 TDs. The passing numbers don't look great in print, but the Eagles got the ball in the end zone three times on a miserable day, and Hurts made clutch throws when the Eagles needed them. While this will not be a game one might point to in support of Hurts winning the MVP this season, I also don't necessarily think it was a bad game either, considering the conditions.

Running back

• 40 snaps: Miles Sanders

• 29 snaps: Kenny Gainwell

• 4 snaps: Boston Scott

Analysis: Sanders was 11 for 42 on the ground, a 1 for -13 with a fumble through the air. He also got chewed out pretty badly by Nick Sirianni on a run play in which it looked like he left some meat on the bone.

Wide receiver

• 70 snaps: DeVonta Smith

• 65 snaps: A.J. Brown

• 48 snaps: Quez Watkins

• 18 snaps: Zach Pascal

Analysis: The Eagles' receiving numbers against the Bears:

Eagles receiving	Targets	Rec	Yards	YPC	TD
A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith	24	14	307	21.9	0
Everybody else	13	8	8	1.0	0

Better things happened when Hurts targeted Brown and Smith than when he targeted everybody else. #NextLevelAnalysis.

Tight end

• 58 snaps: Jack Stoll

• 29 snaps: Grant Calcaterra

• 3 snaps: Tyree Jackson

Analysis: If the Bears and Cowboys were flip-flopped on the Eagles' schedule (Cowboys Week 15, Bears Week 16), I wonder if Dallas Goedert would have been elevated from injured reserve, and played. The Eagles would never admit this, but maybe they erred on the side of caution with Goedert against an inferior opponent in the Bears when they wouldn't have in a more important matchup against a better team? Earlier in the week, Goedert seemed to think he'd be good to go.

(To be clear, if the Eagles held Goedert out on the premise that they could beat a bad team without him, I think that was the smart choice.)

Offensive line

• 73 snaps each: Jordan Mailata, Landon Dickerson, Jason Kelce, Isaac Seumalo, Lane Johnson

• 1 snap: Cam Jurgens

Analysis: This was the sixth time this season that all five offensive line starters played every snap.

Defensive line

• 44 snaps: Josh Sweat

• 40 snaps: Fletcher Cox

• 37 snaps: Javon Hargrave

• 32 snaps: Linval Joseph

• 19 snaps: Ndamukong Suh

• 16 snaps: Brandon Graham

• 14 snaps: Jordan Davis

• 11 snaps: Milton Williams

Analysis: As we noted in our 10 awards, the Eagles might have four players reach double-digit sacks this season, something that has never happened in the history of the NFL. Haason Reddick is already there with 12, Hargrave has 10, Sweat has 9.5, and Graham has 8.5.

As a team the Eagles now have 55 sacks, which is 7 shy of the team record of 62 set in 1989 under Buddy Ryan. The NFL record is 72, set by the 1984 Bears, you know, also under Buddy Ryan.

That's not totally out of reach. The defensive line's snap counts are down, so they should be fresh for these final three games against teams with banged up offensive lines.

Linebacker

• 57 snaps: T.J. Edwards

• 44 snaps: Haason Reddick

• 41 snaps: Kyzir White

• 15 snaps: Patrick Johnson

Analysis: Edwards now has 124 tackles on the season, which ties him for eighth in the NFL.

Cornerback and safety

• 59 snaps each: Darius Slay, James Bradberry, Avonte Maddox, and Marcus Epps

• 41 snaps: K'Von Wallace

• 2 snaps: Josiah Scott

Analysis: It looked like Maddox played some safety in this game, particularly on obvious passing downs. He had a nice day, picking up 6 tackles, 2 forced fumbles (one of those probably should have been credited to Reddick, but whatever), and at least one pass breakup. He looks like his hamstring is back to something close to 100 percent.

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