October 16, 2023
In their Week 6 matchup against the New York Jets, the Philadelphia Eagles played 70 snaps on offense and 65 on defense. Let's just get right to the snap counts, and some notes.
• 70 snaps: Jalen Hurts
Analysis: Hurts made the worst mistake of the game, when he tried to fit this throw into Dallas Goedert.
Obviously, that throw is not there, and he made a game-changing mistake in the worst moment possible. However, I didn't think this was a terrible performance overall. The stat sheet looks ugly with the three INTs, but two of them were not on Hurts, and he made his fair share of very good throws otherwise.
He just didn't get the kind of help he is accustomed to, with receivers dropping/fumbling passes and his line often allowing immediate pressure. If Goedert doesn't have a pass ripped out of his hands and picked, or DeVonta Smith doesn't have a couple a uncharacteristic bad drops, or Kenny Gainwell doesn't drop what would have been a first down, or Lane Johnson doesn't get hurt, the outcome is probably different and Hurts' day doesn't look so bad.
I do think that this is the type of game that will fuel the rhetoric from the "system quarterback" folks, silly as that may be.
• 40 snaps: D'Andre Swift
• 29 snaps: Kenny Gainwell
• 5 snaps: Boston Scott
Analysis: The Jets have the defensive personnel that screams "great run defense," but their numbers said otherwise heading into this matchup:
| Jets run D | Stat | Rank |
| Rushing yards allowed per game | 146.2 | 29 |
| Rushing yards allowed per attempt | 4.5 | 25 |
| Rushing first downs allowed per game | 8.0 | 26 |
| % of rushes resulting in 1st down | 38.5% | 27 |
The Eagles never got the ground game going. Swift had 10 carries for 18 yards. Gainwell had 2 carries for 13. Scott had 2 carries for 2 yards. Add it all up and the Eagles' backs had 14 carries for 33 yards. Hurts was effective at times running with the ball (8 runs, 47 yards, 1 TD), and yet, it feels a lot like the Eagles' staff is running too many of those QB draws.
The Jets probably do actually have a good run defense. The above stats were likely just a small sample size anomaly.
I do wonder how much the Eagles' game plan changed when they learned that Sauce Gardner was going to be out with a concussion. Even in a game in which the led most of the day, I don't fault them for having a high pass:run ratio when (a) the Jets were playing practice squad cornerbacks and (b) the run game with the backs wasn't working.
• 69 snaps: DeVonta Smith
• 67 snaps: A.J. Brown
• 57 snaps: Olamide Zaccheaus
• 2 snaps: Britain Covey
Analysis: This was probably the worst game of Smith's professional career, and he owned it.
DeVonta Smith keeps it real after the Eagles loss.
— Mike Daddino (@mike_daddino) October 16, 2023
“Ain’t nothing to learn. Catch the damn ball.” pic.twitter.com/na2qdDZpD8
• 54 snaps: Dallas Goedert
• 22 snaps: Jack Stoll
• 5 snaps: Grant Calcaterra
Analysis: Goedert had 5 catches for 42 yards on 8 targets, and he was responsible for one of Hurts' INTs. Grant Calcaterra was on the field in place of Goedert on all 4 plays of the final drive, so, you know, he probably got hurt yesterday too. I watched the prior drive to see what it might have been, but it was hard to tell. He did get hit on the ill-advised Hurts throw that was picked.
• 70 snaps each: Jordan Mailata, Landon Dickerson, Jason Kelce, Sua Opeta
• 61 snaps: Jack Driscoll
• 9 snaps: Lane Johnson
Analysis: Johnson's injury was one of the major storylines of this game, as Jack Driscoll filled in and had a brutal day. Johnson is the best offensive lineman in the NFL, so a dropoff in play is to be expected, but Driscoll felt overwhelmed in this game, and it's not as if he was facing Myles Garrett out there. In my opinion, Driscoll did not play well in training camp, and there's an argument to be made that his play on the play has not improved in his four years with the team.
If Johnson is going to be out for several games, my guess is that the Eagles will roll with Driscoll initially, but as part of the gameplan they'll give him help. But they should also be thinking hard about other answers. One option would be to play swing tackle Fred Johnson at RT instead. My sense is that Fred Johnson was the first guy off the bench at LT, and Driscoll was (obviously) the first man up at RT. It's worth noting that Fred Johnson has played RT in the NFL, with the Bengals in 2021.
Another option could be to play rookie third-round pick Tyler Steen at LT, and flip Mailata to RT. Steen looked comfortable at LT in training camp when he got reps there, as that was his position at Alabama and Vanderbilt. He did not look nearly as comfortable at RG, where he was given a short-lived opportunity to compete with Cam Jurgens for a starting job. I would consider this option highly unlikely. From the outside looking in, Steen does not appear to have won over the staff's trust just yet.
Going forward, RT is the biggest concern on this roster until Lane Johnson returns to the lineup.
• 49 snaps: Josh Sweat
• 47 snaps: Haason Reddick
• 19 snaps: Brandon Graham
• 13 snaps: Derek Barnett
• 3 snaps: Nolan Smith
Analysis: Reddick is beginning to catch fire, as he had 2.5 sacks. He has 5.5 sacks in 3 games since getting the cast off of his thumb.
Sweat has been great this season as well, consistently getting pressure. He had a sack, bringing his season total to 3.5, which really doesn't do his play justice.
Barnett had a weird moment in this game. He got into a scrap with a Jets player after a Jets field goal. Big surprise there. As he was heading to the sideline, an official tracked him down and grabbed his waist to get his attention. Barnett then spun around and was ready for a fight. He stopped when he saw it wasn't a Jets player, but he still had heated words for the official. The official then had a conference with Nick Sirianni and other staffers, after which Sirianni chewed Barnett out on the sideline for quite a while.
Nolan Smith only played 3 snaps, and he lost contain on the edge on one of them.
• 51 snaps: Fletcher Cox
• 44 snaps: Jordan Davis
• 41 snaps: Milton Williams
• 23 snaps: Kentavius Street
• 5 snaps: Moro Ojomo
Analysis: Cox had to play a lot of snaps with Jalen Carter out. I thought Davis and Williams and even Street had their share of disruptive moments.
• 49 snaps: Zach Cunningham
• 36 snaps: Nicholas Morrow
• 32 snaps: Nakobe Dean
Analysis: Upon his return to the field from IR, Dean was the third linebacker in the pecking order.
"[Morrow and Cunningham] have been playing great while I've been gone, and they have rightfully earned every rep they play," Dean said after the game.
I imagine we'll still see Dean's snaps increase as we get further away from his injury.
• 65 snaps each: James Bradberry, Terrell Edmunds
• 53 snaps: Josh Jobe
• 42 snaps: Reed Blankenship
• 30 snaps: Bradley Roby
• 23 snaps: Mekhi Garner
• 13 snaps: Mario Goodrich
• 12 snaps: Eli Ricks
Analysis: In the second half the Eagles were without Darius Slay, Avonte Maddox, Reed Blankenship, and Justin Evans, and they held up.
Garner replaced Blankenship after he left with a rib injury. Blankenship played through a rib injury earlier this season, and then missed the next game. He could not play through his rib injury in this game, as it looked more severe. Don't be surprised if he misses multiple games.
Garner's move from corner to safety is something we suggested in training camp, so it was self-satisfying to see that come to fruition. 💁♂️
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