Game ball, three stars, and snap count analysis: Week 11, Eagles vs. Commanders

In their Week 11 win over the Washington Commanders, the Philadelphia Eagles played 71 snaps on offense and 66 on defense. Let's just get right to the snap counts, and some notes.

Quarterback

• 71 snaps: Jalen Hurts

Notes: Watching live, it felt like Hurts had opportunities to throw to open receivers, but the ball just didn't come out. I'll pass on saying too much here until I have more time to digest his game in full, but my initial thought is that he left a bunch of plays on the field.

Running back

• 58 snaps: Saquon Barkley

• 13 snaps: Kenny Gainwell

• 1 snap: Reed Blankenship

Notes: Barkley is awesome, blah blah blah. Let's talk about the three straight Kenny Gainwell runs of 14, 13, and 7 yards. Look at these holes, lol:

The Eagles were in hurry-up on those runs, which Cam Jurgens felt did not allow 13-year pro Bobby Wagner to get into the correct defensive look in time before the Eagles got the snap off.

"A lot of credit to Bobby Wagner," Jurgens said. "I mean, he's a smart, experienced linebacker, and when you give him different looks and you don't let him sit back there and decipher what we're in it helps us out. I thought he did a lot of good stuff on their side, getting them into really good plays."

And, of course, if you see Blankenship's name on offense in the snap count post, it's usually going to be a win, because it means the Eagles were in "victory formation."

Wide receiver

• 69 snaps: A.J. Brown

• 63 snaps: DeVonta Smith

• 29 snaps: Jahan Dotson

• 13 snaps: Johnny Wilson

• 6 snaps: Ainias Smith

Notes: It was a rare Eagles win in which Brown and Smith didn't really do anything special. They combined for 9 catches on 14 targets for 94 yards and no TDs. They also ran into each other on a mesh concept on a third down in the red zone.

Brown and Smith were both open at times and Hurts either didn't see them or misfired on throws that could have been productive gains.

Tight end

• 63 snaps: Dallas Goedert

• 37 snaps: Grant Calcaterra

• 3 snaps: C.J. Uzomah

Notes: Hurts was efficient when he went to Goedert, connecting on completions on all 5 targets that went Goedert's way. On Goedert's longest gain of the game, he was holding the ball carelessly and had it punched out, but Calcaterra was there to bail him out on the recovery, which was one of the biggest plays of the game.

Offensive line

• 71 snaps each: Jordan Mailata, Cam Jurgens, Mekhi Becton, and Lane Johnson

• 63 snaps: Landon Dickerson

• 8 snaps: Tyler Steen

Notes: Dickerson limped slowly off the field after he was injured in a pileup. He missed the rest of that drive, but re-entered the game on the next drive. He said after the game that he took a shot to his knee.

Becton had a great block on Barkley's first TD run:

Jurgens had a double pancake on Barkley's second TD run:

It took the line a little while to get the rushing attack on track, but Dickerson said that it got going after they made adjustments to the Commanders' scheme upfront.

Edge defenders

• 45 snaps: Josh Sweat

• 33 snaps: Nolan Smith

• 32 snaps: Brandon Graham

• 14 snaps: Bryce Huff

Notes: Jalyx Hunt didn't play any defensive snaps after out-snapping Huff last Sunday against the Cowboys.

Sweat, Smith, and Graham all had a sack each. Sweat now had 6 sacks this season, and is on pace for 10. Smith has 3.5, and Graham has 2.5.

Interior defensive line

• 66 snaps: Jalen Carter

• 26 snaps: Jordan Davis

• 22 snaps: Milton Williams

• 20 snaps: Moro Ojomo

• 6 snaps: Thomas Booker

Notes: Carter played every defensive snap. Fletcher Cox played a ton of snaps during his Eagles career, but he never played 100% of the snaps in any game, at least going back to 2015, when snap count data became available. There have been questions about Carter's stamina, most notably when he looked overly gassed at Georgia's pro day leading up to the 2023 draft, and at times late in the 2023 season, when his production fell off. But he was a beast for all four quarters. He put a lot of those concerns to bed Thursday night, especially on a short week of rest.

I mean, he was doing snow angels after his third down tackle for loss preceding the Commanders' failed "go for it" attempt on 4th and 2 in the fourth quarter. As we all know, snow angels = good stamina.

Linebacker

• 66 snaps: Zack Baun

• 63 snaps: Nakobe Dean

Notes: Baun had 14 tackles and was all over the field, but I wanted to show the tackle made by Nakobe Dean in the open field against Jayden Daniels.

That's a hard play to make in space.

Cornerback and safety

• 66 snaps: Quinyon Mitchell, Darius Slay, Reed Blankenship and Chauncey Gardner-Johnson

• 64 snaps: Cooper DeJean

• 4 snaps: Avonte Maddox

• 1 snap: Sydney Brown

Notes: As we noted in our Eagles-Commanders preview, Terry McLaurin has been a thorn in the side of the Eagles for years, and remains their best skill position player, by far. McLaurin was erased by Mitchell.

Mitchell doesn't have interception numbers (they'll come eventually), but he is still a worthy contender for Defensive Rookie of the Year honors.

After an up and down season in 2023, Blankenship has had a really strong season. He had 10 tackles, an INT, and a pass breakup. That INT was his third of the season.

Three stars 🤩

I've always liked the hockey tradition of awarding "stars" to each of the three best players in a game, so let's apply that to Eagles games.

⭐⭐⭐: DT Jalen Carter

🌟🌟: RB Saquon Barkley

✨: CB Quinyon Mitchell

Eagles game ball 🏈

🏈: DT Jalen Carter

Season game balls

Week 1, vs. Packers: Saquon Barkley
Week 2, at Falcons: Nobody
Week 3, at Saints: Vic Fangio
Week 4, at Buccaneers: Saquon Barkley
Week 5: BYE
Week 6, vs. Browns: Brandon Graham
Week 7, at Giants: Saquon Barkley
Week 8, at Bengals: Fred Johnson
Week 9, vs. Jaguars: Nakobe Dean
Week 10, at Cowboys: Nick Sirianni
Week 11, vs. Commanders: Jalen Carter

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