December 16, 2024

Game ball, three stars, and snap count analysis: Week 15, Eagles vs. Steelers

Also, who's getting Jimmy's game ball after a triumphant win over the Steelers?

By Jimmy Kempski
PhillyVoice Staff

Colleen Claggett/for PhillyVoice

Nolan Smith (3) played 41 of 43 defensive snaps.

In their Week 15 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Philadelphia Eagles played 80 snaps on offense and an extremely low 43 on defense. Let's just get right to the snap counts, and some notes.

Quarterback

• 80 snaps: Jalen Hurts

Notes: Hurts was 25 of 32 for 290 yards, 2 TDs, and 0 INTs, as he and the Eagles' passing game got back on track against the Steelers. He did get a ball punched out by T.J. Watt (great play by Watt), for his first lost fumble since Week 10 in Dallas, but otherwise was careful with the football and generally made good decisions.

Running back

• 49 snaps: Saquon Barkley

• 31 snaps: Kenny Gainwell

Notes: The Steelers were a rare team to slow down Barkley, who had 19 carries for 65 yards. His yards per carry on the season dipped below 6.0. He's now at 5.9. Of course, the tradeoff for the Steelers was to put their corners in tough coverages against A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, who were able to capitalize on the extra attention given to Barkley.

Gainwell had three first down conversions on third down as a receiver. He was clutch on Sunday.

Wide receiver

• 74 snaps: DeVonta Smith

• 73 snaps: A.J. Brown

• 36 snaps: Jahan Dotson

• 23 snaps: Johnny Wilson

Notes: Smith caught 11 passes for 109 yards and a TD. Brown caught 8 passes for 110 yards and a TD. Big day for passing game morale. The last time Brown and Smith both went over 100 yards in a game was in a 40-34 loss to the Cowboys Week 16 of 2022.

Tight end

• 74 snaps: Grant Calcaterra

• 26 snaps: C.J. Uzomah

• 9 snaps: E.J. Jenkins

Notes: Calcaterra only got one target, which he caught for 22 yards. He has actually been very efficient as a receiver this season, catching 21 of the 24 targets that have come his way. He's averaging 10.6 yards per target. That's second among NFL tight ends (min. 20 targets), behind only George Kittle.

Offensive line

• 80 snaps each: Jordan Mailata and Cam Jurgens

• 79 snaps each: Mekhi Becton and Lane Johnson

• 49 snaps: Tyler Steen

• 31 snaps: Landon Dickerson

• 6 snaps: Fred Johnson

• 1 snap: Jack Driscoll

Notes: I'm looking forward to re-watching the best pass protecting offensive lineman in the NFL (Lane Johnson) go up against one of the two best pass rushers in the NFL in T.J. Watt. Watt had two sacks, but I wouldn't ding Johnson for being at fault for either of them. I'll likely have a film review of that marquee matchup at some point this week.

Dickerson injured his knee and did not return. Steen filled in, struggled badly initially, but eventually settled in.

Edge defenders

• 41 snaps: Nolan Smith

• 28 snaps: Josh Sweat

• 17 snaps: Jalyx Hunt

Notes: Smith played all but two snaps. That's an interesting development. He and Sweat had a sack apiece.

Bryce Huff is eligible to come off of IR this week.

Interior defensive line

• 39 snaps: Jalen Carter

• 31 snaps: Milton Williams

• 18 snaps: Jordan Davis

• 11 snaps: Moro Ojomo

• 1 snap: Thomas Booker

Notes: Because the Eagles only played 43 total defensive snaps — and just 11 in the second half — Carter had an easier workload than normal. He did have one of the dumbest plays of the season, however, when he punched a guy in the head on a punt return. The Eagles held Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren to 26 rushing yards on 10 carries.

Linebacker

• 43 snaps: Zack Baun

• 40 snaps: Nakobe Dean

Notes: Baun had an outside chance of breaking the single-season Eagles tackling record, but that's likely gone after he had just five tackles on Sunday, again, because of the low number of snaps the defense played.

Dean still managed to make 10 tackles despite limited time on the field.

Cornerback and safety

• 43 snaps: Quinyon Mitchell, Reed Blankenship, and Chauncey Gardner-Johnson

• 38 snaps: Darius Slay

• 29 snaps: Cooper DeJean

• 8 snaps: Isaiah Rodgers

Notes: The Steelers were able to get Calvin Austin matched up against Zack Baun for a 31-yard pass play (Baun actually did a great job on the play, relative to expectation). Otherwise, Russell Wilson was 13 of 21 for 97 yards. The Eagles secondary did a great job on Sunday, albeit against a weak Steelers receiver group that was missing George Pickens.

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.

⭐⭐⭐: WR A.J. Brown

🌟🌟: WR DeVonta Smith

✨: EDGE T.J. Watt

Eagles game ball 🏈

🏈: Nick Sirianni: Sirianni was able to navigate unrest among some of the most important players in the Eagles' locker room, and then lead the team to one of its best wins of the season.