Eagles vs. Giants snap count analysis: Philadelphia forced into shifting the secondary around

Here’s a breakdown of the snap counts from the Philadelphia Eagles’ 34-13 win over the New York Giants in Week 6 of the 2018 NFL season.

OFFENSE

Kudos to Lane Johnson for toughing out his high ankle sprain. Thankfully the Eagles were able to give him some rest late in the game thanks to building a big lead.

Wendell Smallwood took the bulk of running back snaps. He finished the game with 18 carries for 51 yards (2.8 average) and one reception for zero yards. He also was very fortunate to recover the ball he fumbled.

Prior to the game, Erin Andrews said she was told Corey Clement was going to be on a “pitch count.” His workload was indeed a little limited as he only saw 11 carries for 43 yards (3.9 average) and one touchdown as a runner. Clement did have three receptions for 26 yards. Moving forward, hopefully he’s healthy enough to get more playing time than Smallwood.

Jason Peters had to leave the game early with a biceps injury. Reports indicate he might be able to play through it. With Peters leaving the game, Halapoulivaati Vaitai came in to take his place.

Dallas Goedert’s playing time dropped from the 59% he saw in Week 5. The rookie tight end caught his sole target for a seven yard reception.

Jordan Matthews is WR3. He had a pair of new first down conversions.

Stefen Wisniewski entered the game at left guard when Peters and Johnson were both out. Isaac Seumalo shifted over to right tackle.

Shelton Gibson had one reception for 48 yards during the nine snaps he played against the Vikings in Week 5. Despite this, his playing time decreased against New York.

I’d like to see DeAndre Carter continue to get mixed into the offense on ocassion. He’s earned some playing time.

Chance Warmack played his first snap of the season as an extra tackle in a heavy set. His $2 million cap hit is finally justified. (Not.)

DEFENSE

Avonte Maddox played the entire game. He started out at safety once again but Sidney Jones going down with a hamstring forced him to also play the slot with Rasul Douglas filling in on the back end. For the second week in a row, Maddox saved a touchdown by chasing down a big play.

Interesting to see Michael Bennett and Chris Long playing the most snaps at defensive end. It looks like Derek Barnett’s workload was a little limited as he played in his first game back from injury.

It was interesting to see Douglas get playing time at safety over the likes of Tre Sullivan and Deiondre’ Hall. The Eagles coaching staff has been very adamant that Douglas is not a safety. Their reluctance to move him there showed when he took a bad angle on Saquon Barkley’s long touchdown run.

The Eagles actually got some production out of their non-Fletcher Cox defensive tackles for once. Destiny Vaeao had one tackle, one sack, one tackle for loss, and one quarterback hit. Treyvon Hester had two tackles and a quarterback hit. Playing against the Giants’ offensive line helped them, of course.

Kamu Grugier-Hill made the most of his limited playing time by picking off Eli Manning’s deflected pass (via Jordan Hicks). Kamu was also credited with one tackle and a pass defensed. Still missing Mychal Kendricks?

Josh Sweat saw some snaps towards the end of the game.

Tre Sullivan got some playing time at safety when Jalen Mills had to come out for a few plays and Douglas shifted back down to cornerback.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Joshua Perkins played the most special teams snaps of any player at 88%.

Josh Adams didn’t manage to get any offensive snaps despite the fact the Eagles were down to just three running backs and one of them (Clement) was on a pitch count.

DID NOT PLAY

INACTIVE: Darren Sproles, Corey Graham, Haloti Ngata, Nathan Gerry, D.J. Alexander, Jordan Mailata, Matt Pryor

ACTIVE: Nick Foles, Nate Sudfeld