Eagles vs. Saints snap count analysis: Philadelphia’s secondary ravaged by injuries

Here’s a breakdown of the snap counts from the Philadelphia Eagles’ 48-7 loss to the New Orleans Saints in Week 11 of the 2018 NFL season.

OFFENSE

Lane Johnson played 100% of the Eagles’ snaps despite playing through a high ankle sprain and an MCL sprain.

Alshon Jeffery, Zach Ertz, and Nelson Agholor were the skill players with the most playing time. They combined for 48 yards on six receptions. Jeffery had four for 33, Ertz had two for 15, and Agholor had a goose egg.

Stefen Wisniewski had to come in to play center with Jason Kelce suffering an elbow injury. Kelce was originally ruled questionable to return. 16 minutes later, he was ruled out for the game. 56 minutes after being ruled out, Kelce was then upgraded to questionable to return, which I’ve never seen happen before. Kelce ultimately didn’t come back in. Maybe he would’ve if the game was more competitive?

After playing a mere 29% of the Eagles’ snaps against the Cowboys last week, Golden Tate was bumped up to 71% this week. He was playing in the slot with Agholor moving to the outside. Tate led all Eagles players in targets (8), receptions (5), and yards (48). Tate’s increase in playing time largely came at the expense of Jordan Matthews.

Dallas Goedert hasn’t had a catch since his 32-yard touchdown reception against the Jaguars in Week 8. Very cool of the Eagles to spend a second-round pick on him and then barely use him.

Josh Adams was a rare bright spot in the Eagles’ loss. The undrafted rookie running back has clearly become Philadelphia’s top rushing option. Adams took seven carries for 53 yards and one touchdown. He also had three receptions for 19 yards.

Corey Clement had two carries for 11 yards and two receptions for four yards. Clement has gained 36 yards on his last 19 carries for a 1.89 average. Giving this team nothing offensively.

The Eagles have finally realized that Wendell Smallwood isn’t good. He only saw four offensive snaps against New Orleans. His sole touch came on a play designed to run out the clock in the first half. He was tackled for a four-yard loss. Smallwood has gained 54 yards on his last 20 carries for a 2.7 average. Smallwood truthers, please disassemble.

DEFENSE

Jordan Hicks suffered a calf injury late in the game.

Corey Graham playing 87% of the defensive snaps is just not a recipe for success.

Rasul Douglas got the start at corner and got roasted before having to leave the game with a knee injury.

Cre’Von LeBlanc, who only joined the team on November 5, was forced into playing 63% of the Eagles’ defensive snaps. He took over in the slot with Avonte Maddox getting hurt.

Haloti Ngata played 47% of the snaps despite entering this game as questionable to play.

“T.Y. McGill” is getting 43% snaps on the Eagles’ defense. Treyvon Hester is getting 33%. Bad.

Undrafted rookie free agent Chandon Sulivan and De’Vante Bausby, who was promoted from the practice squad on Saturday, were forced into action due to all the injuries in the secondary. LeBlanc, Sullivan, and Bausby finished the game as the only healthy corners on the team.

Sidney Jones got the start at outside corner but didn’t last very long. He only played 22 snaps before having to leave with a hamstring injury. Jones has talent but he’s developing an injury-prone label.

Josh Sweat played a season-high 29% of the Eagles’ defensive snaps. He was the only Eagles defensive player to record a quarterback hit in this game.

Avonte Maddox went down holding his knee after playing good defense on a red zone play. Didn’t look good. The promising rookie’s season might be over.

Nathan Gerry saw some snaps due to Hicks getting hurt.

Tre Sullivan played 32% of the Eagles’ snaps last week. He was down to 9% in this game.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Cameron Johnston made a nice tackle on Alvin Kamara following one of his punts.

Long snapper Rick Lovato had to leave the game after suffering a head injury. Gerry was seen practicing long snapping on the sideline. I’ve also seen Richard Rodgers do that during practice.

Speaking of Rodgers, he’s not listed on the snap count sheet but he did play on special teams. Rodgers was penalized for unnecessary roughness on the Saints’ last kickoff of the first half. So glad the Eagles activated him off injured reserve.

DID NOT PLAY

Inactives: Darren Sproles, Jalen Mills, Nate Sudfeld, Deiondre’ Hall, Chance Warmack, Jordan Mailata, Matt Pryor

Active: Nick Foles

The Eagles traded a 2019 conditional seventh-round pick to have Hall sit as a healthy scratch while their secondary is banged up. Cool.

Foles, who has the highest cap hit on the team, and Warmack account for $15.63 million in cap space to not even play on game day. That’s 18.1% of the Eagles’ cap space spent on offensive players. Cool.

Top notch roster management by Howie Roseman.