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It’s time for a breakdown of the snap counts from the Philadelphia Eagles’ 23 to 17 overtime win over the New York Giants in Week 14 of the 2019 NFL season.
OFFENSE
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Lane Johnson was the only member of the starting offensive line who didn’t play the entire game. Carson Wentz is 25-15 when Johnson starts and only 3-10 when he doesn’t so his injury status obviously bears watching moving forward. The Eagles had Halapoulivaati Vaitai fill in for Johnson.
JJ Arcega-Whiteside played the most snaps of any skill player. Despite this, he only saw three targets and logged two catches for 29 yards. JJAW notably failed to win a contested catch opportunity but he did have the Eagles’ best catch of the season. Hopefully it’s something to build upon.
This was special pic.twitter.com/FFVI4mwmZs
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) December 10, 2019
Zach Ertz got himself some redemption after two drops in the Miami Dolphins game by catching nine of his 13 targets for 91 yards and two touchdowns against New York. Ertz got the game-winning touchdown in overtime.
Greg Ward finished the game as the Eagles’ only healthy wide receiver with Alshon Jeffery getting hurt in the second quarter and then JJAW getting banged up late in the game. Ward only finished with four receptions for 34 yards. Ward would’ve had more production had his touchdown reception not been wiped out by a phantom holding call on Brandon Brooks. Ward also dropped a touchdown that hit him in the hands regardless of whether Antoine Bethea tipped it or not.
Miles Sanders missed some playing time after being taken to the locker room but he returned to the game. Sanders had previously been getting the vast majority of running back snaps but the Eagles reduced his playing time in this one. Sanders only had 45 yards on 10 carries (3.0 average) in addition to four receptions for 24 yards. He wasn’t that the most dangerous back on the field. That honor belonged to ...
Boston Scott, baby! Scott hadn’t logged a single offensive snap since Week 11, when he only had three. The former practice squad member went off against the Giants with 10 carries for 59 yards and one touchdown in addition to six receptions for a nice 69 yards. 128 total yards of offense! On a team that lacks dynamic offensive weapons, Scott brought the juice on Monday night. He just looked fast out there and his ability to make defenders miss was great to see. The Eagles need to continue to give The Secret Code more opportunities. (Hat tip to my friend Matt Dering on the suggested nickname.)
Joshua Perkins was used as a wide receiver for the Eagles since they only entered the game with three and then were down to just one at a certain point. Perkins didn’t do anything overly flashy but he caught all five of his targets for 37 yards. He helped to keep the chains moving. About all you can reasonably ask for from a practice squad tight end called up to play slot receiver.
Jay Ajayi logged two carries for five yards. He also dropped a pass in the flat despite being wide open. The Jay Train has gained a mere 30 yards on 10 carries since re-signing with the Eagles. He’s not really giving this team anything. Less Ajayi, more Scott, please.
Andre Dillard and Matt Pryor got playing time when the Eagles used some jumbo packages with extra offensive linemen.
DEFENSE
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Malcolm Jenkins still hasn’t missed a single defensive snap since Week 17 of the 2017 season. He had two important pass breakups in this one.
Quiet game for Fletcher Cox as he only had one tackle and one quarterback hit despite nearly playing the entire game on defense. Same for Brandon Graham, who had just one tackle.
Jalen Mills suffered an elbow injury.
Vinny Curry, who started in place of an injured Derek Barnett, had his first two sack game since the 2015 season. Curry’s quietly been a nice contributor lately.
Barnett’s injury also opened up more playing time for Josh Sweat, who pressured Eli Manning into abandoning a potential flea flicker touchdown throw to Golden Tate. Sweat has also been coming on.
Neither Timmy Jernigan nor Anthony Rush logged a stat in this game.
Marcus Epps continues to get some subpackage playing time as a third safety.
Daeshon Hall saw some defensive snaps for the first time since Week 8. He logged one tackle.
Rasul Douglas originally came in for an injured Mills but then he got hurt as well.
T.J. Edwards was the third linebacker behind Nigel Bradham and Nathan Gerry with Kamu Grugier-Hill out due to injury.
Decreased role for Cre’Von LeBlanc after he played 24% of the Eagles’ snaps in his first game back from injury last week.
Duke Riley had two tackles on the two snaps he played. Efficient!
Sidney Jones went from being a healthy scratch for the third time this season last week to making a huge third down pass breakup on his only snap played this week. That’s pretty crazy! He was only in the game after both Mills and Douglas got hurt.
SPECIAL TEAMS
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Craig James continues to flash in a good way on special teams.
Genard Avery didn’t even play a single defensive snap despite Barnett being out with injury. Avery’s snap counts since the Eagles traded a 2021 fourth-round pick for him prior to the deadline: 3, 10, 2, 5, 0. He’s logged zero stats in his last four games played. What was the point of this trade, again?
Cameron Johnston had a pretty good game. The Eagles’ punter landed five of his eight punts inside the 20, including a 60-yarder.
Jake Elliott missed a field goal for the second week in a row. This time it was a 47-yard attempt.
DID NOT PLAY
INACTIVE: Jordan Howard, Nelson Agholor, Derek Barnett, Kamu Grugier-Hill, Shareef Miller, Sua Opeta, Nate Herbig
ACTIVE: Josh McCown, Nate Sudfeld
The Eagles’ receiver situation was so dire that theye were actually prepping a 40-year-old McCown to take snaps as a pass catcher. I mean, come on.