Eagles vs. Giants snap counts: Dick Rod steps up

Let’s break down the Philadelphia Eagles’ snap counts from their Week 7 win over the New York Giants!

OFFENSE

• Sua Opeta made his first NFL start at left guard. He struggled. The Eagles moved Nate Herbig to right guard.
• Travis Fulgham almost played the entire game. He saw 11 targets and had five receptions for 73 yards. He could’ve had an even better night if not for some missed throws by Carson Wentz. Fulgham also drew two key penalties for first downs on the Eagles’ final touchdown drive. He really is legit!
• Classic Greg Ward performance. Only 8.4 yards per reception but made some tough catches to move the chains and score once.
• Richard Rodgers saw a nice amount of snaps as the top tight end with Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert out. The veteran is hardly a dynamic threat but he was pretty solid with six grabs for 85 yards. Rodgers was an effective option for Wentz over the middle on a number of plays. This game marked Dick Rod’s second highest receiving total of his game. He had 146 yards on eight receptions back in 2015, the game he caught a 61-yard Hail Mary touchdown pass from Aaron Rodgers. Also worth noting that Rodgers now has six more receiving yards than Zach Ertz this year despite seeing 27 fewer targets. Dick Rod’s been efficient.
• Lane Johnson missed a couple snaps on the Eagles’ first drive. He came back into the game and then got hurt later on Philly’s failed fourth down attempt from goal-to-go territory. The Eagles listed Johnson with a knee injury; he was previously dealing with an ankle issue. Not good.
• Boston Scott owns the Giants. He was just OK on the ground with 12 carries for 46 yards (3.8 average). Scott was obviously impactful as a pass catcher with three receptions for 46 yards, including the 18-yard game-winner. Fantastic over-the-shoulder catch by The Secret Code.
• DeSean Jackson was effective early on before the Giants shifted more attention his way. Jackson obviously got hurt late in the game while getting hit late on his punt return attempt. He posted a picture of himself in a walking boot after the game. Not good.
• John Hightower saw a decrease in playing time with Jackson back. He was only targeted twice but caught one of them for 59 yards to spark an Eagles comeback after being down by 11 points in the fourth quarter. Good on the rookie for making the catch after dropping a bad one in Week 6.
• Matt Pryor was the backup right tackle when Johnson had to come out of the game.
• Corey Clement made the most of his limited touches. His one reception went for 12 yards. He had two carries for nine yards. He did get blown up in pass protection on the play where Wentz took an intentional grounding penalty.
• JJ Arcega-Whiteside logged his second reception for the season! One target, one catch for eight yards and a first down. Boom.
• Jason Croom played nine snaps but did not catch nine touchdowns. What a disappointment.
• Jason Huntley showed some juice with two runs for 13 yards. Would like to see some more of him in the offense, especially while Sanders is out.
• Jalen Hurts finished with two carries for two yards. While he wasn’t effective with the ball in his hands, he did have some use as a decoy.
• Hakeem Butler played his first NFL offensive snap on 4th-and-goal with the Eagles trailing by four points. Not exactly the highest percentage play call by Doug Pederson! Butler got interfered with but he also could’ve done a much better job of fighting for the ball. Wentz also could’ve given him a higher throw to work with.

DEFENSE

• Rodney McLeod still hasn’t missed a snap this year.
• Nickell Robey-Coleman got the start at cornerback opposite from Darius Slay. He had a real rough game. NRC missed several tackles, committed a penalty that turned a 3rd-and-goal stop into a Giants touchdown, and stopped running hard to catch Daniel Jones from behind on the New York quarterback’s long run. Remember how it was said the Eagles viewed him as a top five slot guy? Uh, yeah, about that assessment ...
• Darius Slay was often matched up on Darius Slayton, who killed the Eagles last year. Slayton only had two for 23 in this game. Great job by Slay.
• Jalen Mills had one pass defensed and one big quarterback hit on Jones in addition to his pick.
• This was one of Nathan Gerry’s better games. He didn’t get absolutely destroyed in coverage! Gerry led the Eagles in tackle with eight and had one sack, one tackle for loss, and one quarterback hit.
• Fletcher Cox had two tackles for loss in this one. Still only has 1.5 sacks and four quarterback hits in seven games this year.
• Brandon Graham is awesome. Obviously came up with the game-sealing strip-sack. He only needs four more sacks through the final nine games to reach double digits for the first time in his career. He’s really wanted to get to that figure.
• Javon Hargrave isn’t exactly justifying the big money contract that the Eagles handed out to him in free agency. He has zero tackles for loss, one sack, and two quarterback hits in six games this season. Hargrave whiffed on a chance to sack Jones in this game.
• Alex Singleton supplanted Duke Riley, who returned this week, as the Eagles’ No. 2 linebacker. Singleton plastered Devonta Freeman into Daniel Jones to log both a quarterback hit and a holding penalty. Pretty awesome.
• Derek Barnett took advantage of his matchup with rookie sieve Andrew Thomas. He had one sack, one tackle for loss, and three quarterback hits. Good to see Barnett active after being quiet since Week 4.
• Cre’Von LeBlanc notably got beat by Golden Tate for the Giants’ first touchdown.
• Josh Sweat was credited with the forced fumble on Dion Lewis.
• Vinny Curry missed a chance to sack Jones. He did come up big on the Giants’ final drive by drawing a holding penalty and recovering BLG’s strip-sack. Good job by Vincenzo.
• Will Parks must’ve been pretty glad to see Evan Engram drop a third down catch that could’ve sealed a loss for the Eagles.
• Hassan Ridgeway suffered a biceps injury and didn’t return. The Eagles are down to just two healthy defensive tackles on the 53-man roster with Ridgeway and Malik Jackson hurt.
• Avonte Maddox seemed to only be available for an emergency situation. He could potentially regain his starting outside corner job once he’s healthier in Week 8.

SPECIAL TEAMS

• Genard Avery didn’t even get a single defensive snap, which means I can go back to whining about how spending a 2021 fourth-round pick to acquire him was dumb.

DID NOT PLAY

INACTIVE: Miles Sanders, Alshon Jeffery, Malik Jackson, Jack Driscoll, K’Von Wallace, Nate Sudfeld, Quez Watkins