Eagles vs. Seahawks snap counts: Playing Alshon Jeffery over Travis Fulgham is malpractice

Time to analyze the Philadelphia Eagles’ snap counts from their Week 12 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

OFFENSE

• Jordan Mailata and Matt Pryor played the whole game at left tackle and right tackle, respectively. Mailata actually graded out as the Eagles’ best offensive player by Pro Football Focus! So dumb that the Eagles were refusing to play him.
• Nice to see a potential long-term piece like Dallas Goedert have another strong game. Seven receptions for 75 yards and one touchdown after having five for 77 and one score last week. Goedert could’ve been even more productive against Seattle if his quarterback didn’t miss him with several inaccurate throws.
• Carson Wentz missed his first snap of the season when Jalen Hurts came in for his sole passing attempt.
• Jason Peters, who was playing through a toe injury, came out late in the game. Nate Herbig replaced him at right guard.
• Why the hell is Greg Ward playing the most of any Eagles receiver?! Dude is averaging 7.2 yards per reception. He’s just not threatening. Far from an ideal starter.
• Miles Sanders only logged eight total touches on his 43 snaps played. Not enough. He just hasn’t been the weapon in the passing game that the Eagles have needed him to be. Sanders actually leads all NFL running backs in drops with eight after having one in Monday’s game. He actually had a second drop that was wiped out by a penalty. Sanders ranks 53rd out of 63 running backs graded by PFF.
• Some like to definitively say that Jalen Reagor is good. I mean, is he? Not writing off his career just yet (though we were also saying the same thing about J.J. Arcega-Whiteside at this time last year) but he hasn’t really shown signs of anything special thus far. Playing with Wentz and in this offense probably isn’t helping him, sure. And he’s only a 21-year-old rookie. Still, would be really nice to see some kind of flashes from him. I think Reagor might be fine but that’s far from fine when you consider opportunity cost. Also, the Eagles opted to eschew adding veteran talent at receiver with the idea that drafting some rookies would fix everything. Spoiler: it hasn’t.
• Travis Fulgham didn’t see a target until just over 14 minutes remaining in the game. WHY?! How does this keep happening? Fulgham was LEADING THE NFL IN RECEIVING YARDS over the course of four weeks! Iit’s not like he’s a guy who needs to be wide open to make catches; he’s a big target with contested catch ability. They absolutely should be force-feeding the ball to him. And they just haven’t been. It makes no sense.
• Alshon Jeffery was a detriment to the Eagles during the five snaps he played in Week 11. And then the team follows that up by giving him 35 snaps in Week 12?! And having him lumber out on the field while Fulgham is on the sideline?! It’s asinine! Look, we can be grateful that Jeffery helped Philly win a Super Bowl. But, once again, he’s just not helping this team in the short-term or the long-term. He’s a waste of a roster spot. Just cut him. Or keep him as a healthy scratch. Whatever the case, there’s no use in playing him. It’s insanity.
• After his Hail Mary touchdown reception, Richard Rodgers is tied for the Eagles’ lead in big plays (20+ yards) with five. Dick Rod being one of the team’s most explosive weapons is a huge indictment.
• Good to see that John Hightower got some playing time after only playing four combined snaps the past two weeks. Not that it amounted to much. One yard for one reception on one target.
• Caleb Wilson, former Eagles defensive line coach Chris Wilson’s son, made his debut with the offense.
• An “increased role” for Jalen Hurts meant one play where he completed a six-yard pass to set up 3rd-and-8. Then he came out for Wentz to get sacked on third down. Lol. Great plan, great use of resources.

DEFENSE

• Rodney McLeod is the only Eagles player to not miss a snap this season.
• Not unlike the Eagles, I wrongly thought Avonte Maddox could have some success as an outside cornerback. He has not had success on the outside. Size does matter after all. Still think he’s a talented player and hope the team can find a role for him moving forward. Maybe that’s back in the nickel.
• Alex Singleton continues to be a solid linebacker for this team. Has certainly earned the right to start for the rest of the season, at the very least. Tough dude.
• Obviously Darius Slay’s worst game of the season. PFF marked him responsible for nine receptions and 160 receiving yards. Slay’s been mostly good this year but this poor performance proved costly. And keep in mind this season is likely the best version of Slay they’ll be getting as he turns 30 next month.
• Brandon Graham was PFF’s top graded defender. He hasn’t logged a sack since Week 8, unfortunately, but he did have one quarterback hit, one tackle for loss, and four hurries in this one. Really strong in run defense.
• Derek Barnett came up big with two fourth down stops early in the game. He also had a sack to give him 5.5 on the season, which is one shy of his career high from last year. It’ll be interesting to see how the Eagles handle Barnett’s contract situation as he’s due about $10 million in 2021. Ideally he’ll continue to flash down the stretch and the Eagles will sign him to a long-term extension to lower his cap number.
• Javon Hargrave had his best game of the season with 1.5 tackles for loss and one quarterback hit. It only took until Week 12 and playing a weak Seahawks interior offensive line.
• Zero sacks and zero quarterback hits for Malik Jackson in his last four games.
• Josh Sweat had two quarterback hits in limited playing time. That’s good!
• Vinny Curry graded out very poorly in run defense. Another player who should see decreased playing time with the Eagles falling out of the playoff picture. Get Genard Avery on the field more. Play Casey Toohill, too. Oh, wait, nevermind.
• Would like to see the Eagles elevate UDFA Raequan Williams instead of T.Y. McGill moving forward. The former is younger and has more long-term potential. McGill is a veteran stop-gap.
• Remember when the Eagles signed Will Parks and we thought they were going to have a big role for him as the third safety? Hasn’t happened.

SPECIAL TEAMS

• Davion Taylor didn’t log a defensive snap for the eighth time this season. Made a nice special teams tackle on punt coverage, though! Real big hit. Probably one of the biggest positives from the game.
• Genard Avery didn’t play a defensive snap in his first game back from injury. He also didn’t play on defense in his last game before injury. That 2021 fourth-round pick the Eagles foolishly traded for him is going to be one of the highest Day 3 selections. Yet another terrible move by Roseman.

DID NOT PLAY

INACTIVE: Lane Johnson, Rudy Ford, Quez Watkins, Jason Huntley, Nate Sudfeld

ACTIVE: Brett Toth

• Johnson wasn’t officially placed on injured reserve prior to the game but that’ll be coming.
• Deactivate Jeffery already and let Watkins be active on game day.