Eagles-Cardinals snap counts: Michael Jacquet battled his butt off

Time to analyze the Philadelphia Eagles’ snap counts from their Week 15 loss (read: moral win) to the Arizona Cardinals.

OFFENSE

• The starting offensive line made it through the entire game for the second week in a row. After allowing zero sacks last week, the Eagles allowed six this week (plus 10.5 tackles for loss). Jalen Hurts was also culpable for some but the blocking also could’ve been better. But it also could’ve been worse for being the 13th offensive line configuration in 14 games this year with Matt Pryor taking over at right tackle.
• 83 offensive snaps marks a season-high for the Eagles in regulation. The previous high was 81 in Philly’s Week 7 win over the New York Giants. The Eagles logged 91 offensive snaps in their tie with the Cincinnati Bengals.
• Dallas Goedert led all Eagles skill players in playing time (88%) and targets (8). He finished with four receptions for 39 yards. Shame he dropped what could’ve been a game-winning touchdown pass from Hurts in the end zone on Philly’s penultimate drive. Cardinals defender made it tough on him, in fairness.
• Miles Sanders was the only Eagles running back to get carries in this game. His 17 went for 64 yards (3.8 average). His dancing cost the Eagles a sure first down on their second drive. Sanders did have a 26-yard reception on a screen. One of the very few successful screens the Eagles have run this year!
• Zach Ertz had two receptions for 69 yards. Nice! Leading receiver in this game. Only one yard shy of his highest single-game yardage total this season. Helped that he got wide open.
• I still don’t love Alshon Jeffery getting a lot of playing time since he doesn’t have a long-term future in Philly. But, to his credit, Jeffery finally justified his snap count by providing some short-term value on Sunday. It was his most useful performance in over a year! Jeffery’s two receptions went for 63 yards and he drew multiple defensive pass interference penalties on Patrick Peterson. Jeffery was also fortunate to get away with some uncalled offensive pass interference penalties. Overall, though, it was nice to see Alshon making some good contributions for a change. Kudos.
• Jalen Reagor had five receptions for 49 yards (9.8 average) and 23 came on a screen on 3rd-and-29. The Eagles tried giving Reagor an end-around opportunity but he was tackled for a 10-yard loss. One of the most notable moments from Reagor in this game was when it looked like Hurts overthrew him but it was actually the receiver at fault for slowing up and looking back too early. The broadcast showed Doug Pederson communicating with Reagor after that play. Reagor has had some flashes as a rookie and the book is hardly written on the 21-year-old. It’s hard not to be left wanting more, though. Just hasn’t been that impressive on the whole. Reagor wasn’t able to finish the game due to an ankle injury.
• Greg Ward only had four receptions for 15 yards (3.8 average, lol) but he made the most of them with two touchdowns. Made a great adjustment to uncover on a Hurts scramble for his first one and made an impressive leaping grab while keeping his feet in on the second one. First multi-touchdown game of G-Ward’s career.
• Quez Watkins! Nice to see the Eagles’ sixth-round pick getting involved. Nifty spin move to trick the defense on his 32-yard screen reception that went for a touchdown. Keep playing him!
• Travis Fulgham naturally didn’t see any targets until the Eagles’ final drive. And he was probably only playing at that point because Reagor got hurt. Nonetheless, Fulgham found a way to get open on 4th-and-7 with the game on the line for a 12-yard gain. He then had an 18-yard reception to put the Eagles at 1st-and-10 from Arizona’s 31-yard line with 0:15 on the clock. The Eagles obviously couldn’t get the ball into the end zone from there but Fulgham did well to set the team up for a chance to win. Maybe play him more!

DEFENSE

• Marcus Epps got the start in Rodney McLeod’s role. He logged seven tackles, two passes defensed, and a red zone interception that was thrown right at him.
• Hard not to like how Michael Jacquet battled his butt off. The undrafted rookie free agent had a tough task in covering DeAndre Hopkins but he gave it his best. Jacquet was pretty active with seven total tackles, two passes defensed, one quaterback hit, one forced fumble, 0.5 sack, and 0.5 tackle for loss. Jacquet should easily be starting across from Slay the rest of this season. And he’s putting himself in position to compete for a long-term starting job. Or at least a good backup to have around.
• Jalen Mills stayed at safety despite thought he might move down to cornerback. The Green Goblin gave up a 42-yard reception to Maxx Williams with poor coverage and a missed tackle. He also had a pretty big pass deflection to force a Cardinals punt at one point.
• Nickell Robey-Coleman had his best game as an Eagle. Not totally sure he meant to strip-sack Kyler Murray with his knee but he did and recovered the ball. Good on NRC.
• Alex Singleton continues to be a tackling machine. He had 11 in this game, which brings him up to 98 in 14 games this year. 60 of those have come in his nine starts.
• No sacks or quarterback hits for Fletcher Cox or Derek Barnett despite playing the most defensive line snaps. Barnett did pressure Murray into an incompletion earlier in the game. Barnett also had that dumb penalty for hitting Hopkins as he went out of bounds.
• Kevon Seymour got banged up early in the game but returned.
• Still no sacks for Brandon Graham since Week 8. BLG needs three in the Eagles’ final two games to hit the double-digit mark.
• No sacks or quarterback hits for Javon Hargrave this week. He did have a forced fumble on Murray that should’ve been challenged by Doug Pederson. Fortunately for the Eagles, Jacquet forced a fumble on the next play. Hargrave had two pre-snap penalties, which needs to be cleaned up. One turned a 3rd-and-5 into a first down and another turned 3rd-and-8 into 3rd-and-3.
• Malik Jackson had two tackles for loss. He has zero sacks and one quarterback hit since Week 6. The Eagles will probably look to designate him as a post-June 1 cut this offseason to clear $10 million in cap space.
• The Eagles don’t have a ton of trust in K’Von Wallace. They could’ve moved Mills to corner and had Wallace fill in but they instead opted to have Jacquet and Seymour at corner. Wallace still saw some rotational playing time as an extra defensive back.
• T.J. Edwards played a limited role in his first game back from a hamstring injury. Singleton and Duke Riley were the top two linebackers.
• Genard Avery played his first defensive snaps since Week 6!!! It’s a Christmas miracle.
• Josh Sweat left the game early with a wrist injury and did not return. He previously hurt his shoulder last week.

SPECIAL TEAMS

• Not listed in the preceding screenshot: two snaps Richard Rodgers, one for Brett Toth. Dick Rod was carted off the field with a shin injury.
• No defensive snaps for Shaun Bradley this week.
• Rudy Ford made it through his first game back from injury since Week 10.
• Corey Clement had a quality special teams tackle after Goedert did a nice job of covering an Eagles punt.
• Jake Elliott had to take over punting duties with Cameron Johnston getting ruled out of the game with a head injury. Did a decent job on the one that went 42 yards!
• Rick Lovato had a bad snap that ruined an extra point try. Also thought Lovato’s snap on Johnston’s blocked punt may have been a tad low.
• Blake Countess only played on special teams in his first game back with the Eagles. It was actually his first regular season appearance with the Eagles despite having three stints in Philly.

DID NOT PLAY

INACTIVE: Darius Slay, Grayland Arnold, Jason Huntley, J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, John Hightower, Nate Sudfeld

ACTIVE: Carson Wentz

• Wentz reportedly doesn’t want to be on the Eagles as a backup quarterback. Which is understandable. But it’s also one thing to express that internally and another thing to have your agents leak that to the media on game day morning.
• Can’t help but wonder if the Eagles might’ve won if Slay had been able to suit up. His replacements fought admirably but he’s obviously a better option against Hopkins.
• Does JJAW ever play another snap with the Eagles?
• Watkins ahead of Hightower has been looking like the right decision.