Eagles vs. Rams snap counts: Lots of 12 personnel fails to translate to lots of success

Let’s break down the Philadelphia Eagles’ snap counts from their bad Week 2 loss to the Los Angeles Rams.

OFFENSE

• Nate Herbig got banged up late in the game but the Eagles’ offfense didn’t take the field again.
• Jason Peters hasn’t missed a single snap in his first two games. That’s surprising.
• Lane Johnson played most of the game despite being less than 100% healthy.
• Zach Ertz led all Eagles skill players in playing time once again but Dallas Goedert was close behind. Goedert saw more targets than Ertz (one more this game, two more last game) for the second week in a row.
• I’m over 12 personnel as the Eagles’ ideal of a base offense. I get the Eagles wanting to get Ertz and Goedert on the field but it was terrible last year and it’s not looking awesome this season. They have 36 points in two games while heavily utilizing it. How about actually getting some good receivers in the future and playing them instead?

• Jalen Reagor led all Eagles receivers in playing time once again. The rookie caught all four of his targets for 41 yards.
• After only playing 54% of the snaps in Week 1, DeSean Jackson played a bigger role in Week 2. He was the team’s leading receiver with nine targets for six receptions and 64 yards. Jackson’s 25-yard reception was Carson Wentz’s longest of the day. Really love this dynamic deep passing game.
• Miles Sanders saw a fairly big workload in his first game back from a hamstring injury with 23 total offensive touches for 131 yards and one touchdown. Turns out he’s still good.
• Matt Pryor, back from the dead, was the Eagles’ first option to replace an injured Isaac Seumalo. Early word on Seumalo suggests he could miss multiple weeks.
• J.J. Arcega-Whiteside has played 44 snaps this year. He has two targets and zero receptions. JJAW dropped a third down conversion early in the game. He could’ve had a touchdown if not for a bad throw by Wentz that turned into a pick. Even so, JJAW just doesn’t look good.
• To no surprise, Boston Scott looks more ideal as a role player than a main fixture in the backfield. His four carries went for 19 yards (4.8 average) and his three receptions went for 24 (8.0 average). Solid.
• Not much Greg Ward in this game with the Eagles using so much 12 personnel. No room for the slot receiver.
• John Hightower’s Week 1 struggles saw him drop from 40% of the Eagles’ offensive snaps to 10% this week.
• Corey Clement logged zero touches after having eight in Week 1.
• The Eagles use Jalen Hurts as a decoy lined out wide and in the backfield. Nice to see some creativity from the coaching staff. Not so nice to see the Eagles spending No. 53 overall pick on a player in this role.

DEFENSE

• No missed defensive snaps for Rodney McLeod this season.
• Nathan Gerry played the entire game and the Rams were thankful as they picked on him.
• Darius Slay missed a few plays after landing on the ball and holding his midsection. He was briefly replaced by Trevor Williams before returning.
• Duke Riley continues to be the Eagles’ second linebacker.
• Fletcher Cox saw a decrease in playing time after getting 81% of the defensive snaps in Week 1.
• Brandon Graham led all Eagles defensive ends in playing time after Josh Sweat previously did against Washington. Sweat got the start over Derek Barnett in this game and played more. Could be that the Eagles had Barnett on a pitch count.
• Javon Hargrave was also likely on a pitch count after being limited in practice. If not, well, the Eagles spent irresponsible money on a third defensive tackle.
• T.J. Edwards was the one who came up with that forced fumble on Cooper Kupp’s punt return. That play made the Eagles’ loss look closer than it should’ve.
• Casey Toohill didn’t log a stat as the No. 4 defensive end.
• Marcus Epps is playing too much.
• Strap is not playing enough.

SPECIAL TEAMS

• No defensive snaps for K’Von Wallace but he did recover the fumble that Edwards forced.
• While the Eagles are struggling at linebacker, their 2020 third-round pick isn’t able to get on the field for defensive snaps. Heck, Davion Taylor’s not even trusted to play special teams as much as other players. Cool drafting.

DID NOT PLAY

INACTIVE: Alshon Jeffery, Nate Sudfeld, Genard Avery, Jason Huntley, Sua Opeta, Jamon Brown

• If the Eagles end up being bad (quite possible!), they’ll have given up a high 2021 fourth-round pick for Avery. Just so he can be a healthy scratch. It was always a dumb and unnecessary trade.
• Why did the Eagles keep Sudfeld and guarantee his contract for the 2020 season when they could’ve saved $1.5 million by moving on from him? He was the No. 2 for one week before being supplanted by Hurts, which felt inevitable to anyone who watched training camp.