In their Week 7 win over the Minnesota Vikings, the Philadelphia Eagles played 50 snaps on offense and 69 snaps on defense. Let's just get right to the snap counts, some notes, and some special recognition.
Quarterback
• 50 snaps: Jalen Hurts
Notes: Hurts finished 19 of 23 for 326 yards, 3 TDs, and 0 INT, in what may have been the best regular-season performance of his career. Along the way, Hurts made four outstanding throws down the field:
Drop in the bucket to A.J. Brown on the first drive of the game.
The deep, air-it-out strike to DeVonta Smith for a 79-yard TD.
The Bang-8 to Brown for a TD.
The kill shot drop in the bucket to Brown to end it.
In each of the last two games, Hurts was unable to connect deep with his receivers, sometimes his fault, and sometimes not. Those missed opportunities contributed to losses. On Sunday against the Vikings, he didn't miss.
Running back
• 39 snaps: Saquon Barkley
• 8 snaps: Will Shipley
• 4 snaps: Tank Bigsby
• 1 snap: Cooper DeJean
Notes: Barkley's game log so far this season:
Saquon Barkley Rush Yards YPC TD
Week 1 - Cowboys 18 60 3.3 1
Week 2 - Chiefs 22 88 4.0 1
Week 3 - Rams 18 46 2.6 0
Week 4 - Buccaneers 19 43 2.3 1
Week 5 - Broncos 6 30 5.0 0
Week 6 - Giants 12 58 4.8 0
Week 7 - Vikings 18 44 2.4 0
TOTAL 113 369 3.3 3
It was predictable that Barkley would have a significant dropoff in production from 2024 to 2025, since, you know, he had a historic 2024 season. But I don't think anyone could have reasonably predicted he'd be averaging 3.3 yards per carry after 7 games.
Certainly, the health of the offensive line has contributed to the lack of a run game, but there have also been some times that Barkley has gotten openings to the second level of the defense, and 5-10 yard gains this year might've been much bigger plays last year.
Bigsby got involved in the offense for the first time this year, and he even got a carry for 11 yards.
DeJean resumed his role as the deep guy in victory formation.
Wide receiver
• 46 snaps: A.J. Brown
• 44 snaps: DeVonta Smith
• 24 snaps: Jahan Dotson
Notes: Smith caught 9 passes for 183 yards and 1 TD. Brown caught 4 passes for 121 yards and 2 TDs.
This was the fifth time that Brown and Smith both went over 100 receiving yards in the same game. The others:
2022 vs. Titans (Brown 8-119-2, Smith 5-102-1)
2022 vs. Bears (Brown (9-181-0, Smith 5-126-0)
2022 vs. Cowboys (Brown 6-103-0, Smith 8-113-2)
2024 vs. Steelers (Brown 8-110-1, Smith 11-109-1)
Their 304 combined receiving yards fell three yards short of the combined 307 receiving yards they had in the above Bears game.
Brown and Smith have been unhappy at times with their targets this season. Obviously Sunday was a big day for the Eagles' star receivers.
Tight end
• 49 snaps: Dallas Goedert
• 17 snaps: Kylen Granson
• 5 snaps: E.J. Jenkins
• 3 snaps: Cameron Latu
Notes: Goedert caught all three of his targets for 18 yards. The Eagles employed a bunch of two-TE sets effectively in this matchup.
Offensive line
• 50 snaps each: Jordan Mailata, Landon Dickerson, Tyler Steen, Lane Johnson
• 35 snaps: Brett Toth
• 15 snaps: Cam Jurgens
• 10 snaps: Fred Johnson
Notes: Jurgens left with a knee injury and did not return. He was already dealing with a back that is not yet 100 percent after offseason surgery. His status for Week 8 against the Giants could be in question.
The offensive line needs the bye week more than any other unit on the team.
Edge defenders
• 52 snaps: Jalyx Hunt
• 33 snaps: Josh Uche
• 26 snaps: Patrick Johnson
• 4 snaps: Azeez Ojulari
Notes: Hunt had a big game. He had a pick-six off of Carson Wentz and gave the Eagles an early 14-3 lead. He also had what would have been a sack if Wentz hadn't committed a hilarious intentional grounding penalty.
Side note: When a quarterback runs out of bounds and it's not a designed run, they give the sack to the closest defender. They should award a sack to whoever the closest defender is on intentional grounding penalties.
Uche had a sack in this game, and he walled off a Vikings offensive lineman during Hunt's run to the end zone.
The bad news? Ojulari left the game with an injury and didn't return. Ojulari isn't exactly Myles Garrett, but the Eagles are already so thin on the edge. They can't afford to lose another guy.
Interior defensive line
• 67 snaps: Jalen Carter
• 45 snaps: Jordan Davis
• 32 snaps: Moro Ojomo
• 12 snaps: Byron Young
• 6 snaps: Ty Robinson
Notes: Carter played all but two snaps, and had his best game of the season, in my opinion. He knocked Wentz to the ground on both of the Eagles' INTs.
Ojomo had a key sack in the fourth quarter that ended a Vikings drive. Carter rushed from the edge on that play, and might have caused Wentz to pull the ball down because he got in Wentz's passing lane. Ojomo leads the team with 3 sacks.
Linebacker
• 69 snaps: Zack Baun
• 60 snaps: Jihaad Campbell
• 31 snaps: Nakobe Dean
Notes: When Dean got in the game, Campbell moved to the edge. That is something the media has been asking Vic Fangio about for months, but Fangio has always poured cold water on that idea. But with so many edge players injured – and with Ojulari going down in this game – playing Campbell some on the edge certainly made sense. To be determined if that'll become a regular thing, or if it's only a short-term plan while the Eagles need bodies on the edge.
Baun had his usual 10 tackles.
Cornerback and safety
• 69 snaps each: Quinyon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean, Reed Blankenship, Andrew Mukuba
• 23 snaps: Adoree' Jackson
• 22 snaps: Kelee Ringo
• 1 snap: Parry Nickerson
Notes: One of the storylines heading into this game was that the Eagles should have re-signed Isaiah Rodgers this offseason. Rodgers is a better player than Jackson or Ringo, and he has had a much better season. But man, Rodgers got cooked on Sunday. He gave up a ton of separation on the 79-yard TD pass to Smith, and the kill shot to Brown.
Jackson got hurt and did not return. Ringo filled in. Honestly, I didn't often notice either player on Sunday, which is a good thing.
DeJean is so good:
On an island against one of the best receivers ever in the red zone? Meh, no big deal.
Mukuba now leads the team with 2 INTs, after his gift from Wentz.
Three stars 🤩
⭐⭐⭐: QB Jalen Hurts: Dimes all day.
🌟🌟: WR DeVonta Smith: What does Smith do poorly as a receiver?
✨: EDGE Jalyx Hunt: Hunt had a breakout game after some began to wonder if he was worthy of a staring position.
Game ball 🏈
Week 1, vs. Cowboys: Jalen Hurts
Week 2, at Chiefs: Andrew Mukuba
Week 3, vs. Rams: Jordan Davis
Week 4, at Buccaneers: Quinyon Mitchell
Week 5, vs. Broncos: DeVonta Smith
Week 6, at Giants: Dallas Goedert
Week 7, at Vikings: Jalen Hurts
Follow Jimmy & PhillyVoice on Twitter: @JimmyKempski | thePhillyVoice
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports
Add Jimmy's RSS feed to your feed reader