Game ball, three stars, and snap count analysis: Week 1, Eagles vs ...
In their Week 1 win over the Green Bay Packers, the Philadelphia Eagles played 76 snaps on offense and 67 on defense. Let's just get right to the snap counts, some notes, and some special recognition.
Quarterback• 76 snaps: Jalen Hurts
Notes: Hurts had an up-and-down night. He made a number of good throws, and a few plays with his legs late in the game. However, he made some truly terrible decisions, two of which resulted in INTs, and two others that were near-INTs. He doesn't have to play hero ball in an offense full of elite talent. Let the playmakers make plays when they're there, and be smart with the football otherwise.
Running back• 61 snaps: Saquon Barkley
• 15 snaps: Kenny Gainwell
• 4 snaps: Will Shipley
Notes: Nick Sirianni and Kellen Moore are going to have to think about load management strategies for Barkley as the season progresses, but using him a lot in a tight game in a key NFC matchup with extra rest on the back end made sense.
Gainwell resumed his typical role in the four-minute offense. He made a couple Packers miss on a 10-yard reception.
Wide receiver• 76 snaps: DeVonta Smith
• 72 snaps: A.J. Brown
• 32 snaps: Jahan Dotson
• 10 snaps: Johnny Wilson
• 9 snaps: Britain Covey
Notes: Hey, so Brown and Smith are still both really good.
Brown caught 5 passes for 119 yards and a TD, while Smith caught 7 for 84 yards, including two bigtime first down conversions on the Eagles' final offensive possession.
Dotson got one target, which almost resulted in a pick-six by Keisean Nixon.
Tight end• 62 snaps: Dallas Goedert
• 36 snaps: Grant Calcaterra
• 3 snaps: E.J. Jenkins
Notes: Goedert caught 4 of 5 targets for 31 yards. Calcaterra had an 11-yard reception for a first down in the fourth quarter. Hurts hasn't typically trusted throwing to his TE2 in recent seasons. Maybe that's a sign he'll be more willing with Calcaterra this season?
Offensive line• 76 snaps each: Jordan Mailata, Landon Dickerson, Cam Jurgens, Mekhi Becton, and Lane Johnson
Notes: Hurts was sacked twice against a very good Packers pass rush. One sack was by a cornerback on a scramble, the other was on a play in which a Packers defender clearly jumped offsides, but there was no flag thrown.
There were also some early hiccups between Jurgens and Hurts on the snap count, but they seemed to iron that out as the game progressed. I'm eager to get a better look at the O-line on the rewatch, particularly at Becton, whose name wasn't often mentioned (a good thing probably?).
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Edge defenders
• 41 snaps: Josh Sweat
• 32 snaps: Brandon Graham
• 31 snaps: Nolan Smith
• 30 snaps: Bryce Huff
Notes: Of the edge rushers, Sweat seemed to generate the most pressure. Again, the rewatch will reveal more. Huff was nearly invisible and he played the fourth-most snaps among the edges after signing a $17 million/year contract.
The slippery field conditions no doubt affected the Eagles' speed off the edge to some degree. We'll get a better idea if the edge rushers' lack of sack production a trend to be concerned about as the season progresses.
Interior defensive line• 51 snaps: Jalen Carter
• 35 snaps: Jordan Davis
• 28 snaps: Milton Williams
• 14 snaps: Moro Ojomo
• 8 snaps: Thomas Booker
Notes: Carter got held all night, but he still created havoc in the backfield, even if his stat line was unimpressive. He is going to have to play a ton of snaps this season.
Williams made a really nice play on a failed Packers two-point conversion.
Linebacker• 67 snaps: Zack Baun
• 64 snaps: Nakobe Dean
Notes: Baun and Dean were the only two linebackers to get snaps after Devin White didn't make the trip with an ankle injury. Dean squandered an opportunity for a pick-six, but I thought he had an encouraging night otherwise. Baun was a beast. More on him in a moment.
Cornerback and safety• 67 snaps each: Darius Slay and Reed Blankenship
• 66 snaps: Chauncey Gardner-Johnson
• 63 snaps: Quinyon Mitchell
• 60 snaps: Avonte Maddox
• 6 snaps: Cooper DeJean
• 4 snaps: Kelee Ringo
• 3 snaps: Tristin McCollum
Notes: Mitchell sure looked the part in his rookie debut. The stage was not too big for the small-school kid from Toledo.
Blankenship made an outstanding read on his INT. He trusted what he saw, broke on the ball with confidence, and made a great contested catch for the pick.
Maddox had a concerning performance, and the Packers were clearly targeting him. On one Packers TD, 6'4 Christian Watson got matched up against the 5'8 Maddox at the goal line. That's too easy, and can't happen. The Eagles need to rethink his starting role.
Three stars ????I've always liked the hockey tradition of awarding "stars" to each of the three best players in a game, so let's apply that to Eagles games.
⭐⭐⭐: RB Saquon Barkley: Barkley had a hat trick in his Eagles debut in Brazil. 24-109-2 as a runner, 2-23-1 as a receiver.
????????: LB Zack Baun, Eagles: Baun had 15 tackles, and 2 sacks, and was just generally all over the field near the football Friday night.
✨: WR Jayden Reed, Packers: Reed had 4 catches for 138 yards and a TD, as well as a 33-yard TD run.
Game ball ????I promise this won't always just go to the guy who was the top "star," but it's hard to give it to anyone other than Barkley, who must feel great this morning knowing that he's in an offense where he won't always face loaded boxes and be the very clear focus of the opposing defense, like he was when he was the only good player on a bad Giants offense.
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