What is the story about?
The
official snap counts from the Philadelphia Eagles’ Week 3 loss to the Chicago Bears are in. Let’s take a look and run through some analysis.
OFFENSE
- Only 50 snaps for the offense is low. So low that it tied their season-low for offensive snaps in a game last year, which came in a win over the Minnesota Vikings.
- Jalen Hurts was pulled from the game by the concussion spotter. Those four snaps he missed turned out to be pretty important since Andy Dalton came in and threw a terrible interception into the end zone for a touchback.
- Dontayvion Wicks was once again the clear WR2. He was second in wide receiver snaps and targets.
- Saquon Barkley looked pretty spry out there despite playing with a collar on after suffering a stinger injury last week. Good to see his playing time wasn’t really limited.
- Makai Lemon’s snap count percentage was a season-high, slightly up from the 63% mark he was at in each of the first two weeks.
- Johnny Mundt was the Eagles’ top tight end with Dallas Goedert out. Not really an ideal configuration.
- Zach Ertz was limited to a relatively small role in his first game back with the Eagles. He was still TE2 ahead of E.J. Jenkins, though, in terms of total playing time.
- Will Shipley was RB2 over Tank Bigsby, who fumbled on one of his two snaps played. That giveaway isn’t going to help Bigsby get more snaps.
- With Hollywood Brown inactive, Elijah Moore made his Eagles debut in this game. He was not targeted and he did not help out on special teams at all.
- Darius Cooper looked good in Week 2, including when he made the game-winning touchdown grab. His reward? The fifth-most playing time of any Eagles receiver (behind Moore, who was previously a healthy scratch behind six active receivers in each of the first two games) … and zero targets. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- Markel Bell made his NFL debut on offense in a six offensive linemen package.
DEFENSE
- Cooper DeJean and Quinyon Mitchell are the only Eagles defenders to not miss a snap so far this season.
- Jalen Carter’s snap count percentage has dropped each week this season (94% to 77% to 71%) while he continues to play through a wrist injury that’s causing him to wear a cast.
- Jordan Davis logged his highest snap count percentage of the season. He was ahead of Moro Ojomo for the first time this year.
- Byron Young saw a lot more playing time than he usually does. Guess the Eagles are trying to use him more to help lighten the load of the players ahead of him. Ty Robinson also saw a bigger role than normal to have the Eagles significantly utilize five DTs.
- Marcus Epps and Michael Carter II rotated as at the safety next to Andrew Mukuba in nickel defense packages. When you have two safeties playing at one spot, you might just have none.
- Here’s a positive for the defense on what was otherwise a pretty bad night: Jonathan Greenard looked good in his debut. He logged two pressures (including one QB hit), a forced fumble, and a stop in just 18 snaps played. The Eagles need to hope he’s able to handle an increased workload sooner than later.
- Jeremiah Trotter Jr. saw a little action on defense for the first time this season.
SPECIAL TEAMS
- Chance Campbell saw some special teams action in his Eagles debut and first regular season action since 2023.
- Quiet night for Jake Elliott, who did a single kickoff and a single extra point.
- Micah Morris played a single special teams snap in his first-ever NFL game.
DID NOT PLAY
ACTIVE: Mac McWilliams
INACTIVE: Hollywood Brown, Tanner McKee, Cole Payton, A.J. Epenesa, Fred Johnson, Dallas Goedert
- McWilliams was active but did not play a snap for the first time this season.
- Goedert, Brown, and Johnson were ruled out due to injury.
- McKee was the emergency third quarterback once again. He should really be QB2. Dalton shouldn’t be on the team.
- With Greenard returning to the field, Epenesa was a healthy scratch as the fifth edge rusher.
