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Eagles-Buccaneers snap counts: More confusing player usage

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By: Brandon Lee Gowton

Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Playing time tracker.

Time to analyze the Philadelphia Eagles’ snap counts from their Week 6 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

OFFENSE


  • Not great when you’re mightily struggling on offense despite having your starting offensive line and quarterback for the entire game. The Eagles are obviously playing multiple backups up front, but, still. It shouldn’t look this difficult.
  • DeVonta Smith almost played the entire game. Good! DeVonta Smith inexplicably only saw four targets. Not good! He caught two for 31 yards. They need to force feed him the ball. It’s not like he struggles to get open. Figure it out.
  • Zach Ertz saw his biggest workload with Dallas Goedert out. His finished his final game with the Eagles by catching all four of his targets for 29 yards and one touchdown. Too bad the Eagles couldn’t send him out on a high note with a win.
  • Jalen Reagor arguably had the best game of his season by drawing two big pass interference penalties. Of course, he still finished the game with zero receptions on three targets. He dropped two of the balls that went his way. Great.
  • Miles Sanders touched the ball on 11 of his 43 snaps. He produced 66 yards on those touches, including nine rushes for 56 yards (6.2 average). Running the ball isn’t the magical fix-all that it’s made out to be … but everyone should be able to admit the Eagles should be doing it more often than this low extreme they’re currently at.
  • Quez Watkins led the Eagles in receiving with three catches for 44 yards. Think about that. He was the Eagles’ leading receiver with those numbers. Watkins made some pretty impressive grabs; it should be clear that he’s a good player. And thus it’s inexplicable how Reagor is getting more playing time than him, even if it’s just a few snaps.
  • Jack Stoll saw a bigger role as the No. 2 tight end behind Ertz. No targets, though.
  • Just a few days after Myles Gaskin hurt the Bucs out of the backfield by catching all 10 of his targets for 74 yards and two touchdowns, the Eagles decided they didn’t need to get their best pass-catching back involved against Tampa. Gainwell actually saw a season-low in snap percentage and touched the ball ONCE. What the hell is this coaching staff even doing?
  • JJAW is up to 46 snaps and 0 targets on the season.

DEFENSE


  • Anthony Harris hadn’t missed a snap prior to Week 6. He had to temporarily leave this game with a hand injury before returning.
  • Derek Barnett led all Eagles edge rushers in playing time. He’s yet to produce a sack this season. He has just one in his last 11 games.
  • Fletcher Cox had one quarterback hit. First time he’s had at least one QB hit in back-to-back games since Week 8 and Week 9 last season.
  • Javon Hargrave was held without a sack or QB hit for the first time all season.
  • Josh Sweat had a QB hit and a tackle for loss.
  • Rodney McLeod usually played 100% of the Eagles’ snaps under Jim Schwartz. He’s had a more limited role under Jonathan Gannon. Still easing him in after his injury?
  • Avonte Maddox was one of the few bright spots from a bad game.
  • Alex Singleton made 15 total tackles. Too many were too far down the field as opposed to impact plays. He also missed four, according to PFF.
  • Genard Avery was PFF’s worst graded Eagles defender. His taunting penalty (although a weak rule) certainly didn’t help Philly get the ball back for a chance to win the game.
  • Davion Taylor actually started the game and saw a career-high in playing time. He had a bad missed tackle on Leonard Fournette at one point but whatever. Keep playing him since there might be hope for him.
  • Eric Wilson saw a season-low in playing time for the second straight week. Makes sense since he hasn’t been good.
  • Ryan Kerrigan posted no stats yet again. He has one tackle in 158 snaps played. The Eagles should be looking to sell him for whatever they can get (not much) ahead of the deadline.
  • Milton Williams’ playing time decreased for the second week in a row. 17% was a season low for him. Doesn’t seem like the Eagles are loving what they’re seeing out of him.

SPECIAL TEAMS


  • Shaun Bradley logged three tackles.
  • Josiah Scott had a holding penalty that wiped out an 8-yard punt return. It came before the drive that Jake Elliott missed a 46-yard field goal attempt.
  • Not pictured in the screenshot: Nate Herbig and Le’Raven Clark each logged three ST snaps.

DID NOT PLAY

INACTIVE: Lane Johnson, Gardner Minshew, Jack Anderson, Mac McCain, Marlon Tuipulotu

ACTIVE: Joe Flacco, Noah Togiai

  • Still no word on if/when Johnson will be back.
  • Minshew is the only player on roster who’s been inactive for every game thus far. Does that eventually change?
  • Togiai did not play a snap in his first game with the Eagles. He was around just as an emergency backup.

Originally posted on Bleeding Green Nation