Snap Counts Skewed as Eagles Rested Some Players in Blowout of Steelers

Here's a closer look at some of the snaps the Eagles played on both offense and defense in their 35-13 win over Pittsburgh

USA Today

PHILADELPHIA – The Eagles decided to go away from the tendencies they showed the league for the first six games of the season, using the bye week to devise another way to let its versatile offense work.

So, they didn't use much RPO stuff and let Jalen Hurts air it out. The result was four deep TD passes and, with the only red-zone snap they took all day, got an 11-yard TD run from Miles Sanders, as the Eagles blasted the Pittsburgh Steelers, 35-13, on Sunday.

It may have been the most complete game the Eagles have played all season on both sides of the ball, with a 35-point explosion from the offense, its most points the O put up this season, and the defense, which forced another two turnovers to give them 16 on year.

Once the game was well in hand with most of the fourth quarter still to play, the Eagles inserted their second team to give the first team some added rest on a short week before flying to Houston Wednesday for a Thursday night game against the Texans.

Center Jason Kelce said afterward he felt like he hardly played with the way the offense was scoring from distance and not having to grind out yards on the ground.

The snap counts from Sunday’s win are a bit skewed because of that, but some are still worth noting:

OFFENSE

• Zach Pascal’s snaps had been on a steady decline since his season-high of 31 in Week 2, dropping to just nine against the Cowboys prior to the bye. He received 23 on Sunday and made two catches for 57 yards and played 17 snaps on special teams.

“I love Zach Pascal,” said head coach Nick Sirianni. “Zach Pascal for the five years or four years I've been with him, has always done the dirty work. Always.

“It's great when you can reward a guy that does the dirty work who might not have the stats. It's awesome to be able to reward him for that. That’s what happens sometimes when a guy is doing dirty work. Everyone is focused on the other guys when he is doing the dirty work that he ends up wide open for touchdowns.”

He now has eight catches for 98 yards this season.

• Quez Watkins had another game without a catch despite playing 37 snaps. It was his fewest since getting 33 in Week 3. Granted he isn’t targeted often, but he has had catches in just three of seven games this season. He has six receptions for 88 yards this year.

• Britain Covey took the first four snaps of his rookie season on offense at receiver. He wasn’t targeted and only got them because the Eagles parked their starters on the bench with the win secured.

DEFENSE

• Newcomer Robert Quinn played 20 snaps and had one QB hurry. Asked for his impressions of the defense he joined just a couple of days ago and saw them ring up six sacks of Kenny Pickett and hurry him another 11 times, Quinn gushed a bit.

“How many sacks did we have?” he said then informed it was six. “That’s a dang-good day to me. I think we played great. Everyone had their chance to make plays. And I think we dominated up front. We keep building on that, we’ll only get better and better, and I get to have a little more fun as the year goes.”

• Brandon Graham played just 13% of the snaps, which was eye-opening until you consider that he battled a hamstring issue all week in practice and there are just four days until he has to play again.

• Marlon Tuipulotu played a career-high 36 snaps (47%) and responded with his first career sack, two tackles, and a QB hurry.

• While the offensive starters rested for most of the fourth quarter, the defense kept its starters in, allowing four of the five secondary members to record 100% of the 76 snaps – Marcus Epps, Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, James Bradberry, and Darius Slay. 

Slot CB Avonte Maddox played 91% (69 snaps) and had the fifth forced fumble of his career and first fumble recovery of his career to go along with six tackles.

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.