Eagles Snap Counts: Short D-Line Bench Vs. Cowboys

With the bye week approaching, the Eagles shortened their defensive line rotation in their 28-23 win over the Cowboys on Sunday.

And then they had to play 75 snaps on that side of the ball.

The Eagles chose to keep Derek Barnett inactive for this game, which meant their edge rushers against the Cowboys were Josh Sweat, Haason Reddick, Brandon Graham, Nolan Smith and Patrick Johnson. Since Johnson did not touch the field on defense, all snaps were split between the first four players:

Josh Sweat: 63 snaps (84%)
Haason Reddick: 60 snaps (80%)
Brandon Graham: 18 snaps (24%)
Nolan Smith: 9 snaps (12%)

With a week’s break coming up shortly after the game, the Eagles asked their two top players to empty the tank. In Week 9, Sweat played 73% of the Eagles’ defensive snaps and Reddick played 71% that week. They were both significantly higher in this game.

The Eagles weren’t under constant pressure on Sunday, but their top players were able to handle the pressure late in the game. Sweat and Graham were great in the fourth quarter. Sweat, Reddick and Graham combined for 3 1/2 sacks in the game.

More defensive notes

• Prior to this week, the Eagles had six defensive tackles per game. After the Kentavius Street trade, many thought rookie Moro Ojomo would get more opportunities, but he was inactive for this game. That left the Eagles with five defensive tackles (and without Barnett, who can play inside): Fletcher Cox (55 snaps), Jalen Carter (51), Milton Williams (28), Jordan Davis (18), Marlon Tuipulotu (3).

We recognize Cox, Williams and Davis, who all sustained injuries in this game but came back to overcome them.

• In the secondary, Reed Blankenship and Kevin Byard played all 75 snaps. Darius Slay played 74 and James Bradberry 73. Both Slay and Bradberry left and returned on the final drive. Eli Ricks (47 snaps) and Sydney Brown (25) continued to rotate at the slot corner spot. Bradley Roby (shoulder) should be back after the bye.

• Nakobe Dean started and played 21 snaps before exiting with a foot injury. Even before the injury, the Eagles were making changes at linebacker. Nicholas Morrow ended up playing 54 snaps and Zach Cunningham didn’t leave the field.

Offensive notes

• Although Jalen Hurts was obviously dealing with some pain, he played all 62 snaps Sunday and has played all 640 offensive snaps this season. His entire OL, including rookie right guard Tyler Steen, played the entire game. Cam Jürgens should be back after the bye.

• At WR, AJ Brown played 60 snaps, followed by DeVonta Smith with 58, Olamide Zaccheaus with 26 and Julio Jones with 19. Quez Watkins is eligible to return after the bye week, leaving the Eagles with an interesting decision to make.

• D’Andre Swift played 40 snaps, followed by Kenny Gainwell (23) and Rashaad Penny (2). Penny had 2 runs for 8 yards in his 2 snaps.

• TE Dallas Goedert played 48 snaps before leaving this game with a broken forearm. He will miss some time. Jack Stoll played 27 snaps and Albert Okweugbunam played 6. Grant Calcaterra missed this game with a concussion but appears to be playing through the NFL’s concussion protocol.