Inside the Snap Counts in Eagles Win vs. Titans
PHILADELPHIA –Garbage time came early on Sunday.
With the Eagles 35-10 victory over the Tennessee Titans locked down with nearly 10 minutes to play in the game, the snap counts will be a bit skewed but still worth a look.
OFFENSE
Jack Stoll and Grant Calcaterra. The Eagles are 3-0 without Dallas Goedert in the lineup and have to get through Sunday’s game against the Giants before the star tight end can return the following week in Chicago.
Jack Stoll has made the transition without Goedert easier than some may have thought, especially for those who wanted the Eagles to swing a trade for a backup or try to coax Rob Gronkowski out of retirement.
Grant Calcaterra has done his part as well.
Stoll once again played the lion’s share of snaps at tight end with 54 of the 73 (74%). Unlike last week in the win over the Packers, when he wasn’t targeted in the passing game, he was targeted three times vs. the Titans ad snared all three for 41 yards.
His first catch covered 26 yards on a second-and-15 throw in the second quarter that set up the Eagles’ go-ahead-for-good touchdown, a 40-yard TD to A.J. Brown.
Calcaterra played a career-high 28 and has played a total of 60 in the three games without Goedert. He caught his lone target on Sunday for 19 yards.
Kenny Gainwell and Boston Scott. The running backs have done their part in the passing game as well, especially on Sunday.
When Gainwell shows he can be trusted and not drop an early target, the Eagles will go back to him. He had three catches on four targets for a season-high 38 yards. He ran three times for 15 yards and played 20 snaps.
Scott played 17 snaps and caught one pass for five yards with six runs for 15.
DEFENSE
Reed Blankenship and Marcus Epps. Just how much trust does defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon have in his undrafted free agent safety? Enough to play every single snap on Sunday, all 55. He was the only Eagles defensive player to do so, which means Marcus Epps' run of playing every snap came to an end, thanks in part to the blowout win.
Epps played 45 snaps (82%).
Blankenship had three tackles with one pass defended.
Epps had two tackles.
Nakobe Dean. The rookie linebacker got his first extended playing time after Kyzir White went out with an injury. Dean made the most of his 15 snaps with five tackles, which was tied for second-most on the team behind T.J. Edwards’ six. White also had five tackles.
Defensive tackle mix. The Eagles activated him from IR on Saturday then took it slowly with him on Sunday, playing him just six snaps.
Joseph got just 13 as Gannon utilized a heavy d-tackle rotation to stay fresh against Titans RB Derrick Henry.
Javon Hargrave led all DTs with 28 snaps (51%) with Fletcher Cox getting 27, and Milton Williams and Ndamukong Suh 25.
Edge mix. Without Robert Quinn to sprinkle in for several snaps – he sat out with a knee injury suffered on Friday - Haason Reddick led the way with 43 (78%) followed by Josh Sweat with 27, and Brandon Graham with 18.
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.
