Vikings snap count analysis and notable PFF grades from loss to Eagles

Red zone struggles, a couple Carson Wentz interceptions, and all kinds of big plays from Jalen Hurts and the Eagles' passing game doomed the Vikings in a 28-22 loss to the Eagles on Sunday. For the third time this season, Minnesota let a winnable opportunity slip away.

Let's dive into the snap counts and notable PFF grades from the game to see what we can learn.

Vikings offensive snap counts vs. Eagles (out of 69)

LG Donovan Jackson: 69
RG Will Fries: 69
RT Brian O'Neill: 69
LT Christian Darrisaw: 69
QB Carson Wentz: 69
WR Justin Jefferson: 68
C Blake Brandel: 67
WR Jordan Addison: 64
TE T.J. Hockenson: 57
RB Jordan Mason: 53
WR Jalen Nailor: 41
TE Josh Oliver: 32
FB C.J. Ham: 12
RB Zavier Scott: 9
WR Adam Thielen: 8
C Michael Jurgens: 2
TE Ben Yurosek: 1

Playing time was pretty consolidated to a group of 12 offensive players in this game, with Nailor on the field in 11 personnel and Oliver on the field in 12 personnel. Ham and a couple others also mixed in sparsely. It's clear at this point that Thielen plays a very small role as the Vikings' No. 4 wide receiver, only coming in on occasional obvious passing downs.

Scott's playing time figures to evaporate once Aaron Jones returns from IR. It'll be interesting to see if Jones gets close to a 50-50 split with Mason or what that percentage looks like.

Top 5 PFF grades on offense (min. 20 snaps)

1. Nailor — 74.6
2. Addison — 73.7
3. O'Neill — 72.6
4. Mason — 70.6
5. Darrisaw — 69.3

Jefferson was just off the list at 66.7, presumably because of the end zone jump ball he couldn't quite come down with against Cooper DeJean. The Vikings have two excellent wide receivers and a good No. 3, a quality running back, and a good offensive line when everyone is healthy. Now they just need better quarterback play.

Bottom 5 PFF grades on offense (min. 20 snaps)

1. Wentz — 45.9
2. Brandel — 51.1
3. Jackson — 53.1
4. Fries — 55.3
5. Hockenson — 56.5

Wentz had quite the rough day despite ending up with 341 total yards. His mistakes and inaccuracy hurt the Vikings numerous times. Brandel, the lone backup on the Vikings' offensive line, also had a poor day, which included a snap over Wentz's head and six pressures allowed, including a sack. It doesn't feel crazy to say the Vikings probably win that game if Ryan Kelly was out there.

PFF also didn't like how either of the Vikings' guards played. As always, it should be noted that PFF grades are far from a perfect metric for evaluating player performance.

Vikings defensive snap counts vs. Eagles (out of 50)

LB Blake Cashman: 50
S Josh Metellus: 50
CB Byron Murphy Jr: 50
S Harrison Smith: 50
CB Isaiah Rodgers: 49
OLB Jonathan Greenard: 47
DT Jonathan Allen: 44
S Theo Jackson: 42
LB Eric Wilson: 42
DT Jalen Redmond: 37
OLB Dallas Turner: 30
DT Levi Drake Rodriguez: 24
DT Javon Hargrave: 18
CB Jeff Okudah: 11
OLB Tyler Batty: 3
DT Elijah Williams: 2
OLB Bo Richter: 1

It was a fairly consolidated playing time distribution on defense, too, with a rotation at defensive tackle and some snaps for Okudah as a third cornerback.

A few things are notable here. The big one is a name that's missing. Third-year linebacker Ivan Pace Jr., who has struggled with coverage and tackling this season, did not play a single defensive snap in Cashman's return to action. The veteran Wilson got the nod as the Vikings' second off-ball linebacker, with Pace sliding to a special teams-only role.

Another is that Smith returned to an every-down role after averaging 22.7 snaps in his first three games of the season. Jackson remained in close to an every-down role alongside Smith and Metellus.

Finally, Hargrave only playing 18 out of 50 snaps stands out as well. It's the second straight game where he's been out-snapped by Allen, Redmond, and Rodriguez in the DT rotation.

Top 5 PFF grades on defense (min. 20 snaps)

1. Rodriguez — 79.2
2. Jackson — 72.9
3. Allen — 69.1
4. Smith — 68.8
5. Greenard — 66.7

The Vikings played solidly on defense outside of Hurts' big passes to A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. They completely bottled up Saquon Barkley on the ground. But their pass rush wasn't as effective as they'd like, even if they had three sacks. Allen tied for the team lead with three pressures.

Bottom 4 PFF grades on defense (min. 20 snaps)

1. Rodgers — 29.3
2. Cashman — 29.7
3. Hargrave — 34.8
4. Murphy — 55.5

We're only listing four here because everyone else was above a 62. It's not surprising that Rodgers received an awful grade — a full 70 points below his historic 99.9 grade from the Vikings' previous game at U.S. Bank Stadium — after getting burned deep multiple times for huge plays. What is surprising is seeing Cashman grade out that poorly in his first game back.