Eagles-Rams snap counts: Jalen Carter totally dominated while nearly playing the entire game

Playing time analysis.

The official snap counts from the Philadelphia Eagles’ Divisional Round playoff win over the Los Angeles Rams are in! Let’s take a look and run through some analysis.

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OFFENSE

• Jalen Hurts did not miss a snap despite suffering a knee injury. Tough dude.
• Lane Johnson was not on the field for victory formation. Fred Johnson took that snap at right tackle.
• Despite missing just two snaps, A.J. Brown only had two catches for 14 yards. Both of them went for first downs. He was targeted seven times in total and would’ve had two more catches if not for drops.
• Dallas Goedert led the Eagles in receiving. His four targets resulted in four catches for 56 yards. Efficient. Eagles need to keep feeding him.
• DeVonta Smith’s four targets resulted in four catches for just 21 yards. But he became the Eagles’ new franchise leader in playoff receiving yards.
• Saquon Barkley logged 30 total touches, which is tied (with two other times) for the second-most he’s had this season. He produced 232 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns. Pretty decent player.
• Jahan Dotson did not see a target despite playing 39 snaps. He should’ve been targeted at one point when he got wide open downfield.
• Not as much 12 personnel this week with Grant Calcaterra being limited to his second-lowest snap count percentage of the season. The only time he finished lower was in Week 18 when he was rested for part of the game.
• Johnny Wilson once again saw limited playing time as a blocking WR.
• Kenny Gainwell only played six snaps but made the most of his two touches by gaining 20 yards and two first downs.
• E.J. Jenkins has a very small role as TE3.
• Reed Blankenship was lined up deep behind victory formation as a precaution in the unlikely event of a fumble.

DEFENSE

• This was the first time Darius Slay played 100% of the Eagles’ defensive snaps since Week 11. It’s only the fourth time this season that he’s played the entire game on defense.
• Jalen Carter was an absolute force despite getting just two plays off. He filled up the box score with five total tackles, three quarterback hits, two sacks, two tackles for loss, and one pass deflection. Carter had a season-saving sequence late in the game by sacking Stafford to turn 3rd-and-2 at the plus 13-yard line into 4th-and-11. Then he also pressured Stafford into an incompletion on fourth down. Still had gas left in the tank to take over the game at the end. What a beast!
• Lots of nickel defense with Cooper DeJean nearly playing the entire game.
• There was thought that Oren Burks might share snaps with rookie Jeremiah Trotter Jr. Not the case. And understandably so with Burks playing relatively well.
• Josh Sweat played his highest snap count by far. His previous high was 51. The Eagles are starting to let him empty the tank a bit more with the end of the season in sight.
• Nolan Smith continues to be awesome as a starting edge rusher for this team.
• Isaiah Rodgers filled in for an injured Quinyon Mitchell for most of this game.
• Moro Ojomo logged his first career sack.
• Jalyx Hunt notched a sack as the third edge rusher in a three-man rotation.
• Jordan Davis was limited to 17 snaps as DT4.
• Kelee Ringo saw some playing time as both a dime cornerback and when Rodgers missed a few snaps before returning late in the game.
• The Eagles will hope that Mitchell’s injury isn’t too serious. The rookie cornerback downplayed concerns about his outlook but his status will be worth monitoring on the injury report this week.

SPECIAL TEAMS

• With Burks graduating from backup to starter, Jeremiah Trotter Jr. picked up the slack on special teams.
• Nicholas Morrow logged two special teams tackles in his first game back with the Eagles.
• No fullback snaps for Khari Blasingame in this one. Special teams duty only.
• Braden Mann had some really good holds in addition to punting well.
• No defensive role for Trevor Booker once again. The Eagles have shortened the DT rotation to four players.

DID NOT PLAY

INACTIVE: Tanner McKee, Nick Gates, Darian Kinnard, Trevor Keegan, Ainias Smith, Eli Ricks, Lewis Cine

ACTIVE: Kenny Pickett, Bryce Huff, Parris Campbell

• The inactives were the same from the Eagles’ Wild Card game. They were all healthy scratches.
• Pickett was warming up after Hurts got banged up and evaluated in the medical tent. But the backup quarterback didn’t enter the game.
• After playing one defensive snap last weekend, Huff didn’t even see the field in this one. Just not ideal for a big money free agent signing to be such a non-factor.
• Campbell played two special teams snaps last weekend before not playing at all in this game.