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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Glenn Erby

Eagles snap count vs. Cowboys: Breakdown, observations from Week 16

Gardner Minshew threw two scoring passes and did his best Jalen Hurts impersonation by running for another touchdown, but it wasn’t enough on the road in Dallas.

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Dak Prescott finished with 347 yards passing and three touchdowns after his interception was returned for a touchdown by Josh Sweat, and the Cowboys beat the Eagles 40-34 on Saturday to stay within striking distance in the NFC.

The top team in the NFL, Philadelphia (13-2) committed two of their four turnovers in the final five minutes and missed a chance to clinch the NFC’s top seed with a win over a division rival.

The Eagles now need a win or loss by Dallas (11-4) in the final two games in order to wrap up home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.

Here’s the snap count and usage rate for Philadelphia after their five-game win streak was snapped.

QB

Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Gardner Minshew 71 snaps

Minshew was 24-40 for 355 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions in place of an injured Jalen Hurts.

Minshew also had one rushing touchdown on the afternoon but was credited with one lost fumble as well.

RB

(Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images)

Miles Sanders 38 snaps
Kenneth Gainwell 30 snaps
Boston Scott 3 snaps

It could have been the plan or flow of the game, but Gainwell finished with only 8 fewer snaps than Miles Sanders on the afternoon.

Sanders had 21 carries for 65 yards and one costly fumble.

Gainwell finished with four carries for 17 yards on the ground but contributed four catches for 41 yards out of the backfield.

WR

Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

DeVonta Smith 66 snaps
A.J. Brown 65 snaps
Quez Watkins 51 snaps
Zach Pascal 12 snaps

DeVonta Smith had 113 yards in the contest, marking the first 1,000-yard receiving season of his young career.

A.J. Brown had six catches for 103 yards, and no touchdowns on the afternoon.

TE

Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Dallas Goedert 67 snaps
Jack Stoll 16 snaps
Grant Calcaterra 7 snaps

Goedert had 3 catches for 67 yards in his return to the lineup.

OL

Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Isaac Seumalo 71 snaps
Landon Dickerson 71 snaps
Jason Kelce 71 snaps
Jordan Mailata 71 snaps
Lane Johnson 60 snaps
Jack Driscoll 11 snaps

The Eagles offensive line was stout and didn’t allow a sack, but did lose Lane Johnson to an injury late in the ball game.

DL

Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Javon Hargrave 55 snaps
Josh Sweat 50 snaps
Fletcher Cox 50 snaps
Linval Joseph 36 snaps
Brandon Graham 29 snaps
Ndamukong Suh 22 snaps
Milton Williams 13 snaps
Jordan Davis 9 snaps

Sweat led the Eagles with 3 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 1 tackle for loss, 2 QB hits, and one interception return for a touchdown.

Ndamukong Suh also logged a half-sack.

LB

Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

T.J. Edwards 69 snaps
Haason Reddick 59 snaps
Kyzir White 50 snaps
Patrick Johnson 8 snaps
Nakobe Dean 1 snap

T.J. Edwards led Philadelphia with 14 tackles on the afternoon, while Haason Reddick notched two more sacks.

DB

(Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images)

Marcus Epps 73 snaps
Darius Slay 72 snaps
James Bradberry 72 snaps
Reed Blankenship 69 snaps
Josiah Scott 42 snaps
Avonte Maddox 19 snaps
K’Von Wallace 5 snaps

The wheels appeared to fall off in the secondary once Maddox exited the contest with a toe injury.

DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown both went over 100 yards on the day but were overshadowed by CeeDee Lamb’s 10 catch, 120 yards, and 2 touchdown performance to carry the Dallas passing game.

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