The Eagles somehow pulled out a miraculous 37-34 overtime win over the Bills on Sunday afternoon and it took 95 defensive snaps to get it done.
Ninety-five!
That’s the most defensive snaps the Eagles have played in a game under Nick Sirianni surpassing their previous high of 80 in this year’s season opener. Their 95 defensive snaps on Sunday are the most for the Eagles since the overtime loss to the Cowboys on the road in Week 14 of the 2018 season.
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The Eagles’ 92 defensive plays on Sunday are the most in the NFL this season.
And that’s the second-most in franchise history behind the 93 they played since that Cowboys OT game in 2018.
Four defensive plays — Reed Blankenship, Darius Slay, Kevin Byard and James Bradberry — didn’t leave the field. But the last three don’t play special teams, which makes Blankenship’s afternoon so amazing. In addition to his 95 snaps on defense, Blankenship also played 21 snaps on special teams.
So all together, Blankenship was on the field for 116 snaps on Sunday!
NFL
The last player in the NFL to play 95+ defensive snaps and 20+ special teams snaps in a game was Jordan Babineaux with the Titans back in 2012.
Other defensive notes
• The Eagles entered this game without Milton Williams (concussion) and then lost Fletcher Cox (groin) during the game. So the DT rotation was shorted significantly: Jalen Carter (76 snaps, 80%), Jordan Davis (62 snaps, 65%), Marlton Tuipulotu (32 snaps, 34%), Cox (22 snaps, 23%), Moro Ojomo (1 snap).
Those are all career highs for Carter and Davis and a season-high for Tuipulotu. In fact, those 76 snaps for Carter are the most from an Eagles’ DT since Cox in that Dallas game in 2018.
• The Eagles kept their short rotation at defensive end. Haason Reddick played 83 snaps (87%), followed by Josh Sweat (81 snaps, 85%), Brandon Graham (26 snaps) and Nolan Smith (11 snaps).
Reddick got the most snaps for an Eagles edge rusher since Graham in that 2018 game; those 83 snaps are also the most during his Eagles career. Those 81 snaps are a new career-high for Sweat and those 11 are a new career high for Smith.
• Nicholas Morrow played 87 of 95 snaps, rarely leaving the field. Zach Cunningham played 55 before leaving with a hamstring injury. He was replaced by Christian Elliss, who was out there for 27 snaps.
• Bradley Roby played 71 snaps but there was still a rotation in the secondary. We saw Sydney Brown (12 snaps) and Eli Ricks (19 snaps) come on the field for third downs. When that happened, Brown played free safety and Byard moved up to play the tight end.
Offensive notes
• The Eagles had to play without Lane Johnson, who popped up on the injury report Sunday morning with groin soreness. Jack Driscoll filled in admirably and played all 66 snaps, along with the other four linemen and Jalen Hurts.
• Quez Watkins made his return from IR after missing five games with a hamstring injury and played 16 snaps. Obviously, DeVonta Smith (65) and A.J. Brown (62) led the way for the receivers but here’s how the other three split their snaps: Julio Jones (47), Olamide Zaccheaus (18), Watkins (16). It’ll be interesting to see where this goes.
• The Eagles used 10 personnel (four wideouts) on 18 snaps Sunday. They had used it on a total of 12 snaps in the first 11 weeks of the season.
• At tight end, Jack Stoll led the group with 36 snaps, followed by Albert Okwuegbunam (9) and Noah Togiai (7). There’s a chance Dallas Goedert (forearm) could return against the 49ers.
• Running back rotation: D’Andre Swift (42), Kenny Gainwell (23), Boston Scott (5). Swift led the way with 80 yards on 14 carries, which included a big 16-yarder on the penultimate play of the game.
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