Eagles-49ers snap count analysis: Haason Reddick continues to be super efficient
The official tally of the Philadelphia Eagles’ NFC Championship win over the San Francisco 49ers is here! Let’s take a look and run through some analysis.
The Eagles obviously managed to get their starters out of the game early. Gardner Minshew took over with about four minutes left in the fourth quarter. A week after seeing 10 targets, DeVonta Smith had just three assists in this one despite playing the most shots of any talented player. And one of those targets came during the scrambling exercise where he had that disgusting one-handed grip, which he definitely didn’t catch! Underused. Dallas Goedert caught five of his six targets for just 23 yards. It never looked like a big game for him with the quality of the 49ers defense in midfield. AJ Brown led the team in targets despite playing fewer snaps than DeVonta and Goedert. He had just four grabs for 28 yards. He made a nice catch for a first down on a low pitched ball due to a free rusher to the face of Jalen Hurts. He also dropped a single pass that he usually catches. Landon Dickerson had to leave the game early with an arm injury. His status will be worth watching going into the Super Bowl. Lane Johnson was taken out a little earlier than his fellow blockers due to the luxury of the Eagles having a big lead and Johnson playing with a groin injury. After failing to see a target last week, Quez Watkins received a pass on a deep shot. But it was dismantled by Chavarius Ward. While Zach Pascal outplayed him last week, Watkins resumed his role as WR3 in this game. How about Playoff Kenny? ! Kenneth Gainwell saw 16 total touches between 14 runs and two catches. He looks like a totally different player in the playoffs. Gainwell has rushed 26 times for 160 yards (6.2 average) and a touchdown so far. Jack Stoll caught a pass in this game! Just one for five yards. It was his first target and taken since 18 December. Including the playoffs, he’s 128 yards on the season (6.7 per game). Zach Pascal saw a target in the middle but the pass was interrupted. Miles Sanders led the Eagles rushers in yards per carry with 3.8. In two playoff games, he has 28 carries for 132 yards (4.7 average) and two scores. Players like Jack Driscoll, Andre Dillard and Britain Covey finished the game in record time. It’s only the third time this season that Marcus Epps hasn’t played the entire game. He only missed 10 regular season snaps. It’s again nice to be able to give him some rest towards the end of this one. Last week, Haason Reddick recorded seven pressures on 24 pass rush snaps (per Pro Football Focus). This week, Reddick recorded five pressures on 14 quick passes. So, so far, 12 pressures on 36 passes snap in the playoffs. He’s pretty good! Javon Hargrave had a great performance in the box score with two total tackles, a sack, a TFL and a pass deflection (almost a pick). Ndamukong Suh was DT3 in terms of playing time but almost played as much as Fletcher Cox. Suh led the Eagles in quarterback hits with two. One of them knocked Josh Johnson out of the game. Avonte Maddox played his second-lowest snap count percentage of any game he’s played this season. The lowest is when he was injured in Dallas. Considering how limited he was in training leading up to the NFCCG, the Eagles may have been a little easy on him. Two weeks off before the Super Bowl should help Maddox get closer to 100%. Jordan Davis was credited with his first career quarterback in that game. He edged Linval Joseph for the second game in a row. The role of Reed Blankenship took a big hit with Maddox returning to the slot and CJ Gardner-Johnson returning primarily to security. Although he only played seven defensive snaps, he tied for the team lead in tackles with six. He also helped force a fumble on Deebo Samuel which he recovered late in the game. Not much of a role for Robert Quinn, who is still looking for his first sack with the Eagles. The likes of Zech McPhearson, Josh Jobe, Nakobe Dean and Christian Elliss were able to complete the game in record time. Not listed in the graphic because it wouldn’t crop well if I included it: K’Von Wallace playing three defensive snaps and 12 special teams snaps. Wallace was ejected for throwing a strike at Trent Williams … who cowardly threw him from behind in frustration during a scrum. Jake Elliott made his only field goal attempt from 31 yards to give the Eagles a total of 31 points scored. Go figure. Brett Kern nearly pinned the 49ers deep in their own territory with a punt near the corner of the coffin at one point. It was encouraging to see. Less encouraging was his 34-yard punt… who may have hit the FOX SkyCam wire?! If the referees had determined that interference was involved, he would have been allowed to re-punt.
INACTIVE: Ian Book, Trey Sermon, Josh Sills, Kyron Johnson, Josiah Scott, Anthony Harris
Scott was a healthy scratch for the first time all season. The Eagles didn’t need their deep nickel cornerback as much with Avonte Maddox back in the lineup. Harris was temporarily lifted from the practice squad so he could get another playoff game check.