In their Week 9 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Philadelphia Eagles played 79 snaps on offense and 54 on defense. Let’s jump right into the quick counts and some extra recognition.

Quarterback

• 79 photos: Jalen hurting

Notes: Hurts’ last four games:

He has also rushed for 159 yards and 6 touchdowns.

Run back

• 57 photos: Saquon Barkley

• 22 photos: Kenny Gainwell

• 3 snaps: Reed Blankenship

• 2 photos: Ben VanSumeren

• 1 moment: Will Shipley

Notes: Before the start of the season, I made 10 Eagles predictions. One of these involved Saquon Barkley:

The Eagles’ signing of Barkley has drawn some comparisons to the 49ers’ trade for McCaffrey during the 2022 season.

McCaffrey previously played for the Carolina Panthers, where he was a rare star player on an otherwise terrible team. Opposing defenses were focused on him, and if they could slow McCaffrey down, it was pretty easy to stop those Panthers’ offenses. When he joined an already potent 49ers offense, opposing defenses could no longer handle him the way they did in Carolina, and he was the 2023 NFL Offensive Player of the Year.

Likewise, Barkley has been stuck in a horrendous Giants offense his entire career, and in Philly he’ll join an already potent offense that features a pair of star receivers in AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith. He will also be behind by far the best offensive line he has ever played with.

The parallels with McCaffrey are somewhat logical, but also unrealistic. McCaffrey ran for 1,459 yards on 5.4 yards per carry last season. He also caught 67 passes for 564 yards. He racked up total yards from scrimmage and 21 total TDs in 2023. If anyone is expecting anything close to that kind of production from Barkley, they will most likely be disappointed. I mean, come on.

What Barkley will be is an upgrade over guys like DeAndre Swift and Miles Sanders, who both had Pro Bowl seasons in Philly but can’t do everything Barkley can. If Barkley touches the ball (I don’t know) 275 to 300 times this season (a big ‘if’), he will be well worth the money the Eagles spent at a position they haven’t often prioritized with premium resources.

Oops. Barkley is on pace for 1,966 rushing yards, 2,276 yards from scrimmage and 17 touchdowns.

VanSumeren left with a concussion.

And of course, when you see Blankenship’s name here, you know the Eagles have gotten into “victory formation.”

Wide receiver

• 76 photos: DeVonta Smith

• 42 photos: Jahan Dotson

• 37 snaps: AJ Brown

• 35 photos: Johnny Wilson

• 5 photos: Ainias Smith

Notes: Brown came to the sideline before the start of the second half, but went back inside before the teams took the field again. He did not return. The Eagles will certainly keep the severity of Brown’s injury under wraps for as long as possible. Interestingly enough, the trade deadline will occur before the Eagles’ next practice. If Brown’s injury is serious, that could determine their actions on the trade market.

With Brown out, DeVonta Smith stepped up, made a 46-yard catch to get the Eagles into scoring position, then made a breathtaking one-handed catch in the back of the end zone on the same drive.

Dotson also made an incredible catch, reaching behind a defender, tipping the ball over his head and making the grab. Dotson’s best asset out of college was his hands, and he showed them off on that play.

Wilson thought he had his first career touchdown reception, but he was flagged on the play for offensive pass interference.

The Eagles had Ainias Smith throw a bubble screen at a key moment in the fourth quarter for some insane reason.

Tight end

• 73 photos: Grant Calcaterra

• 31 photos: Jack Stoll

• 11 photos: EJ Jenkins

Notes: Calcaterra was pretty good at replacing Dallas Goedert. He had 5 catches on 5 targets for 30 yards. However, he is scheduled to become a free agent this coming offseason.

It’s worth noting that the Eagles opted not to place Goedert on injured reserve after he suffered his hamstring injury, indicating they thought there was a chance he wouldn’t have to miss four or more games. He’s missed three so far, so maybe he’ll return in Week 10 against the Cowboys?

Offensive line

• 79 photos: Landon Dickerson, Cam Jurgens, Mekhi Becton, Lane Johnson

• 78 photos: Fred Johnson

• 1 moment: Jack Driscoll

Notes: Hurts recorded 3 sacks, 2 of which were by Josh Hines-Allen. Fred Johnson has been up and down replacing Jordan Mailata, who is eligible to come off injured reserve after the Eagles’ Week 10 game at Dallas.

Edge defenders

• 42 photos: Josh Sweat

• 37 photos: Brandon Graham

• 22 photos: Nolan Smith

• 6 snaps: Bryce Huff

Notes: Sweat had 2 sacks and he now has at least 1 sack in each of the last 4 games.

There was never any indication from the team that Huff was injured, and he only played six snaps. That is of course an alarmingly low number.

Internal defense line

• 52 photos: Jalen Carter

• 22 photos: Milton Williams

• 21 photos: Jordan Davis

• 16 photos: Moro Ojomo

• 1 photo: Thomas Booker

Notes: Tank Bigsby was not a factor for the Jags. He had 8 carries for 22 yards.

Carter played Fletcher Cox-like snaps in this game.

Linebacker

• 53 photos: Nakobe Dean and Zack Baun

Notes: Baun was at the football all day and Dean made the deciding play. Both linebackers selected Trevor Lawrence. Great day for them as a tandem.

Cornerback and safety

• 54 photos: Quinyon Mitchell, Isaiah Rodgers, Reed Blankenship and Chauncey Gardner-Johnson

• 52 photos: Cooper DeJean

• 1 moment: Avonte Maddox

Notes: Rodgers held up well replacing Darius Slay.

DeJean has been a huge upgrade over Maddox.

Three stars 🤩

I’ve always enjoyed the hockey tradition of awarding “stars” to each of the top three players in a game, so let’s apply that to Eagles games.⭐⭐⭐: RB Saquon Barkley🌟🌟: LB Zack Baun✨: WR DeVonta Smith

Eagles match ball 🏈

🏈: LB Nakobe Dean: Throughout training camp, Dean continued to improve until he had quite clearly put together a body of work superior to presumed starter Devin White. Dean won the starting job, struggled at first, but is starting to play like the player the Eagles thought they stole in the third round of the 2022 draft. His biggest mistake since joining the pros has been in reporting, where he closed the match on Sunday.

Seasonal game balls

1. Week 1, vs. Packers: Saquon Barkley
2. Week 2, at Falcons: Nobody
3. Week 3, at Saints: Vic Fangio
4. Week 4, at Buccaneers: Saquon Barkley
5. Week 5: DEW
6. Week 6, vs. Browns: Brandon Graham
7. Week 7, at Giants: Saquon Barkley
8. Week 8, at Bengals: Fred Johnson
9. Week 9, vs. Jaguars: Nakobe Dean

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