The Eagles were dealing with more than just the Titans on Sunday. In the Nashville heat at Nissan Stadium, the weather pushed Philadelphia into a heavier-than-usual rotation and forced the kind of all-hands approach that doesn’t always show up on the stat sheet but absolutely shapes a game.
Nick Sirianni felt it, too. He came through the postgame locker room with an IV in his arm and didn’t sugarcoat the conditions.
“It was hot as s-,” Sirianni said. “Yeah, I didn't play a snap and I was hot.
Yeah, the guys battled. And they, again, just dug deep.
I give credit to the Titans. They dug deep, too.
That's why if anything was off in our preparation, it wouldn't have given us the best chance to win, but it just took everybody.
“It was hot as s- and everybody was hot as s-. It took all hands on deck, and like I said, I didn't play a snap and I had to get an IV.
I just so appreciate how much the guys prepared. I so appreciate how much they fought through because it wasn't easy.
It's not easy. They fought and they clawed and they scratched and did anything they had to do to get the win.”
Philadelphia logged 76 offensive snaps and 53 on defense, and controlled the clock for 36:25 to 23:35. But the bigger story was how the Eagles managed the workload across the roster.
Up front on defense, the Eagles leaned into their interior rotation more than usual. Moro Ojomo ended up leading the defensive tackles with 43 snaps, or 81 percent, followed closely by Jalen Carter at 41 snaps, 77 percent.
Jordan Davis played 23 snaps, Byron Young 13, and Ty Robinson 3. Carter cramped up late, but he and Ojomo still had enough left to make big plays when it mattered most.
Ojomo drew a hold and recorded a tackle for loss on consecutive snaps, and Carter later got to the quarterback on the Titans’ final meaningful drive, helping force a field goal.
The edge group was similarly spread out. Jalyx Hunt led the way with 42 snaps, or 79 percent, with Nolan Smith right behind him at 41 snaps, 77 percent.
Arnold Ebiketie logged 15 snaps and A.J. Epenesa 8.
The Eagles haven’t been overwhelming opponents up front in the way plenty of people expected, but Jonathan Greenard’s pectoral injury has him getting closer to a return, and that should give Vic Fangio’s defense a needed lift when he’s back.
There wasn’t much rest for the secondary or the linebackers, either. Quinyon Mitchell, Zack Baun and Cooper DeJean each played all 53 defensive snaps. Drew Mukbua, despite entering the weekend questionable with a knee injury, was on the field for 52 of 53.
On offense, the Eagles’ reshuffled line stayed on the field the entire game. All five linemen and Jalen Hurts played all 76 snaps.
It wasn’t the cleanest outing for the new-look front, but the group did hold up on the final touchdown drive. Drew Kendall had just 89 career offensive snaps coming into the game, and Philadelphia responded to Landon Dickerson’s move to IR by shifting Cam Jurgens to left guard and putting Kendall at center.
The idea now is simple: let them keep playing together in that order and grow into it.
At receiver, Philadelphia spread the work around more than it did in Week 1. DeVonta Smith led the position with 67 snaps, or 88 percent, while Makai Lemon played 48, Dontayvion Wicks 47, Darius Cooper 31 and Hollywood Brown 17.
Brown had not played at all in Week 1, but this time he contributed with a 9-yard end-around run. Smith finished with 10 catches for 117 yards and a touchdown.
Wicks added 5 for 74, Cooper had 2 for 26 and the game-winning touchdown, and Britain Covey also handled his two punt returns well.
The backfield was thinned almost immediately when Saquon Barkley took a stinger on his first carry. He returned after halftime, but he wasn’t himself and ended up with only 12 offensive snaps. That forced the Eagles to divide the workload, with Will Shipley playing 39 snaps, or 51 percent, and Tank Bigsby taking 26, or 34 percent.
Tight end turned into another spot where Philadelphia had to adjust on the fly. Dallas Goedert hurt his knee and lasted only 19 snaps.
That pushed Johnny Mundt into the lead role, and he responded by playing 49 snaps, or 64 percent, with E.J. Jenkins adding 25.
For Mundt, it was one of the heaviest workloads of his 10-year NFL career; he has played more snaps than that just twice.
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