Following each Colts’ game, we get to take a look at what the player snap counts were on the offensive and defensive sides of the football. So what stood out in Week 2?
In the early going of the season, snap counts can be particularly helpful in providing insight into where things stand playing time-wise at a position, or how the Colts wanted to attack the opponent that week with certain looks.
Here are six takeaways from the Colts’ Week 2 snap count figures against the Packers:
27 combined snaps for Sermon and Goodson
Jonathan Taylor was having a good day on the ground, totaling 103 rushing yards on only 12 attempts. However, he saw no snaps in the fourth quarter, with the Colts instead opting to rely on Trey Sermon and Tyler Goodson. My guess is that this was a product of the Colts playing from behind and Taylor having two drops earlier, but it’s unfortunate that in a critical part of the game, the Colts didn’t feel that they could have their most steady playmaking presence on the field. They’ll have to find a way to make that happen moving forward.
Womack and Flowers split playing time
With JuJu Brents sidelined, the Colts opted to have Sam Womack and Dallis Flowers essentially split playing time opposite of Jaylon Jones. Womack played 20 snaps and Flowers player 19. Given that the Packers leaned on the run game so heavily, neither player was targeted in coverage.
A heavier workload for Bryan and Adebawore
Before DeForest Buckner left with an ankle injury, he was still playing on a snap count after being questionable with a back injury. That put a heavier workload on Taven Bryan and Adetomiwa Adebawore, providing a not-so-great matchup for the Colts. These two are pass rushers, but combined played 46 snaps, most of which came in run defense.
Kwity Paye
Paye came into the game questionable with a hamstring injury but appeared to be at full capacity. He played 42 snaps–just one shy of Tyquan Lewis’ 43, which was the most among Colts’ defensive ends. Percentage-wise, that was 61 percent of the Colts’ defensive snaps, in line with where Paye was at last week. Latu continues to be the third member of that rotation.
Alec Pierce led the WRs in snaps
Pierce has been the Colts’ most reliable presence in the passing game through two weeks. On Sunday, he caught 5-of-7 passes for 56 yards and a score, showing that he can impact the game in different ways. Pierce also played 95 percent of the offensive snaps, and saw five more snaps than Michael Pittman did.
One snap for Ronnie Harrison
With Julian Blackmon out, the Colts opted to move Nick Cross from free safety to strong safety–where he took his share of snaps this summer–and started Rodney Thomas at free safety. The addition of Harrison was for depth. Cross put together another solid performance.