Sean McVay played it safe in Week 18 by holding many of the Los Angeles Rams’ top contributors out of Sunday’s game against the Seattle Seahawks, resting players such as Matthew Stafford, Kyren Williams, Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp in the finale.
Several starters didn’t play a single snap in the loss to Seattle, but some did see the field for at least a little while on Sunday. Looking at the snap counts, we can see which starters got playing time in Week 18 and which ones didn’t play at all.
Here’s a breakdown of the offense and defense.
Offense
Did not play: Stafford, Kupp, Nacua, Williams, Kevin Dotson, Alaric Jackson, Rob Havenstein, Beaux Limmer
The Rams held the above starters out for the entire game, making all but Limmer inactive on Sunday. Limmer was available in case of emergency but he did not see the field.
Steve Avila and Demarcus Robinson were two starters who played their normal number of snaps. Tyler Higbee also saw a heavier workload than usual, playing 39% of the snaps on offense.
Dylan McMahon, Jonah Jackson, Warren McClendon Jr. and Joe Noteboom were the other starters along the offensive line, playing all 66 snaps in the loss.
At quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo played the entire game in place of Stafford. He threw for 334 yards and two touchdowns with one interception.
Ronnie Rivers led the backfield with a 79% snap share, primarily because Blake Corum broke his forearm in the second quarter and was unable to return. Cody Schrader played just two snaps as the third-string running back.
Tyler Johnson, Tutu Atwell and Jordan Whittington all saw significant playing time alongside Robinson, each playing at least 30 offensive snaps. Xavier Smith only played five snaps.
At tight end, Colby Parkinson, Davis Allen and Hunter Long all got playing time, but Long was limited to just seven snaps as the fourth tight end.
Defense
Did not play: Kamren Curl, Darious Williams, Christian Rozeboom
Curl, Williams and Rozeboom were the only three defensive starters who didn’t play at all. They were active, but they weren’t on the field for a single snap on defense. Christian Rozeboom did play 11 special teams snaps.
There was a small group of other starters who played between 10 and 13 snaps in the game: Ahkello Witherspoon, Byron Young, Braden Fiske, Jared Verse, Kobie Turner and Quentin Lake. Chris Shula and McVay wanted to get those players some more reps before the playoffs, likely because of A) the limited resources on defense and B) to keep their momentum going.
Only three players were on the field for every defensive snap. Jaylen McCollough, Cobie Durant and Kam Kinchens made up that group, the first time they’ve each played 100% of the snaps in the same game. Emmanuel Forbes Jr. made his Rams debut and played all but three snaps.
Jake Hummel and Omar Speights handled the duties at linebacker, playing 93% and 80% of the snaps, respectively. They were the only inside linebackers to take the field.
Keir Thomas got a big opportunity after being called up from the practice squad, leading the edge rushers with a 71% snap share. Brennan Jackson and Michael Hoecht played 49% and 47%, respectively, operating as the other primary outside linebackers in this one with Verse and Young only playing 11 snaps each.
Josh Wallace was the No. 3 cornerback alongside Durant and Forbes for most of the game, playing 55% of the snaps.
On the defensive line, Neville Gallimore played 51% of the snaps, a season-high for him. Tyler Davis was right there with him, also setting a season-high with a 51% snap share. Desjuan Johnson made the most of his 26 snaps, with Bobby Brown III also playing 22 snaps.