Snap count notes from the Lions Week 14 loss to the Bears

Lions snap count notes on the RB mix, DL rotation, Hutchinson never leaving the field, rookies and more from the loss in Chicago

It’s always interesting what stories the snap counts from a game tell about a team. For the Detroit Lions in the Week 14 loss to the Chicago Bears, it shows a team that made some questionable personnel choices.

Take the running back splits. David Montgomery played just 23 of the Lions’ 65 offensive snaps. Jahmyr Gibbs has taken over the lead-back role lately and that was reinforced in Chicago, with the rookie playing 41 snaps. Both Gibbs and Montgomery rushed for 66 yards in the game. Third RB Craig Reynolds played one. Montgomery played just one of Detroit’s 11 snaps in the third quarter.

Blocking was stable in this one. Kayode Awosika got the starting nod at right guard with Graham Glasgow playing center for the injured Frank Ragnow. The entire starting line played all 65 reps. Extra tackle Dan Skipper was on the field for five. Blocking tight end, James Mitchell played 11 snaps and still hasn’t seen one passing game target for the entire season.

Jameson Williams continues to grow into the No. 2 receiver role, trailing only Amon-Ra St. Brown (57) in snaps with his 38. That’s two more than Josh Reynolds, who led the Lions in receiving in Week 14 with three catches for 44 yards and a touchdown. Williams got one target and one handoff in his time on the field.

Defensive end Aidan Hutchinson continues to play almost every snap. In this game, Hutchinson played 64 of the 71 defensive reps, a 90 percent rate. Hutchinson played very well and is in tremendous physical shape, but leaning on a pass rusher to go for 90 percent of the snaps is asking a lot. It’s a reflection that the team doesn’t trust the defensive front without its top player.

The EDGE snap count breakdown:

Hutchinson: 64

John Cominsky: 50

Julian Okwara: 17

Romeo Okwara: 8

Isaiah Buggs got the majority of the Alim McNeill replacement reps at DT, playing 43 of the 71 available snaps. Rookie Brodric Martin didn’t record a stat, but he was on the field for six snaps in his first action since Week 8. Levi Onwuzurike also failed to record a stat in 14 reps.

Kindle Vildor made his Lions debut in the secondary with 17 reps. Some of those came at the expense of Jerry Jacobs, who played 53 snaps, or 75 percent. Veteran safety Tracy Walker did not play on defense, only appearing on special teams.

Two defenders only played one snap: LB Malcolm Rodriguez and DB Will Harris. Rodriguez did not appear at fullback in this game.

Studs and duds from Eagles 37-34 win over the Bills in Week 12

We’re looking at the studs and duds from the Philadelphia Eagles 37-34 win over the Buffalo Bills in Week 12

Elliott tied the game with 20 seconds remaining. After the Bills went ahead with a field goal on the first possession of overtime, Hurts put the game away with a walk-off 12-yard score that made the Eagles the only 10-1 team in the NFL.

Philadelphia overcame a 17-7 first-half deficit for the second straight game and benefited from another blown deep passing attempt, this time with Josh Allen and wide receiver Gabriel Davis getting mixed up late on a drive.

With a Week 13 showdown against San Francisco looming, here are the studs and duds from Sunday’s emotional win.

Eagles snap count vs. Bills: Breakdown, observations from 37-34 win in Week 12

We’re looking at the snap counts and playing time percentages from the Philadelphia Eagles overtime win vs. the Buffalo Bills on Sunday

Philadelphia remains the best team in the NFL after Jalen Hurts threw for three touchdowns and ran for two more, outplaying Buffalo’s Josh Allen late in the first of what could be many high-profile matchups in their careers.

The Eagles overcame a 17-7 first-half deficit for the second straight game, using a 59-yard field goal from Jake Elliott to take the Bills to overtime.

With a Week 13 showdown against San Francisco looming, here are the snap counts and playing time percentages for Week 12.

Snap count notes and observations from the Lions loss to the Packers

Breaking down the notable snap counts from the Detroit Lions in their Week 12 loss to the Green Bay Packers

Looking at the Detroit Lions and their team snap counts from the Week 12 loss to the Green Bay Packers, a few things stand out. Many help provide more content behind the Lions’29-22 loss in Ford Field.

Take the total offensive snaps. Green Bay ran just 56 plays on offense, while Detroit snapped 84 offensive reps. The Packers outscoring the Lions despite running 28 fewer snaps indicates the inefficiency and giveaways from Detroit.

The offensive line saw an in-game xhange at left guard. Colby Sorsdal, who was replacing injured Jonah Jackson, was himself replaced by Kayode Awosika after 32 snaps. The change came after center Frank Ragnow left for one play and right guard Graham Glasgow kicked inside to cover.

At running back, Jahmyr Gibbs was on the field for more than double the reps of David Montgomery, 60 to 23. Considering Montgomery played seven of the first eight, that’s a stark shift to Gibbs, perhaps dictated by the early deficit and Montgomery’s recent pass protection issues. Craig Reynolds played exactly one snap.

Dan Skipper played a season-high nine snaps as an extra tackle. That’s more than Malcolm Rodriguez (6) st fullback or James Mitchell (4) as the third TE.

Josh Reynolds earned 54 snaps at WR, outpacing Jameson Williams (53) and Kalif Raymond (24) behind Amon-Ra St. Brown (77) on the pecking order.

Defensively, the first thing that stands out is Aidan Hutchinson playing 53 of the 56 snaps. That’s an absurdly high rate for a pass rusher; elites like Myles Garrett and Micah Parsons rarely top 80 percent.

Josh Paschal was next in line at EDGE with 29, followed by John Cominsky (23), Charles Harris (13) and Romeo Okwara (8).

The linebacker usage factors in that mix as well. Alex Anzalone left with a hand injury for two snaps but played the rest of the game. Derrick Barnes (40) and Jack Campbell (31) both playing over half the snaps while facing a Packers team with one healthy TE and playing a base 3-WR offense is an interesting choice.

Eagles snap count vs. Chiefs: Breakdown, observations from 21-17 win in Week 11

We’re looking at the snap count and playing time percentages from the Philadelphia Eagles 21-17 win over the Kansas City Chiefs

Jalen Hurts and the Eagles’ offense overcame a poor start at Arrowhead Stadium, scoring two late touchdowns, as the Eagles’ defense shut out the Chiefs’ offense in the second half to come away with a 21-17 victory.

Philadelphia (9-1) became the first team to win nine of their first ten games in consecutive seasons since Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts in 2005-06, and the win was even sweeter because they defeated former coach Andy Reid for the first time in five tries since he became coach in Kansas City.

With preparation for the Bills set to get underway, here’s the snap count and playing time percentages for Week 11.

Snap count notes: New role for Rodrigo, interesting WR usage in Week 7

Detroit Lions snap count notes: New role for Rodrigo, interesting WR usage in Week 7 loss to the Ravens

Sunday’s 38-6 loss in Baltimore was one of the low points of the Dan Campbell era in Detroit. The Lions got whipped on both sides of the ball by a sharp Ravens squad.

The snap counts from the game are an interesting reflection of the Lions loss. Detroit racked up 75 snaps on offense to just 60 on defense, but the splits from the halves were wild; Baltimore ran 37 offensive plays in the first half to Detroit’s 25, en route to a 28-0 halftime lead. A lot of the Lions offensive snaps and production came in garbage time.

The entire starting offensive line and QB Jared Goff played all 75 snaps, with WR Amon-Ra St. Brown playing all but two. Jahmyr Gibbs dominated the RB snaps with David Montgomery out. The rookie played 65, with backup Craig Reynolds only notching seven reps. Devine Ozigbo and Mo Ibrahim only played on special teams.

There was one other player in the backfield: Malcolm Rodriguez. The backup linebacker took two snaps at fullback. Rodriguez hadn’t played on defense since Week 4, though he did get on the field for one snap at his regular position.

Behind St. Brown, Josh Reynolds was the clear No. 2 at wide receiver:

Reynolds – 55
Antoine Green – 33
Jameson Williams – 33
Kalif Raymond – 27

Maybe it was the early blowout status impacting the snaps and usage. That’s certainly possible. However, it’s interesting that Raymond was out-snapped by young players who contributed nothing (zero catches on seven combined targets) in the game.

On defense, the biggest eyebrow raise comes from Benito Jones getting the most reps of the DT rotation. Jones played 40 reps, with Alim McNeill at 38 and Isaiah Buggs at 33. John Cominsky played 37 snaps and at least a handful of those were inside the 5T alignment, though we don’t have the exact breakdown yet.

In his return from I.R., Josh Paschal logged 17 snaps. That’s more than both Romeo and Julian Okwara, who played 10 and eight, respectively.

In the second half, Khalil Dorsey came in and repped 10 plays at cornerback. Those were the only 10 plays where Will Harris was off the field. Steven Gilmore played two reps at CB, while Ifeatu Melifonwu saw four reps — all in a safety role. Chase Lucas did not play on defense once again.

[lawrence-related id=97707]

Lions snap count notes vs. Buccaneers: Dan Campbell rode his starters to victory

Lions snap count notes vs. Buccaneers: Dan Campbell rode his starters to victory, playing reserves less than normal on both sides

The Detroit Lions improved to 5-1 with Sunday’s 20-6 win in Tampa Bay, and they got the victory by leaning heavily on the starting lineup, especially on offense.

Head coach Dan Campbell shortened the bench on offense in the win. Some of that was injury-related necessity. With regular starting guards Jonah Jackson and Halapoulivaaati Vaitai unable to start, the starting five playing the whole way was a necessity. All five played all 70 offensive snaps, as did QB Jared Goff.

The other key starters played very high percentages of the game. Amon-Ra St. Brown was on the field for over 90 percent (64 of 70), followed closely by Josh Reynolds (57) at wide receiver. Rookie TE Sam LaPorta repped on 58 snaps, with Brock Wright in for 43 as the Lions leaned heavily into using two TEs against the Bucs’ impressive defensive front.

The reserves didn’t get much action. Jameson Williams caught his two passes on just 16 snaps, which is one more than Kalif Raymond got on offense. David Montgomery’s injury after 18 snaps thrust Craig Reynolds (43) and Devine Ozigbo (6) into more action than expected. Dan Skipper played four reps as an extra tackle in his first game back on the active roster.

On defense, 17 players saw action for Detroit. Five never left the field, playing all 56 snaps: DBs Kerby Joseph, Tracy Walker, Jerry Jacobs, Cam Sutton and LB Alex Anzalone.

DE Aidan Hutchinson crept back up over 85 percent usage again, playing 50 reps. John Cominsky played a season-high 43 snaps, out-repping Charles Harris (18), Levi Onwuzurike (11) and Romeo Okwara (9) combined in the No. 2 DE role.

The Lions split playing a third LB and a fifth DB pretty evenly. Will Harris was the No. 5 DB and played 39 snaps, with no other CBs or safeties seeing action. Jack Campbell was the third LB at 29 snaps.

Vaitai did play, but only on special teams. He was one of 11 Lions to appear strictly on special teams. Notable again amongst the 11: linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez, his second straight game no seeing any action on defense.

Lions vs. Jets: Detroit snap count notes and PFF grade breakdown

Lions vs. Jets: Detroit snap count notes and PFF grade breakdown from the Week 15 win in New York

Victory Monday is a concept Detroit Lions fans haven’t been able to experience much over the last five years, until now. For the sixth time in seven games, the Lions won on Sunday.

The Week 15 win over the New York Jets evened Detroit’s record at 7-7 after a 1-6 start. The 20-17 road win also kept the Lions’ postseason hopes very much alive with three games to play.

Detroit exited the game without any significant new injuries, a pleasant development that leads to a pretty insightful snap count tally. The initial game grades from Pro Football Focus are also available, and they tell an interesting story with their numbers, too.

Lions Week 11 PFF grade and snap count notes

Breaking down the snap counts and PFF grades for the Detroit Lions in Week 11

Sunday’s 31-18 win over the New York Giants was one of the most impressive all-around efforts by the Detroit Lions in several years. The Lions were the superior team in all phases in capturing their third win in a row.

The snap counts for the game, as well as the initial Pro Football Focus grades, are now available. Here’s what’s notable from the reps and the PFF grades.

Jaguars snap counts from third preseason game vs Steelers

The #Jaguars gave just about everyone a shot to make their impact against the #Steelers but fell just short in the fourth quarter.

The Jacksonville Jaguars fell short of a victory against the Pittsburgh Steelers but gained valuable experience in the exhibition matchup that will serve them well when the regular season starts. Rookies and veterans alike can benefit from the low-stakes environment the preseason provides, and the team wasted no time getting a look at the talent they’ve assembled on both sides of the ball.

Here are the snap counts from Saturday night’s loss to Pittsburgh:

*Snap counts via NFL Game Statistics and Information System

Observations:

Trevor Lawrence played more snaps than any other Jaguars quarterback as the game’s starter for the entire first half.
Rookie Travon Walker saw just under half the action on defense, and also contributed twice on special teams.
The trio of Joneses at receiver made their names known throughout the night, tallying a combined 85 snaps and combining for 122 yards for their effort.
Chad Muma led all defensive rookies with 29 total plays, a number that is likely to drop when fellow rookie linebacker Devin Lloyd returns from injury. He made the most of the extra playing time too, nearly coming down with an interception on the game’s opening drive and tallying four tackles on the day.
Second-year running back Travis Etienne paced his position with 21 snaps played but was followed closely by Mekhi Sargent (20), Snoop Conner (19), and Ryquell Armstead (16). Their 55 combined rushing yards weren’t nearly enough to keep Pittsburgh off balance or make an impact on the game’s final outcome.
Rookie E.J. Perry was one of the most instrumental pieces of the second-half collapse in just 15 total plays. That was good for six fewer than veteran C.J. Beathard, who had the Jaguars out in front to start the fourth quarter.
Special teams ace Josh Thompson made the most of his 11 snaps with the unit, tipping a punt that was downed on the two yard line which set up a second-half safety.