Tag: snap count

Week 11 snap counts: Lions fail in attempt to replace injured players

Examining the Detroit Lions Week 11 snap counts following their 20-0 loss to the Carolina Panthers.

The Detroit Lions entered Week 11 with several injuries, including five starters missing the game: running back D’Andre Swift, wide receiver Kenny Golladay, slot receiver Danny Amendola, defensive end Trey Flowers (injured reserve), and defensive lineman Da’Shawn Hand.

Make no mistake, this is not an excuse for the embarrassing 20-0 loss to the Carolina Panthers, because this team is supposed to have the depth to overcome the long grind of an NFL season. This is merely an observation that the Lions current team did not have any answers when it came to adjusting to and overcoming difficult circumstances.

Unfortunately, this has been a calling card of this coaching staff over the last three seasons. Smart preparation at the beginning of the week, but when a wrench gets thrown into the works, they flounder when it comes to adjusting.

On most weeks, the difficultly adjusting happens on game day, but this week, this game may have very well been decided on Thursday when Swift was forced out of action with a concussion and Golladay was downgraded at practice.

Instead of readjusting their game plan for a Swift-less offense, it appeared the Lions instead decided to plug ahead with the same game plan and replace Swift with Kerryon Johnson and leaning on Adrian Peterson slightly more. That’s a tough spot for Johnson, as his and Swift’s skill sets don’t exactly lineup.

At wide receiver, expecting Marvin Hall and Quintez Cephus to be able to do what Golladay does is also wishful thinking. This is not a knock on Hall or Cephus either. They are all capable players in their own ways, but they also need to be put into the right circumstances to succeed.

This is the major flaw in thinking that the “next man up” can just jump into another player’s role without adjusting the game plan. And this flaw is the biggest reason no coach in the NFL is sitting on a hotter seat than Matt Patricia.

That and more in this week’s snap count review.

Browns snap count notes from Week 10: Stefanski shortens the bench

Browns snap count notes from Week 10: Stefanski shortens the bench

When basketball games are close from the opening tip to the final buzzer, coaches tend to shorten the bench. Fewer players get into the game and the top talents dominate the playing time.

That’s exactly what Cleveland Browns coach Kevin Stefanski did in his team’s Week 10 win over the Houston Texans. In a game where weather conditions largely negated the passing game, the snap counts for both teams were abbreviated.

Cleveland ran 65 offensive plays to Houston’s 57. The Browns had just 16 players take an offensive snap, a season-low. The biggest impact came at wide receiver.

Three wideouts all played exactly 38 snaps: Rashard Higgins, KhaDarel Hodge and Jarvis Landry. Donovan Peoples-Jones was on the field for 16. Having no single WR play more than 58 percent of the snaps is a testament to the weather and game conditions.

The tight end breakdown continues to establish the status quo: Austin Hooper (55 snaps) is the top dog, followed by rookie Harrison Bryant (36) and then David Njoku (23).

Nick Chubb returned to the lineup and played 28 reps. That’s 10 less than Kareem Hunt, who also missed a few snaps after taking a hard shot in the second half. No other RB was on the field other than for special teams.

On defense, 18 Browns saw action. That’s also a season-low. Four players played all 57 snaps: CBs Denzel Ward and Terrance Mitchell, LB B.J. Goodson and S Ronnie Harrison.

Myles Garrett continues to play over 80 percent of available reps. The superstar DE logged 46 snaps. Safety Andrew Sendejo was next at 45, his lowest total and percentage of the year. Olivier Vernon also played 45 as the DE opposite Garrett.

Safety Karl Joseph did not play on defense. His regular reps were divided up between safety Sheldrick Redwine (17 snaps) and more usage of the No. 3 LB spot, which rotated between Malcolm Smith (27) and Sione Takitaki (17).

The Texans’ base three-WR offense led to former Houston first-round pick Kevin Johnson playing more than usual as the slot corner. Johnson played 39 reps, more than any linebacker got in the game.

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Week 10 Lions snap counts: Welcome to the D’Andre Swift show

Examining the Detroit Lions Week 10 snap counts from their 30-27 victory over the Washington Football Team.

Well, it took nine games but the Detroit Lions have finally turned the backfield reigns over to second-round pick D’Andre Swift.

The Lions don’t appear ready to give up on their three-headed committee at running back just yet, but after Swift’s performance, coaches will have a hard time justifying not giving him the majority of snaps/touches moving forward.

 

 

 

Snap count notes and observations from the Browns’ first 8 games

Breaking down the snap counts for the first 8 weeks for the Browns

Halfway through the 2020 NFL season, the Cleveland Browns are figuring out the player rotations under new head coach Kevin Stefanski and his coordinators. Injuries and changing situations have made for some interesting breakdowns to the snap counts for the first eight games.

Here are some of the takeaways from poring over the Browns’ snap counts for the first eight weeks.

Offense

Only two players, LG Joel Bitonio and C JC Tretter, have played all 500 snaps. The 500 total makes for a nice round number to determine playing time percentages, too.

Baker Mayfield has taken 485 of the snaps at quarterback, the same number rookie left tackle Jedrick Wills has logged. Right tackle Jack Conklin (439) is the only other offensive player over 75 percent.

There was a lot of talk about the No. 2 tight end vs. No. 3 wide receiver split. In the first half of the year, rookie TE Harrison Byrant played 283 reps while WR Rashard Higgins played just 174. Keep in mind over 150 of those Higgins snaps came after Odell Beckham (316) got hurt, too. KhaDarel Hodge has logged over 50 percent of the snaps in the four games he has played, however.

Wyatt Teller (284) and Chris Hubbard (280) have had an almost even split at right guard. Kareem Hunt (281) has played more than expected due to Nick Chubb (119) being injured since Week 4. Chubb has 60 total touches on those 199 snaps, meaning he sees the ball almost exactly half the time he’s played.

Defense

Terrance Mitchell just missed out on being the iron man. The cornerback has played in 560 of the 562 available snaps. He’s followed by safety Andrew Sendejo (553), fellow CB Denzel Ward (527) and LB B.J. Goodson (514) as Browns defenders playing over 90 percent of available snaps.

Myles Garrett is next at 446, a 78.9 percent playing time that is a heavy load for a lineman. Sheldon Richarson (413) was also close to 75 percent at DT.

Safety Karl Joseph played 282 of his 300 total snaps in the first four games before he missed two weeks.

Defensive end Porter Gustin is at just over 41 percent of reps (236) but his playing time has fluctuated wildly. One note: the three games Gustin has played at least 50 percent of the snaps have been the Browns’ three best defensive scoring efforts.

Two players, undrafted rookies A.J. Green and Jovante Moffatt, have played exactly one snap on defense.

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Week 9 snap counts: Lions went big up front to stop the run and it didn’t work

Reviewing the Detroit Lions snap counts from the Week 9 loss to the Minnesota Vikings.

The Detroit Lions went big in order to stop the Minnesota Vikings rushing attack, and it didn’t work — at all.

Going bigger up front was the perfect post-bye adjustment and the Lions found immediate success against the Jaguars and Falcons running games, but the past two weeks the strategy has fallen flat.

This raises several concerns, including, what do they do now?

The Lions have to take a hard look at what’s happing up front because if they don’t fix it soon, it could be curtains on the season.

Detroit Lions Week 8 snap counts: Shifts in the trenches couldn’t save the Lions

Examining the Detroit Lions Week 8 snap counts to identify which players coaches leaned on and how that impacted their game strategy.

The Detroit Lions entered their Week 8 contest with the Indianapolis Colts by trying to take away their biggest strengths and that meant adjusting their offensive and defensive lines.

The offensive line once again saw a shuffling of players up front, adding Joe Dahl back into the starting lineup — this time at right guard — pushing Hal Vaitai outside to right tackle and sending Tyrell Crosby to the bench.

On defense, the Lions used each of their four interior defensive linemen on over 53-percent of plays, something we haven’t seen during this coaching staff’s tenure.

The main goal: Establish the run on offense, take it away on defense.

The results were not in the Lions’ favor.

The Lions managed just 29-yards rushing, with only eight of those yards coming from their running backs group. On defense, they faired better, but after a rough fourth quarter, they finished the day allowing a total of 119-yards, more than their previous two games combined.

That, and more observations in this week’s review of the Lions snap counts.

Snap count notes: Busy day for the Browns secondary in Week 6

No. 3 WR getting more reps than No. 2 TE is also a new wrinkle

In a game featuring just 122 total plays, the Cleveland Browns secondary was a busy one.

The starting foursome in the Browns secondary played all but two combined snaps. Safety Andrew Sendejo and CB Denzel Ward both stayed on the field for all 65 of the Steelers offensive plays, while CB Terrance Mitchell and S Sheldrick Redwine each played 64. Nickel CB Kevin Johnson saw 42 reps and M.J. Stewart played two, while no safeties besides the staters saw action.

Four LBs saw at least 20 snaps, led by B.J. Goodson and his 57. Malcolm Smith (34), Mack Wilson (31) and Sione Takitaki (21) followed, with Tae Davis also playing seven. The shift to a heavier LB front appears to be an adjustment to the Steelers’ run-heavy game plan.

On offense, the No. 3 WR saw more reps than the No. 2 tight end for the first time all season. Rashard Higgins played 34 snaps and scored Cleveland’s only TD. David Njoku played 23 as the second TE, two more than rookie Harrison Bryant.

Quarterback Case Keenum saw 15 reps in his first action in a Browns uniform.

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Browns snap count notes: David Njoku’s return, return of the nickel CB and more

The Browns had 73 offensive snaps and just 56 on defense against the Colts

A week after playing almost 160 total snaps, Sunday’s game at FirstEnergy Stadium was a relative break for the Cleveland Browns. There were 129 snaps between the Browns and visiting Colts, a big drop from the 157 in Dallas in Week 4.

The Browns held the ball for 73 offensive snaps to the Colts’ 56. Five Browns — four lineman and QB Baker Mayfield — played all 73.

Wyatt Teller’s injury at right guard forced some shuffling. Chris Hubbard played 59 snaps in place of Teller, who left after just 14. Kendall Lamm also got into the game, playing exactly one snap as an extra tackle.

With Nick Chubb on I.R., it was the Kareem Hunt show at RB. Hunt played 70% of the snaps, 51 in total. That’s a season-high for Hunt. Backup D’Ernest Johnson was the only other RB to get in on offense, filling out the other 22 reps. Dontrell Hilliard only played on special teams. FB Andy Janovich played 14.

David Njoku saw limited action as the No. 3 tight end in his return. Njoku played 21 snaps and caught his only target. He’s still behind rookie Harrison Bryant, who played 29 but did not catch a pass. Austin Hooper had 58 reps and saw a season-high 10 targets, catching five.

It was also a big jump up for Rashard Higgins as the third WR. After weeks as a healthy scratch, Higgins rolled out the red carpet with 40 snaps, including his TD reception. He had just 60 snaps through the first four weeks.

On defense, the Browns shifted from three safeties to three corners as the primary nickel package against the Colts. With Karl Joseph out, the move made sense. Andrew Sendejo never left the field, joined by CBs Denzel Ward and Terrance Mitchell as the iron men on the D.

Starting in place of Joseph, Ronnie Harrison played the first 37 snaps before leaving with a concussion. Sheldrick Redwine then filled in for the remaining 19. They did not play on the field together, meaning the Browns did not use a three-safety look once in the game. CB Kevin Johnson played 41 reps (73%) as the nickel back in the slot.

Rookie Jordan Elliott lasted just nine snaps in his starting debut before leaving with an injury. Vincent Taylor took over and played 31 reps in his place. Adrian Clayborn caught 21 snaps in his return from injury at DE.

What’s the deal with Fabian Moreau, and why isn’t he playing anymore?

Fabian Moreau played zero defensive snaps on Sunday, and he’s seemingly been removed from a nickel package where he was expected to thrive.

After the Washington game each and every week, we take a look at the extended statistics report and see if we can glean any information from some of the numbers deeper than the box score.

One of the main sources of information comes from the snap count, where you can see how often a player was really on the field, and whether he was trusted to have an impact or not.

This wee after a 31-17 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, one of the most staggering figures was the number zero — that’s how man defensive snaps CB Fabian Moreau took in the entire game. He was one the field for 14 snaps in all, which came from special teams work, but it seems that his spot in the cornerback rotation has been completely diminished as of late. Even Jimmy Moreland played 9 snaps on defense, breaking the rotation a bit.

So what explains this number? It actually comes from the desired outcome, where both Kendall Fuller and Ronald Darby have been solid enough to stay on the field for the entire game. Fuller received 100% of defensive snaps, coming up with two big interceptions, and Darby clocked in with 98% of snaps.

While it was figured that those two would get the bulk of the load before the season, many thought that Washington would turn towards Moreau to play a big part in the nickel package, where he would fill in as a third cornerback, replacing a linebacker and covering the slot. In his place, it’s been rookie Kamren Curl who has shoulder a good amount of this load over the past week or two, and he’s excelled in that position.

So is it blouses for Moreau? We won’t call it that just yet, but his place in the defense is absolutely something that we will keep an eye on going forward.

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Snap count notes and observations from the Browns’ Week 4 win over the Cowboys

The Browns had 8 ironmen playing every available snap

There are some tired bodies in the Cleveland Browns training room after Sunday’s 49-38 win over the Dallas Cowboys. The snap counts and playing times for the Browns in the Week 4 win show a lot of reps for many players on both sides of the ball.

The Browns had 75 snaps on offense and 82 total on defense. That’s the most snaps the offense has played through four weeks and the second-most the defense has played, behind the 92 in the Week 2 win over Cincinnati.

Five Browns played all the offensive snaps, while three went all the way on defense. On offense, it was QB Baker Mayfield and four of the five starting offensive linemen. Right tackle Jack Conklin sat out four plays, replaced by Chris Hubbard.

Defensively, safety Andrew Sendejo and corners Denzel Ward and Terrance Mitchell were on the field for every rep. That’s an impressive showing from Ward, who was questionable for the game with a groin injury.

Olivier Vernon was also questionable and had missed two weeks in a row, but the veteran DE played 65 snaps. That’s more than fellow DE Myles Garrett (60) and Vernon’s replacement during his absence, Porter Gustin (41).

Rookie linebacker Jacob Phillips saw 17 snaps in his return to action, 10 less than Mack Wilson. B.J. Goodson (64 snaps) was the only LB on the field for more than half the game.

On offense, running back D’Ernest Johnson only played 17 reps but saw the ball on 13 of those. He played in place of Nick Chubb, who left the game after just 14 snaps with his knee injury. Kareem Hunt led the RB group with only 26, while Dontrell Hilliard chipped in 15 in a true RB-by-committee game.

Rookie tight end Harrison Bryant continues to grow, as reflected by his 52 snaps. With Austin Hooper playing 63, that’s a lot of two-TE sets. Fellow rookie Donovan Peoples-Jones made his WR debut with 33 reps, behind Odell Beckham Jr. (58) and Jarvis Landry (57).

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