The Detroit Lions went big in order to stop the Minnesota Vikings rushing attack, and it didn’t work — at all.
Going bigger on the defensive front was the perfect post-bye adjustment. The Lions found immediate success against the Jaguars and Falcons running games, but in 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.
Quarterback
AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn
Matthew Stafford: 60, 80-percent Chase Daniel: 15, 20-percentStafford’s back has held up, but an awkward fall after a tackle triggered a medical check to determine if he suffered a concussion. He cleared the NFL’s concussion protocol but with the game already decided, Chase Daniel finished out the remaining snaps.
Passing the concussion protocol is a strong indicator Stafford will be available for next week, but brain injuries have a way of showing up after the fact, so this is definitely worth keeping track of.
Running back
Mandatory Credit: Harrison Barden-USA TODAY Sports
D’Andre Swift: 30, 40-percent Kerryon Johnson: 25, 33-percent Adrian Peterson: 20, 27-percent Jason Cabinda (FB): 8, 11-percentIs it just me or does it feel like Peterson is on the field more than any other back? Maybe it’s because of when he is on the field, or that the incoming play call is so transparent my eyes are drawn to him, but it’s always noticeable when No. 28 lines up in the backfield.
In reality, it’s Swift who continues to see the majority of snaps and even carried the ball 13 times compared to Peterson’s eight. — they were both targeted five times in the passing game and caught three — but Swift only seeing 40-percent of snaps at this juncture of the season seems low.
It was nice to see Johnson get more involved. While he out-snapped Peterson, Johnson saw half the touches, he produced the exact same yardage output on the ground: 29-yards.
Wide receivers
Mandatory Credit: Harrison Barden-USA TODAY Sports
Marvin Jones Jr.: 71, 95-percent Marvin Hall: 53, 71-percent Quintez Cephus: 48, 64-percent Danny Amendola: 31, 41-percentWith Kenny Golladay and Jamal Agnew out, Hall and Cephus split their reps, with Hall getting the technical start.
Despite the extra opportunity for snaps, Amendola continues to receive less than 50-percent of snaps each week. This appears to be part of the gameplan, and possibly a way to lessen wear and tear on his veteran body.
Tight ends
Mandatory Credit: Harrison Barden-USA TODAY Sports
T.J. Hockenson: 57, 76-percent Jesse James: 25, 33-percent Isaac Nauta: 5, 7-percentWash. Rinse. Repeat on the tight end snap counts.
The only thing that catches my eye is the fact that Nauta continues to see only a handful of snaps a game. He’s hardly playing special teams either and at this stage, it’s fair to speculate that his blocking snaps could be picked up by another player — say offensive lineman Matt Nelson — and if the Lions get jammed up on roster space, he could end up being the odd man out.
Offensive line
AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn
LT – Taylor Decker: 75, 100-percent LG – Jonah Jackson: 75, 100-percent C – Frank Ragnow: 75, 100-percent RT – Tyrell Crosby: 75, 100-percent RG – Hal Vaitai: 51, 68-percent RG – Oday Aboushi: 24, 32-percent 6th OL – Matt Nelson: 2, 3-percentWith Joe Dahl unavailable, the Lions turned to Aboushi to step in at right guard after Vaitai needed to leave the game. The Lions continue to have to shuffle their offensive line combinations either due to injury or strategy.
As eluded to in the previous section, Nelson is a blocker the Lions turn to when they want to go big. And this begs the question: if you’re going to use Nelson in this situation, do you really need this many blocking only players on the roster?
Interior defensive line
AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn
Danny Shelton: 42, 72-percent Nick Williams: 39, 67-percent John Penisini: 39, 67-percent Da’Shawn Hand: 24, 41-percentThe Lions opted for extra bulk on the field, and Penisini out-snapped Hand for the first time — but is that the best strategy? Hand is arguably the most talented defensive lineman and seeing just 24 snaps is not ideal.
EDGE rushers
Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
Romeo Okwara: 53, 91-percent Austin Bryant: 27, 47-percent Everson Griffen: 24, 41-percentMissing Trey Flowers likely played a factor in the increased snaps for the interior defensive linemen, but his absence also altered how the EDGE snaps were distributed as well.
Okwara continues to be an underrated contributor and playing on 91-percent is a huge ask, especially when he’s playing a lot of special teams as well.
Additionally, it might feel a bit surprising to see Bryant out-snap Griffen, but with it likely taking time for Griffen to acclimate to the Lions scheme, a lower snap count in his first game makes sense.
Linebackers
AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn
Jamie Collins: 55, 95-percent Reggie Ragland: 28, 48-percent Christian Jones: 22, 38-percent Jahlani Tavai: 22, 38-percent Jalen Reeves-Maybin: 2, 3-percentThis snap distribution is close to what we have come to expect for this position group, with Collins doubling up every other linebacker, and the next three in line splitting snaps relatively close to one another.
Corners
Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
Desmond Trufant: 50, 86-percent Amani Oruwariye: 36, 62-percent Jeff Okudah: 26, 45-percent Justin Coleman: 17, 29-percentTrufant and Okudah got the start but the rotation started soon after, and once Okudah went down within injury, Oruwariye saw his snaps elevate.
Like on offense with Amendola, the slot specific players — Coleman here — saw a decline in opportunities in recent weeks. Coleman was also used as a replacement gunner on special teams but this is a startling low snap count for a player making $9 million this season.
Safeties
Mandatory Credit: Harrison Barden-USA TODAY Sports
Duron Harmon: 58, 100-percent Jayron Kearse: 56, 97-percent Will Harris: 17, 29-percentWith no Tracy Walker, Kearse assumed his starting role, while Kearse’s third safety (slot) role returned to Harris, but in a lower capacity with the extra snaps going to the defensive line.
Special teams
Mandatory Credit: Harrison Barden-USA TODAY Sports
Miles Killebrew – 23 Jalen Reeves-Maybin – 23 C.J. Moore – 23 Mike Ford – 17 Will Harris – 16 Jason Cabinda – 16 Romeo Okwara – 15 Duron Harmon – 11 Jesse James – 11 Jack Fox – 11 Austin Bryant – 10 Quintez Cephus – 10 Justin Coleman – 9 Jahlani Tavai -9 Marvin Hall – 7 Don Muhlbach – 7 Matt Prater – 6 D’Andre Swift – 6 Isaac Nauta – 6 Tony McRae – 5 Jayron Kearse – 4 Jonathan Williams – 2 Marcus Martin – 2Coordinator Brayden Coombs’ unit continues to be the bright spot on this team. Jack Fox still leads the NFL in multiple punting categories and they blocked two more punts yesterday — giving them three blocks in the last two weeks.
There were several injury replacements this week, with Amendola returning punts in place of Agnew, Hall taking over Agnew’s kirk return duties, Ford taking over Agnews’ gunner snaps, and Coleman helping out at gunner when McRae left with a leg injury.
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Week 9 snap counts: Lions went big up front to stop the run and it didn't work - Lions Wire
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