Each week I’ll be taking a closer look at the snap count distribution for the Bucs offense and defense, assessing what we can learn from who played the most and who played the least on Sunday.
It’s always hard to deduce much about snap count distribution in a blowout win, but Mike Evans leading the way for Bucs WRs in reps surprises me a little bit. Still, Evans played nine less snaps than he did 10 days ago against the Bears, as the Bucs made a clear effort to cut down on he and Chris Godwin’s reps until both players are 100 percent again. Thankfully in this game, the Bucs didn’t really need a big contribution from either player to notch a win.
Ronald Jones managed another 100-yard game despite playing just 57 percent of the team’s offensive snaps, giving way to LeSean McCoy and Ke’Shawn Vaughn for nearly half the game. The fascination with getting McCoy snaps continues to be a mystery. He now has six carries for -1 yard this season, while catching ten passes for just 61 yards. Vaughn dropped his only target of the game, but looked good running the ball with five carries for 42 yards.
After 16 snaps against the Bears, Tanner Hudson saw his reps cut in half on Sunday. Tom Brady never threw his way after targeting the practice squad call-up four times against Chicago. Cam Brate also played ten less snaps than he did in Week 5, as the Bucs operated more out of 11 personnel than in previous weeks.
Mike Edwards got a little relief work on Sunday, and he’s now intercepted two passes on 52 snaps this season. Yes, Sunday’s pick was a fortunate bounce right into his hands, but that play-making ability is something that makes you feel great about him as a third safety for this team.
Jason Pierre-Paul and Shaq Barrett both hit 90 percent of the team’s snaps, barely coming off the field thanks to a defensive effort that held the Packers to just 63 total plays, including just 42 after the first quarter. From the outset of the game there was a significant rotation along the interior defensive line, as Ndamukong Suh played a season low number of snaps and Rakeem Nunez-Roches didn’t even notch a season-high in replacing Vita Vea.
Jeremiah Ledbetter got called up from the practice squad and played 24 snaps on Sunday, more than Pat O’Connor and Anthony Nelson. It’s tough to conclude much based on the game being over in the third quarter, but I don’t think the Bucs will lean on Nacho that heavily in the wake of losing Vea, especially after Sunday’s trade for Jets DT Steve McLendon.
For the second straight week, Lavonte David and Devin White did not come off the field defensively, and the Packers offense was wrecked as a result. The duo combined for 18 tackles, 2.5 sacks and 5.5 tackles-for-loss, as the Bucs defense played their best game of the season.