Buccaneers vs. Bears: Snap Count Observations from Week 7
There will be a lot of differences with this week's snap count observations due to the Bucs dominating 38-3 win over the Bears. The Bucs brought in several backups at the end of the game, so keep that mind when reading through this week's edition.
With that being said, let's dive in!
Offense
Bucs' snap counts on offense for Week 7 vs. the Bears.
Three of the Bucs' starting five offensive linemen played for the entire game, but Ali Marpet and Donovan Smith received a breather at the end of the game, which allowed Aaron Stinnie and Josh Wells to see some additional snaps. Both players were in on a run play where the Bucs used seven offensive linemen at one point, as well.
Tom Brady's day ended early, too. He's on pace to play 95% of snaps this year, which ties his second-lowest amount since 2012. Chris Godwin led the skill position players this week after taking a backseat to Mike Evans the last two weeks, but both players still played a low amount of snaps, even with Antonio Brown out. Tyler Johnson played a season-high 67% of snaps, which is also higher than any percentage that Brown has received this year. Yet he was targeted just two times. He did make the most of his opportunities, though, catching both passes for 16-yards.
It was really interesting to see Cyril Grayson get on the field as much as he did, even with the garbage time factored in. Ke'Shawn Vaughn saw his first game action since the Wildcard game against the Washington Football Team and looked good when he ran the ball. And of course, we can't forget about Blaine Gabbert, who played well during his second stint of clean-up duty.
Defense
Bucs' snap counts on defense for Week 7 vs. the Bears. Numbers on the far right represent Special Teams snap counts.
No one played a full game due to the nature of the score, but the usual suspects remained at the top of the list. It was nice to see Antoine Winfield Jr. play a "full game" with no setbacks after missing the last 2-1/2 games.
Kevin Minter continues to receive a ton of playing time in Lavonte David's stead and he's playing well. It's also scary to think of how much the Bucs will have to rely on K.J. Britt and/or Grant Stuard if something were to happen to Minter, however.
Ross Cockrell played the most snaps out of any other corner, but that's because Dee Delaney left the game early with an ankle injury and Jamel Dean sat out a few snaps with an injury, too. Either way, the Bucs secondary continues to take hits week after week. It's a bit surprising to see how little Mike Edwards played in this game, especially after Delaney went down. Pierre Desir made the most of his playing time by picking off Justin Fields at one point and should see more playing time if Delaney's ankle continues to be an issue. Rashard Robinson also saw his first snaps of the year on defense after primarily playing special teams.
The Bucs rotated their EDGEs more than usual in this game. No one played more than 61% of defensive snaps and that was Shaquil Barrett. Joe Tryon and Jason Pierre-Paul had a near-even split of 56% and 59% snaps, which makes sense considering JPP's multiple ailments that he's dealing with. He was still able to lead the team with 2.0 sacks, too. Anthony Nelson received the most playing time of his 2021 season and finished with a season-high two total tackles.
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