Snap Count Observations From the Buccaneers' Week 14 Win Over the Bills

The Buccaneers needed every snap to beat the Bills in overtime on Sunday, so let's take a look at who was out there the most during the thrilling victory:

Offense

The immediate takeaway is that Rob Gronkowski played a season-high percentage of the team's snaps. He also played a season-high's worth of total snaps, but it's obvious the extra quarter caused that.

Tyler Johnson's playing time got back to it's normal amount, but he still finished with only three receptions for 17 yards. Breshad Perriman saw a dramatic drop in playing time compared to last week, but had his biggest game of the year.

O.J. Howard saw just five snaps, which is a personal low in 2021. He's seen a steady decline in play over the last three weeks. The Bucs aren't using two tight end sets on the field as much, therefore, the Bucs don't need him on the field as often now that Gronk is back.

Giovani Bernard was seeing a healthy dose of playing time in terms of his role before his hip injury. Hopefully he isn't out too long because it all takes is one injury to Ronald Jones II or Leonard Fournette and Bernard becomes the No. 2 back.

Defense/Special Teams

The Bucs and their fans have to be encouraged about the top-5 names on this list because it reflects a nearlyhealthy Bucs defense in December, which is huge for the defending champs. I'm almost positive Carlton Davis III would've played the entire game if he didn't have to leave for a bit with what was described as a head injury at the time.

Ross Cockrell was back on the field due to Jamel Dean's illness and came away with five tackles and a quarterback hit and Andrew Adams continues to make the Eagles look dumb for cutting him before the season started. He fits so well in the Bucs defense and has stepped up every time his name has been called this year.

Vita Vea's snap count continues to remain under 50%, but that could be a combination of the game plan and the fact that he's still on the injury report as a limited participant each week. It makes sense for the Bucs to ease him in since they have a capable backup in Rakeem Nunez-Roches.

Will Gholston saw his lowest amount of playing time since 2018, but it's fair to wonder how much of that has to do with the injuries he's currently dealing with. Pat O'Connor received some playing time on defense as a result, but his biggest impact came on special teams, where he sniffed out the Bills' fake punt and stopped Matt Breida short of the first down marker.

Main photo credit: John A. Babiak/@Photog_JohnB

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