Snap Count Observations From the Buccaneers' Week 17 Win Over the Jets

The Bucs needed every single snap out of their players in Week 17.

The Buccaneers notched their fifth comeback win of the season during Sunday's 28-24 win over the Jets. Obviously, they need every single snap to win this one as Tom Brady connected with Cyril Grayson Jr. to take the lead -and win the game- in the final seconds.

Who did the Bucs rely on most in this one? 

You can find AllBucs' breakdown below:

Offense

Brady and the offensive line didn't get to clock out early this week. The Bucs needed every single snap from them in order to win and fortunately, they delivered.

Rob Gronkowski played the highest percentage of snaps he's ever played as a Buc (95%) and his 70 snaps are the second-most over the last two years. As it turns out, the seven receptions and 115 receiving yards are his second-highest amounts as a Bucs, respectively, as well. Cameron Brate saw a pretty decent drop in playing time this week, but has a touchdown in back-to-back games, now, so he's making the most of his snaps. O.J. Howard also saw a reduction in playing time, which makes it seem like the Bucs ran more three-receiver sets this week than they did last week.

Mike Evans played an impressive 76% of snaps upon his return from a hamstring injury and a stint on the reserve/COVID-19 list. He made some big catches in the game and it's fair to argue the Bucs don't win this one without him. We all know the Antonio Brown story by now; he finished with three receptions for 26-yards on his 26 snaps before he was cut by the team late in the third quarter. 

Grayson Jr. was this week's hero and continues to see a lot of playing time. The Bucs should promote him to the active roster now that Brown is off the team. He not only had the game-winning touchdown catch, but he had the game-changing 20-yard catch on 3rd and 20, also. Tyler Johnson played 49 snaps and had a clutch 27-yard reception on the Bucs' game-winning drive. Breshad Perriman had a key 32-yard reception on the Bucs' second scoring drive and played 11 snaps upon his return from the COVID-19 list. Scotty Miller did not log a single snap in this game, but is likely to see more playing time now that Brown is out of the picture.

Le'Veon Bell was the lead back in terms of snaps this week due to an ankle injury suffered by Ronald Jones II and a ribs injury suffered by Ke'Shawn Vaughn. Bell had just five rushing yards on three carries, but had three receptions for 30-yards. Two of which converted third downs into first downs. It'll be interesting to see how the Bucs use Bell moving forward. Especially if the injuries to Jones and Vaughn cause them to miss time. 

Defense/Special Teams

To see Antoine Winfield Jr. play 100% of snaps immediately upon returning from his foot injury is pretty impressive and it's all the more so when you add in his team-leading eight tackles. 

Anthony Nelson continues to improve and looks better each week. He started his first game in almost a year and recorded a sack, a pass break-up, two tackles for loss, a quarterback hit, and the game-sealing fumble recovery. His development will be key in the Bucs' pass rushing moving forward and it will be even more crucial if Shaquil Barrett's and Jason Pierre-Paul's injuries linger. He even out-snapped Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, but there's not much too read into when it comes to that, right now. Both players came up with at least one key play during the game and that's what the Bucs need right now with Barrett and JPP out.

Kevin Minter filled Lavonte David's shoes in terms of playing time, but not impact. The Jets burned Minter on the perimeter several times, but that's to be expected with a 31-year-old veteran that's never claimed speed as part of his game.

Mike Edwards logged a lot of playing time due to Sean Murphy-Bunting's and Jamel Dean's pre-game travel adventures, but also because SMB got hurt during the game. It wasn't Edwards' best game. He gave up one touchdown as well as several other plays throughout. Pierre Desir also filled in on the outside while the Bucs awaited SMB's and Dean's entrances and when SMB got hurt. With all the chaos at the cornerback position, it's interesting to see that Ross Cockrell only received one snap.

Cam Gil, Steve McClendon, and Rakeem Nunez-Roches did their things as backups and Gil almost had a sack on Zach Wilson, but the rookie quarterback managed to escape at the last second.

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