Crazy Snap Counts, Plus Stud, Dud from Packers’ Loss to Vikings

The game might not have mattered, but there were some noteworthy performances for the Green Bay Packers in their loss to the Minnesota Vikings.

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Matthew Golden runs with the ball against Minnesota Vikings cornerback Isaiah Rodgers. | Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers lost 16-3 to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday in a game that could hardly have been more irrelevant.

The snap counts from the game were interesting, though. Here’s our weekly analysis, along with one stud and one dud.

Packers Snap Counts on Offense

The Packers played 51 snaps on offense.

Quarterback: Clayton Tune made his second career start, and his first since his rookie year of 2023, and went the distance. That he played every snap is really the only stat that matters. The alternative would have been taking Jordan Love out of bubble wrap.

Tune, who didn’t throw a single pass 10-plus-yards downfield, didn’t have a snowball’s chance for success. Literally everything worked against him having any success whatsoever. He was 6-of-11 for 34 yards. With four sacks for minus-41 yards, the Packers finished with minus-7 passing yards.

Running backs: The Packers rolled the dice with only two running backs, with Emanuel Wilson and Chris Brooks having to stay healthy to make a run-first attack work. Wilson played 28 snaps and Brooks played the other 23.

Brooks was quite good with 13 carries for 61 yards. That Wilson finished with 44 yards on 18 carries is a miracle considering he lost 18 on one play. Of their 105 combined rushing yards, Next Gen Stats credited them with 99 yards after contact.

Green Bay Packers running back Chris Brooks (30) is stopped by Minnesota Vikings defenders Isaiah Rodgers (2) and Eric Wilson. | Dan Powers / USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin. / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Receivers: The Packers rolled the dice by adding only Jakobie Keeney-James from the practice squad. That one didn’t work quite as well, with Bo Melton suffering a knee injury while making a tackle on the punt team.

Ultimately, Matthew Golden played all 51 snaps, Keeney-James played the first 48 of his career and Melton was limited to 13. Because of Melton’s injury, Jayden Reed wound up playing eight snaps while Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs stayed cocooned on the sideline.

Keeney-James caught two passes for 15 yards and Golden caught one for 8. Their 8-yard receptions were the longest of the day.

Tight ends: Drake Dabney, who was elevated from the practice squad for a second consecutive game, played 45 snaps, Josh Whyle played 37 and Luke Musgrave got to watch from the sideline. Whyle had a 4-yard catch and Dabney a 3-yard catch.

Offensive line: It was touch and go at one point, when one of the Packers’ backs took out right guard Anthony Belton and right tackle Darian Kinnard and they both got up slowly. But, the starting line made it through the game intact, with left tackle Jordan Morgan, left guard Lecitus Smith, center Jacob Monk, Belton and Kinnard playing every snap.

Monk, a fifth-round pick last year who had played six snaps in his career, was quite good in his first real playing time. Smith was promoted from the practice squad and made his season debut after playing only five snaps last year.

Left tackle Rasheed Walker, left guard Aaron Banks and center Sean Rhyan were active but didn’t have to play other than on field-goal protection to end the game. If Walker leaves in free agency this coming offseason, Morgan will slide in at left tackle. He gave up one sack.

Packers Snap Counts on Defense

The Packers played 67 snaps on defense.

Defensive ends: This is where Green Bay had depth, so Rashan Gary, Lukas Van Ness and Kingsley Enagbare were active but didn’t play on defense. (Enagbare played eight snaps on special teams.)

Rookie Barryn Sorrell led the way with 52 snaps. He had played only 48 the last eight games. He had eight tackles and one sack in a promising performance. Brenton Cox was next with 44, which was his first time of 30-plus. He had one sack and led the team with five pressures, according to Next Gen Stats.

Collin Oliver played 31 in his NFL debut and had four pressures, and Arron Mosby played 15 on defense – he had played only three all season – and 18 on special teams.

Minnesota Vikings running back Jordan Mason is stopped by Jonathan Ford of the Packers. | Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Defensive tackles: Former Georgia teammates Warren Brinson and Nazir Stackhouse led the way with 47 and 45 snaps, respectively. Stackhouse had been a healthy scratch the last four weeks but played well.

After being claimed off waivers from Chicago, Jonathan Ford played 30 snaps. A seventh-round pick by the Packers in 2022, Ford didn’t get in a game during his first two-and-a-half seasons with the team. He should be active for the playoffs. 

Starter Colby Wooden played five snaps and starter Karl Brooks got to watch from the sideline.

Linebackers: Last year’s third-round pick, Ty’Ron Hopper, and undrafted rookie Jamon Johnson went the distance. Hopper had played only 77 defensive snaps in his career while Johnson got his first career action on defense. Hopper played 18 on special teams and Johnson played 14, meaning they both played more than 80 snaps total.

As advertised before the draft, Johnson has some solid potential a a two-down, run-defending linebacker.

Isaiah McDuffie, a key player with the No. 1 defense, played 26 snaps.

Cornerbacks: Keisean Nixon and Trevon Diggs started. Nixon played five snaps on the opening series and Diggs played 33 snaps on the first five series. They gave way to Jaylin Simpson, who played 62 snaps, and Shemar Bartholomew, who played 34.

Simpson, a fifth-round pick by the Colts last year, made his NFL debut. He was penalized twice on one play and would have given up a touchdown if J.J. McCarthy was even remotely accurate on a deep pass to Jordan Addison. Bartholomew, an undrafted rookie last year, had played only 17 defensive snaps in his career. He made his presence felt with a physical tackle on the opening kickoff.

Safeties: Evan Williams and Javon Bullard played the first snap. From there, Kitan Oladapo and Jonathan Baldwin played the final 66. Baldwin was locked in at safety while Oladapo moved into the slot in the nickel package. When Oladapo switched to the nickel, Williams and Bullard entered as the other safety. They each played 21 snaps. 

Bullard exited in the fourth quarter with what he called a hyperextended knee. 

“I’m good. I’m good. I’m straight,” he said.

Oladapo, a fifth-round pick last year, had played only 70 defensive snaps in his career while Baldwin, an undrafted rookie, made his NFL debut.

Packers Stud vs. Vikings

Minnesota Vikings running back Jordan Mason (27) runs the ball against Green Bay Packers cornerback Trevon Diggs. | Matt Blewett-Imagn Images

One of the few things that genuinely mattered on Sunday was the debut of cornerback Trevon Diggs. Claimed off waivers from Dallas last week, Diggs practiced twice and got the start. According to PFF’s judgment, Diggs was targeted once and didn’t allow a completion. Plus, he had a nice open-field tackle.

Coach Matt LaFleur said Diggs’ performance was something “I think we can build on … going into this week.” That would suggest Diggs could replace Carrington Valentine, whose tackling is a liability, for the playoff game.

“Diggs is a player,” defensive back Javon Bullard said in giving him a strong endorsement. “We’re excited to have him on the team. We know the type of player he is. People don’t understand that dude is All-Pro. You can’t take that away from him. We’re happy to have him on our team. We’re going to do something special.”

Packers Dud vs. Vikings

Offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich ruffled some feathers this week when he had this to say about how first-round pick Matthew Golden fits in the playoff pecking order alongside Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs and Jayden Reed.

“The good thing is, the last couple of weeks, we’ve seen his rapport with Jordan (Love) making plays out in practice. But it’s tough right now. Like, it honestly is, because you got Christian, you got Romeo, you got J-Reed back. These guys have got really good experience, and they’re really good players and those are the guys you’re leaning on right now.

“I think Golden’s got a really bright future. He’s very talented, and his time will come. But I think right now, just with the room the way it is, he’s not going to be in that premier role when the playoffs come around. So, but again, if you told me he was the number one receiver on a play, I’d be very excited about it, too.”

Golden caught 1-of-3 targets for 8 yards. He had one drop; a tough grader might have given him two.

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