Vikings Snap Counts vs. Lions: Cam Dantzler Returns, Esezi Otomewo Debuts

This is the part of the NFL season where every team has their depth tested.

When December rolls around, everyone's going to deal with injuries and absences, and that's even more likely for a veteran-heavy team like the Vikings. They were down three key starters in Sunday's loss to the Lions: Harrison Smith, Garrett Bradbury, and Christian Darrisaw.

Who knows what would've happened if those three players had been available, but the Vikings clearly missed each one in their 34-23 loss in Detroit. Smith's communication, leadership, and playmaking on the back end of Minnesota's struggling defense were sorely missed. Darrisaw has been one of the Vikings' best players all year, when healthy, and he would've provided a boost in pass protection and in the running game (which was completely shut down). Bradbury's had the best season of his career, too.

All three players could return for Saturday's game against the Colts, but that's no sure things — and a couple new names popped up on Tuesday's estimated injury report.

Let's take a look at the Vikings' snap counts from the Lions game to see what we can learn.

Vikings offensive snap counts vs. the Lions (out of 65)

QB Kirk Cousins: 65
RT Brian O'Neill: 65
RG Ed Ingram: 65
C Austin Schlottmann: 65
LG Ezra Cleveland: 65
TE T.J. Hockenson: 62
WR Justin Jefferson: 61
WR Adam Thielen: 61
LT Blake Brandel: 59
RB Dalvin Cook: 55
WR K.J. Osborn: 48
TE Johnny Mundt: 13
RB Alexander Mattison: 10
OT Oli Udoh: 8
WR Jalen Reagor: 7
FB C.J. Ham: 6

As always, snaps in this Vikings' offense go primarily to their preferred 11 personnel grouping, with scraps for everyone else coming mostly at the expense of Cook and/or Osborn.

Schlottmann made his first start of the season and was fine — but a notable downgrade from Bradbury. He and Ingram were beaten badly on the game-defining play, Cook's fumble on a designed pop pass to Mundt. It was another brutal game in the pass protection department for Ingram, though O'Neill was also beaten a few times off the right side. Brandel tore his MCL late in the game, causing Udoh to take over. Darrisaw is expected to be back this weekend.

Outside of the five primarily skill position players, only Mattison (two rushes for a loss of one) and Ham (one catch, nine yards) touched the ball. Reagor's seven snaps are his third-highest total of the season, but he was only targeted on a late desperation heave from Cousins.

Cousins, Jefferson, Thielen, Hockenson, and Osborn all played very well in this game, outside of one unfortunate Hockenson drop. The Vikings' realistic path to a deep playoff run has to revolve around their passing game helping them win some high-scoring affairs.

Vikings defensive snap counts vs. the Lions (out of 70)

S Camryn Bynum: 70
LB Eric Kendricks: 70
CB Patrick Peterson: 70
S Josh Metellus: 70
SCB Chandon Sullivan: 52
OLB Danielle Hunter: 47
LB Jordan Hicks: 47
OLB Za'Darius Smith: 45
DT Harrison Phillips: 44
DT Dalvin Tomlinson: 43
OLB D.J. Wonnum: 41
CB Duke Shelley: 36
CB Cameron Dantzler: 34
DT Khyiris Tonga: 29
OLB Patrick Jones II: 25
DT James Lynch: 25
LB Brian Asamoah: 12
DT Esezi Otomewo: 10

Metellus filled in for Harrison Smith in this game and was OK. It was Bynum and Dantzler who were primarily involved in Jared Goff's three passing touchdowns. Still, the Vikings will be excited to get Smith back on Saturday, if that is indeed the case.

Za'Darius Smith, who still leads the NFL in total pressures, had six of them on Sunday to bring his season total to 70, according to PFF. He hasn't had a sack in the last four weeks, but they're coming if he keeps racking up pressures. The Vikings need other players to step up in the pass rush department. Hunter, Phillips, and Lynch were tied for second against the Lions with two pressures apiece. Hunter, in particular, hasn't made quite his usual impact this season — but he and Smith have gotten a lot of attention from offenses.

"When you look at him and Za’Darius, their ability to affect the quarterback has been something that we know that other teams are really focusing on," Kevin O'Connell said on Tuesday. "Very rarely do they just get clean rushes without a chip or a nudge or something going on. ... Danielle’s continuing to I think just progress towards playing his best football towards the end of the season, hopefully."

Dantzler made his return from missing four games on injured reserve for a high-ankle sprain, and it didn't go as he hoped. He was beaten deep by D.J. Chark on the Lions' second touchdown, then lost a footrace to the pylon against Justin Jackson on the Lions' fourth TD. Shelley ended up out-snapping him, which O'Connell said was because Dantzler wasn't feeling 100 percent at times. He's now dealing with an illness this week, so his status for the Colts game is up in the air.

Asamoah played double-digit defensive snaps for the second time in his career, and there's a possibility he makes his first start this weekend if Hicks (foot) can't play. Also notable was another rookie, former Gopher Esezi Otomewo, making his NFL debut and picking up the first tackle of his career. It was an excellent play, chasing down a WR screen on third and long. Otomewo is someone to keep an eye on heading into next season.

Thanks for reading. Make sure to bookmark this site and check back daily for the latest Vikings news and analysis all offseason long. Also, follow me on Twitter and feel free to ask me any questions on there.