Lions-Bears snap counts: Golden Tate benched, Khari Lee takes over backup TE role

Here is a look at the official snap counts for the contest between the Detroit Lions and the Chicago Bears.

Offense:

Observations

• The big story here is the benching of Golden Tate. Tate usually sees somewhere near 90 percent of the offensive snaps, but after the miscommunication snafu that ended the first half, Tate didn't see the field much in the final two quarters. Jim Caldwell said that was always part of the plan against the Bears, but I don't buy it.
  
• Interestingly, Khari Lee has taken over as the backup tight end. Lee is essentially playing the Brandon Pettigrew role right now as the primary blocking tight end, while Cole Wick is there to run routes when Ebron is sidelined. 
  
• Four out of five offensive linemen have played every single offensive snap this year. The only player to have missed some time is Riley Reiff, who missed four snaps against the Titans with a minor injury. That kind of continuity should hopefully pay off down the line, should it continue.

Defense:

Observations

• With Tavon Wilson out for the game, Rafael Bush played in every single snap. The Lions did not decide to show the Bears different looks with Miles Killebrew occasionally in the game as the strong safety. Instead, Killebrew only saw the field when the Lions gave Chicago a three safety look.
  
• The Detroit Lions don't really have much of a rotation going on defensive end. Limited without Ezekiel Ansah, the Lions essentially just went with three edge rushers. This could be one of the reasons why we're seeing limited pass rush from the ends. That's a lot of snaps for both Kerry Hyder and Devin Taylor. 
  
• Antwione Williams jumped right back into a significant playing role on Sunday, while the Lions chose to delegate Thurston Armbrister to strictly special teams duties.