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Lions-Vikings snap counts: Detroit goes safety heavy, Glasgow benched

A look at the snap counts from the Thanksgiving Day game between the Lions and Vikings.

Leon Halip/Getty Images

Here's a look at the snap counts for the Detroit Lions from their Week 12 game against the Minnesota Vikings.

Offense:

QUARTERBACK OFFENSIVE SNAPS PERCENTAGE SPECIAL TEAMS SNAPS PERCENTAGE
Matthew Stafford 61 100%





RUNNING BACK OFFENSIVE SNAPS PERCENTAGE SPECIAL TEAMS SNAPS PERCENTAGE
Theo Riddick 48 79%

Dwayne Washington 13 21%

Zach Zenner 1 2% 16 70%
FULLBACK OFFENSIVE SNAPS PERCENTAGE SPECIAL TEAMS SNAPS PERCENTAGE
Michael Burton 2 3% 4 17%





WIDE RECEIVER OFFENSIVE SNAPS PERCENTAGE SPECIAL TEAMS SNAPS PERCENTAGE
Marvin Jones 59 97%

Golden Tate 51 84%

Anquan Boldin 45 74%

Andre Roberts 16 26% 8 35%




TIGHT END OFFENSIVE SNAPS PERCENTAGE SPECIAL TEAMS SNAPS PERCENTAGE
Eric Ebron 49 80%

Matthew Mulligan 19 31% 8 35%
Clay Harbor 1 2% 13 57%





OFFENSIVE TACKLE OFFENSIVE SNAPS PERCENTAGE SPECIAL TEAMS SNAPS PERCENTAGE
Taylor Decker 61 100% 4 17%
Riley Reiff 61 100% 4 17%
Corey Robinson 1 2% 4 17%





OFFENSIVE GUARD/CENTER OFFENSIVE SNAPS PERCENTAGE SPECIAL TEAMS SNAPS PERCENTAGE
Travis Swanson 61 100% 4 17%
Larry Warford 61 100% 4 17%
Graham Glasgow 34 56% 4 17%
Laken Tomlinson 27 44% 4 17%

Observations

  • The Detroit Lions went with three wide receivers on nearly three-quarters of their offensive plays. Anquan Boldin made the most of his snaps, catching seven passes on just 45 snaps.

  • Graham Glasgow was benched for nearly half of the game. Laken Tomlinson took over early in the first half while Glasgow eventually returned to finish the game. It's not clear whether this was injury related, but the Lions did not announce an injury in game, suggesting this was performance based.

  • I wouldn't be surprised to see the Lions go without a fullback next year. Michael Burton had just two snaps on Thursday and seems to be getting phased out of this offense entirely.

Defense:

DEFENSIVE END DEFENSIVE SNAPS PERCENTAGE SPECIAL TEAMS SNAPS PERCENTAGE
Kerry Hyder 39 66%

Ezekiel Ansah 35 59%

Devin Taylor 34 58% 3 13
Anthony Zettel 18 31% 4 17%
Brandon Copeland 7 12% 16 70%





DEFENSIVE TACKLE DEFENSIVE SNAPS PERCENTAGE SPECIAL TEAMS SNAPS PERCENTAGE
Haloti Ngata 39 66% 3 13%
A'Shawn Robinson 30 51% 3 13%
Tyrunn Walker 20 34% 3 13%
Stefan Charles 20 34%






LINEBACKER DEFENSIVE SNAPS PERCENTAGE SPECIAL TEAMS SNAPS PERCENTAGE
Tahir Whitehead 59 100% 3 13%
Josh Bynes 39 66% 7 30%
Antwione Williams 16 27% 11 48%
Thurston Armbrister

19 83%





CORNERBACK DEFENSIVE SNAPS PERCENTAGE SPECIAL TEAMS SNAPS PERCENTAGE
Darius Slay 59 100% 2 9%
Nevin Lawson 51 86% 6 26%
Quandre Diggs 37 63% 8 35%
Johnthan Banks 4 7% 1 4%
Johnson Bademosi

16 70%
Adairius Barnes

13 57%





SAFETY DEFENSIVE SNAPS PERCENTAGE SPECIAL TEAMS SNAPS PERCENTAGE
Glover Quin 59 100% 3 13%
Tavon Wilson 42 71% 4 17%
Rafael Bush 33 56% 8 35%
Miles Killebrew 9 15% 19 83%





Observations

  • Ezekiel Ansah was still listed with an ankle injury all week on the injury support, so it may not be too much of a surprise that it was Kerry Hyder who had the most snaps at defensive end. Hopefully, we see those Ansah numbers increase down the stretch, because we're starting to see him make an impact during those snaps.

  • He may not have gotten the official start, but A'Shawn Robinson is essentially getting the workload of a starting defensive tackle, and his play warrants it.

  • The Lions decided to roll with Josh Bynes as the starting linebacker aside Tahir Whitehead despite Bynes' shaky game against the Jaguars. Bynes responded nicely by having his best game of the year. 

  • Let's talk about Miles Killebrew. Last week, he had five tackles on 12 defensive snaps. This week he had five tackles on nine defensive snaps. A few of those tackles happened on special teams, but that kind of defensive efficiency is pretty amazing. Expect Killebrew to see his role increase soon.

  • As for the safeties overall, you can clearly see the Lions favor putting three on the field over three linebackers. Antwione Williams only saw the field 27 percent of the time while Rafael Bush was out there more than half of the time. It looks like the three safety looks that Andrew Kato pointed out earlier in the week are here to stay.