Detroit Lions vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers snap counts: Teez Tabor finally gets a real shot

Here’s a look at the Week 14 snap counts for the Detroit Lions’ game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Offense:

Quarterbacks

Matthew Stafford: 68 snaps (100%)

Running backs

Theo Riddick: 48 (71%)
Tion Green: 13 (19%) — 5 special teams snaps (21%)
Zach Zenner: 7 (10%) — 17 (71%)

Tight ends

Eric Ebron: 42 (62%)
Darren Fells: 30 (44%) — 4 (17%)
Michael Roberts: 9 (13%) — 9 (38%)

Wide receivers

Marvin Jones Jr.: 67 (99%)
Kenny Golladay: 58 (85%)
Golden Tate: 56 (82%)
TJ Jones: 10 (15%) — 9 (38%)

Offensive tackles

Taylor Decker 68 (100%) — 4 (17%)
Corey Robinson: 68 (100%) — 4 (17%)
Brian Mihalik: 0 (0%) — 7 (29%)

Guards/centers

Graham Glasgow: 68 (100%) — 4 (17%)
Travis Swanson: 68 (100%) — 4 (17%)
T.J. Lang: 68 (100%)
Joe Dahl: 0 (0%) — 8 (33%)

Observations:

• It’s blatantly clear that Sunday’s offensive gameplan surrounded both Eric Ebron and Theo Riddick. Ebron’s 42 snaps was his highest total since Week 3 against the Falcons. Riddick’s 48 snaps was a season high, and he hadn’t played for over 70 percent of snaps since last Thanksgiving.
• Good to see the offensive line fully intact for the entire game, despite the fact that two of the starters entered gameday questionable to play.
• Kenny Golladay saw a career-high in playing time, actually seeing the field more often than Golden Tate. He’s now officially a major component of this offense. Now he needs to start seeing the ball more often.
• Joe Dahl was active and saw some time on special teams, but did not play on offense in his first game back from IR.

Defense:

Defensive end

Anthony Zettel: 49 (69%)
Ezekiel Ansah: 38 (54%)
Cornelius Washington: 31 (44%) — 2 (8%)
Dwight Freeney: 24 (34%)
Kasim Edebali: 9 (13%) — 10 (42%)

Defensive tackle

A’Shawn Robinson: 52 (73%) — 3 (12%)
Akeem Spence: 46 (65%)
Jeremiah Ledbetter: 20 (28%) — 7 (29%)
Christian Ringo: 20 (28%)

Linebackers

Tahir Whitehead: 71 (100%) — 3 (12%)
Jarrad Davis: 58 (82%) — 3 (12%)
Paul Worrilow: 28 (39%) — 16 (67%)
Jalen Reeves-Maybin: 21 (30%) — 16 (67%)
Steve Longa: 0 (0%) — 17 (71%)

Cornerbacks

Darius Slay: 65 (92%) — 3 (12%)
Nevin Lawson: 46 (65%) — 11 (46%)
Teez Tabor: 39 (55%) — 8 (33%)
DJ Hayden: 20 (28%) — 4 (17%)

Safety

Glover Quin: 71 (100%) — 3 (12%)
Quandre Diggs: 67 (94%) — 2 (8%)
Miles Killebrew: 3 (4%) — 17 (71%)
Charles Washington: 3 (4%) — 17 (71%)
Don Carey: 0 (0%) — 20 (83%)

Observations:

• Welcome to the defense, Teez Tabor. For the first time in his career, Tabor played over 50 percent of the defensive snaps. In fact, his 39 snaps is more than double his previous high (17). It’s starting to look like the Lions favor him over DJ Hayden, and we may get to see what he really has in these final three games.
• The Lions had a much more even split among their defensive ends this week. For the first time in four weeks, Detroit didn’t ask Anthony Zettel to play in over 80 percent of snaps. Instead Ezekiel Ansah and Dwight Freeney picked up some of the slack.
• At defensive end, however, the Lions did rely a little more heavily on their starters. Akeem Spence and A’Shawn Robinson saw a small boost in playing time.