Detroit Lions Week 9 snap counts, personnel usage vs. Minnesota Vikings

In Week 9, the Detroit Lions (5-3) lost 27-24 to the Minnesota Vikings (4-4), a disappointing showing after coming off their bye week. Let’s take a look at this week’s snap counts to see how the Lions adjusted their personnel for the Vikings game.

This is one of those games where the box score can be misleading, as Goff’s statistical performance was solid, but his on-field performance looked rushed and full of poor decisions.

The Lions leaned on Gibbs in this game, and it was arguably the worst of his NFL career. Statistically, it was his third-worst career rushing performance, but with his increased role and responsibilities, both he and the Lions are surely disappointed. Montgomery and Gibbs were on the field at the same time twice in this game, but neither play worked out well for the Lions’ offense.

This snap distribution did not change during the bye, with the Lions heavily favoring their top two options and rookie TeSlaa still not quite ready to challenge Raymond for WR3 duties.

For the first time this season, LaPorta played every offensive snap. He’s been slowly increasing his usage over the last month and a half, seeing his snap count percentage rise each week from 83.8% in Week 3 to 100% in Week 9. Wright’s snaps are right around where he’s been over the last month of football, while Dwelley failed to see the field on offense for the first time since his signing.

What a mess. Four of the Lions’ starting offensive linemen were injured in this game, with center Graham Glasgow being the only OL to go unscathed. Sewell also played 100% of offensive snaps, but he exited to the locker room between offensive series and managed not to miss a rep.

Decker missed 10 snaps and was replaced by Skipper, who also saw an additional four snaps as a sixth offensive lineman in big sets. Ratledge missed five snaps and was replaced by Awosika, but was able to return on the play following Mahogany’s injury. The Lions managed to flip Awosika from RG to LG in transition, and the Lions may need to lean on Awosika at LG for an extended period of time, as Mahogany’s injury is expected to keep him out for “a long time.”

With Mahogany expected to land on injured reserve, the Lions will need to make a transaction to help the depth on their interior offensive line. In the immediate future, Awosika is the presumed favorite to step into a starting LG role, but he will also face competition from Colon. The Lions will also need to add another player to the roster to bring their OL group up to eight players, meaning a practice squad promotion could be in order. The most likely candidates for that move are Michael Niese (who Lions coach Dan Campbell mentioned by name in his post-game presser) and Kingsley Eguakun (who was on the active roster to start the season), but the Lions could also consider UDFA rookie Mason Miller or T/G Devon Cochran.

Additionally, with the NFL trade deadline being Tuesday, November 4, at 4 p.m. EST, the Lions could consider making a trade to further fortify their offensive line.

With the Lions struggling to stop the Vikings’ rushing attack, they leaned more on their big sets in this game, deploying Lacy in the 4i a tick more than Muhammad in a traditional defensive end role. Of note, after splitting 4i reps with O’Connor for most of the first half of the season, Lacy appears to have taken firm control over the role.

McNeill was expected to be “fully” back from his ACL recovery by this game, and the snap counts bear that out. By playing on 82% of defensive snaps, McNeill looks like he can be counted on for a full complement of snaps moving forward. Reader’s usage increased, likely due to the Lions’ run-stuffing woes, and the rookie Williams saw his role shift from DT2 in Week 7 to DT4 this week. Look for Williams’ role to be higher in weeks when the Lions need more interior pass rush, as he is their best option outside of McNeill.

100% of defensive snaps for three linebackers is unusual in the NFL, but the Lions continue to lean on this group for production. Jack Campbell recorded a sack and had another taken away due to a questionable penalty, while Barnes recorded a sack and a tackle-for-loss (that could have been registered as a sack), with both having solid games. I was less impressed with Anzalone, who played a bit out of character after missing gaps against the run, hesitating to close on the quarterback, and taking poor angles when in pursuit.

With the main three linebackers not leaving the field, the Lions only used one other linebacker on defense, bringing Stuard onto the field in short-yardage sets.

Robertson (undisclosed) and Arnold (back) each briefly exited the game for minor injuries and missed only one and three snaps, respectively. Ya-Sin took over first for Arnold, and Whiteside saw his one snap filling in for Robertson. Maulet played exclusively at nickel, and with the Lions linebackers not leaving the field, the Lions adjusted their defensive line 16 times in order to get five defensive backs on the field.

Branch returned from suspension and played a full complement of snaps, while Harper took over the Lions’ primary single-high safety role with Joseph injured, only leaving the field twice in favor of nickel sets. Maddox, who returned from injury, only contributed on special teams.