Detroit Lions Week 7 snap counts: How Lions managed McNeill’s debut, DB injuries

Detroit Lions Week 7 snap counts: How Lions managed McNeill’s debut, DB injuries
Pride of Detroit Pride of Detroit

The Detroit Lions continue to find new ways to win football games. Their victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 7 brought both teams’ records to 5-2, but the manner in which the Lions pulled off the win was in a way nobody saw coming.

Let’s take a look at this week’s snap counts to see how the Lions adjusted their personnel for the Buccaneers game.

Quarterbacks:

  • Jared Goff: 68 snaps (100%)
  • Kyle Allen: 0 (0%)

The Bucs brought the heat all night, making things difficult for Goff. And while he surely would’ve liked to have his interception back, beyond that, he followed the YAC game plan to a tee and got the ball into his skill players’ hands quickly and let them go to work. Of Goff’s 241 yards passing, 187 came after the catch.

Running backs:

  • Jahmyr Gibbs: 38 (56%)
  • David Montgomery: 30 (44%)
  • Jacob Saylors: 0 (0%) — special teams snaps 18 (75%)
  • Craig Reynolds: 0 (0%) — 10 (42%)
  • Sione Vaki: Inactive (Injury)

It was the Jahmyr Gibbs show on Monday. On the night, he accounted for 136 yards rushing (8.0 per carry average) and two touchdowns, as well as three receptions for another 82 receiving yards (27.3 average). While Gibbs was carving the defense up with his speed, Montgomery was used to wear them down with his bruising play. Montgomery ended the night with 13 carries and two receptions, but a third of those touches came on the final two possessions, when the Lions ran into an overstacked box and were just trying to run out the clock.

Reynolds injured his hamstring on special teams and was limited in the second half.

Wide receivers:

  • Amon-Ra St. Brown: 62 (91%)
  • Jameson Williams: 58 (85%)
  • Kalif Raymond: 30 (44%) — 8 (33%)
  • Isaac TeSlaa: 9 (13%) — 5 (21%)
  • Dominic Lovett: 0 (0%) — 11 (46%)

With Raymond getting in a full week of practice, he jumped back into the WR3 role this week. While that meant a step back in opportunities, Goff did throw a fade pass to TeSlaa on fourth down, showing that the trust between them is growing.

Tight ends:

  • Sam LaPorta: 66 (97%)
  • Brock Wright: 37 (54%) — 12 (50%)
  • Ross Dwelley: 6 (9%) — 10 (42%)

These splits are becoming very close to routine for the tight ends group. The tight ends were mainly kept in as blockers or used in short passing situations, leading to six receptions for 38 yards for the group.

Offensive line:

  • Christian Mahogany: 68 (100%) — 5 (21%)
  • Tate Ratledge: 68 (100%) — 5 (21%)
  • Penei Sewell: 68 (100%) — 5 (21%)
  • Taylor Decker: 68 (100%)
  • Graham Glasgow: 68 (100%)
  • Dan Skipper: 4 (6%) — 5 (21%)
  • Trystan Colon: 0 (0%) — 5 (21%)
  • Kayode Awosika: 0 (0%) — 5 (21%)

With Decker back in the lineup, and...