Buffalo Bills: Breaking down the snap counts against the Ravens
At this point in the season, the Buffalo Bills have a pretty good idea of what their rotation for players will look like. However, that doesn’t mean they stick to the same rotation every week and against the Baltimore Ravens, there were some notable changes to player’s snaps.
This is a breakdown of what changed this week against the Baltimore Ravens.
Buffalo Bills Offense
The Buffalo Bills had to make some changes at running back this week with the injury to Zack Moss in the game against the Indianapolis Colts. Sean McDermott did say T.J. Yeldon would be active for this game, which he was, but it was primarily Devin Singletary at running back.
The second-year running back played 84% of the snaps, which was a season high, while T.J. Yeldon was on the field for only 14%. The Bills did sign Devonta Freeman last week and it will be interesting to see if he is active on Sunday against the Chiefs and if he is how this impacts the rotation.
Buffalo Bills Defense
The biggest differences in snap counts for the Buffalo Bills came on the defensive side of the ball. This week against the Ravens, the Bills played a lot more snaps with three linebackers on the field to account for the power run offense of the Ravens. Tremaine Edmunds and Matt Milano played 100% of the snaps while A.J. Klein was on the field for 41%.
The other big change was along the defensive line as there was more rotation at the defensive end and defensive tackle position. This was probably due to the coaching staff wanting to keep the line fresh going up against a mobile quarterback like Lamar Jackson.
At defensive end, Jerry Hughes and Mario Addison saw their percentages drop from the prior week down to 62% and 53% respectively. Meanwhile, A.J. Epenesa and Trent Murphy, who hasn’t been active much this year, play a little over 30% of the snaps each.
On the interior, the Buffalo Bills rotated five players through at defensive tackle. Ed Oliver led the way with 51% of the snaps but surprisingly Harrison Phillips was next at 49%. The third-year defensive tackle hasn’t had the season many thought he could but had a great game against the Ravens.
Next. Buffalo Bills Report Card against the Ravens. dark
After Phillips, Quinton Jefferson was next at 46%, Justin Zimmer at 36% and Vernon Butler with only 33%. The snap count for Butler could have been due to an injury he suffered early in the game. It is worth monitoring his practice status this week and if that injury will impact him going forward.