Until this week, Chase Brown had not taken more than 49 snaps in a game all season. This week, he took 65 of the team’s 68 offensive snaps. While Brown has been the team’s primary rusher, Samaje Perine usually gets somewhere between 25% and 50% of snaps. Perine is a punishing runner who is also a trusted pass protector.
This week, they were looking for something different out of the running back on passing downs. Chase Brown led the team in targets (14) and receptions (8) while piling up 75 yards receiving.
This explains another interesting snap count tidbit. Generally, you can tell what the offense was trying to do by looking at the tight end snap counts. If it is a lot of Noah Fant, it’s a passing game. If it’s a lot of Drew Sample, they want to run the ball.
This week was obviously a passing week as veteran quarterback Joe Flacco threw for a career high 470 yards on 47 attempts, and yet Fant and Sample were even at 41 snaps. The extra dose of Sample or increased Sample size if you will, provided an additional blocker and an opportunity for Brown to get out into the route more quickly.
Another interesting offensive tidbit was the increased presence of Mitchell Tinsley. The training camp standout took a season high 17 snaps and caught 1 of 2 targets for 27 yards.
Defensively, Cam Taylor-Britt seems to be back in the team’s good graces and took 69 snaps. Benefitting from Logan Wilson being inactive, linebacker Oren Burks took 26 snaps on defense in addition to 29 on special teams.
Of course, what is really interesting is the defensive line.
With Trey Hendrickson out, former first round picks Myles Murphy (53) and Shemar Stewart (49) took the most snaps among defensive ends, and yet these athletic freaks could not generate a sack. Stewart did get one quarterback hit, but that was it. Stewart also saw a lot more action on the interior than he did in previous weeks. Joseph Ossai took 48 snaps and was the only defensive end to get a sack. Cedric Johnson added 16 snaps, including one quarterback hit, and Sample added 14.
Defensive tackle reps were mostly split between Kris Jenkins (44), B.J. Hill (42), and T.J. Slaton (39), but what stands out to me is Jordan Jefferson’s 13 snaps. Promoted from the practice squad following the departure of Mike Pennel, Jefferson leap-frogged McKinnley Jackson to be active on offense.
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