The Minnesota Vikings were in a position to let the New Orleans Saints come back and potentially take the game away. They held on for a 27-19 win and had an excellent performance, especially in the first half.
All season, the Vikings have overcome adversity and injuries to find a way to win games nad were really close in four others. The Vikings are 5-4 in one-score games this season and could have pulled their four losses out with one less turnover in each game.
Sunday’s game showed a lot from the Vikings on how they feel about their roster. Here is the analysis of the snap counts from Sunday’s game, including the cornerback position.
Offensive snap counts
- 73: Josh Dobbs, Brian O’Neill, Dalton Risner, Ed Ingram, Garrett Bradbury, Christian Darrisaw
- 71: Jordan Addisn
- 67: Jalen Nailor
- 49: Brandon Powell
- 46: T.J. Hockenson
- 33: Alexander Mattison
- 32: Josh Oliver, Ty Chandler
- 16: Johnny Mundt
- 10: C.J. Ham
- 4: N’Keal Harry
- 3: Kene Nwangwu
- 2: Trishton Jackson
Offensive snap count analysis
The biggest takeaway was seeing Chandler get a significant snap share for the first time in his career. Some of that was Mattison suffering a concussion, but he was being rotated in significantly before that injury occurred.
In his first game of the season, Nailor was treated as the WR2 on this team. It wasn’t Powell after his impressive performances this season but the second year player out of Michigan State. He only caught one pass for 16 yards, but it was good to see him out there again.
No surprise that Hockenson only played 63% of the snaps. He was nursing a rib injury but it didn’t stop him from making a major contribution and setting an NFL record in the process.
Defensive snap counts
- 67: Josh Metellus, Camryn Bynum, Byron Murphy Jr., Harrison Smith
- 62: D.J. Wonnum
- 61: Danielle Hunter
- 56: Ivan Pace Jr.
- 55: Harrison Phillips
- 39: Akayleb Evans
- 38: Pat Jones II
- 36: Mekhi Blackmon
- 35: Jonathan Bullard
- 28: Jordan Hicks
- 17: Andrew Booth Jr.
- 16: Troy Dye
- 9: Khyiris Tonga
- 8: Jaquelin Roy
- 6: Theo Jackson
- 2: Andre Carter II
- 1: Jay Ward
Defensive snap count analysis
Pace hasn’t been playing much as of late. With the injury to Hicks, he played significantly more than he has all season. He played really well to boot, potentially leading to more playing time.
The cornerback position is significantly different than it has been in past weeks. Evans played only 39 snaps and Blackmon played 36. Where did the rest of Evans’ snaps go? To Booth who had 17 on Sunday. That rotation is really good for the Vikings long-term and also shows confidence in the entire room.
