The Minnesota Vikings found a way to win their first game of the season on Sunday against the Carolina Panthers by a score of 21-13.
The game saw a lot of interesting things on Sunday and it started with a Kirk Cousins pick-six that gave the Panthers an early lead. From there, the Vikings found a way to take the lead in the second half and win their first game of the season.
One of the things that we can learn from each game is how the team views their players. A tool that is great for that is snap counts. The Vikings had some interesting snap counts on Sunday, including the defensive line not getting many snaps.
Offensive snap counts
- 48: Christian Darrisaw, Ed Ingram, Ezra Cleveland, Brian O’Neill, Austin Schlottmann and Kirk Cousins
- 47: Justin Jefferson
- 42: T.J. Hockenson
- 40: K.J. Osborn
- 33: Alexander Mattison
- 28: Jordan Addison
- 22: Josh Oliver
- 14: Cam Akers
- 8: Johnny Mundt
- 5: C.J. Ham
- 1: Brandon Powell
Offense takeaways
The biggest takeaway here is that Dalton Risner didn’t play any snaps on offense. He did play three snaps on special teams, but the offensive line played well overall, including Ed Ingram and Ezra Cleveland.
Jordan Addison continues to be out-snapped by K.J. Osborn and the rookie didn’t catch a single pass.
Defensive snap counts
- 72: Camryn Bynum, Harrison Smith
- 71: Akayleb Evans
- 69: Jordan HIcks
- 68: Josh Metellus, Byron Murphy Jr.
- 56L Danielle Hunter
- 49: Harrison Phillips
- 45: D.J. Wonnum, Marcus Davenport
- 38: Patrick Jones II
- 37: Ivan Pace Jr.
- 31: Jonathan Bullard
- 22: Dean Lowry
- 21: Mekhi Blackmon
- 17: Jaquelin Roy
- 5: Theo Jackson
- 3: Andre Carter II
- 2: Brian Asamoah II
Defense takeaways
The Vikings continue to play three edge rushers in multiple snaps. Only Phillips played more snaps as a defensive lineman than Wonnum, Davenport and Jones. That is a problem when you play a team that can run the ball.
