Detroit Lions snap counts: The Back-7 is still looking for answers vs. the Panthers

The Detroit Lions suffered another disappointing loss on national television, their second of the season, this time falling to the Carolina Panthers 32-26 on “Sunday Night Football.” Let’s take a look at the snap counts from this game and see what they mean for the depth chart hierarchy and what we can be sure of going forward.

Goff threw for 412 yards in this game, but like several other players on this roster, missed some critical moments. In a game where the defense was so bad that he had to be close to perfect to keep the Lions competitive, this time he came up a little short.

With the Lions trailing most of the game and by double digits in the second half, the Lions tried to keep Gibbs on the field as much as possible, and he saw his usage increase—even if his production resulted in his lowest output of the season.

The switch flipped for Williams in this game, and he showed signs of the player we saw in training camp, giving some hope that in the next few games he could help open things up for the offense. The eight receptions of St. Brown’s 11 targets may have been the most quietly productive game of his career. TeSlaa remains a situational big-play threat, while the reserves are simply special teamers.

In the Lions’ pursuit, we saw 11 more personnel (1 RB, 1 TE, 3 WR) in this game, and as a result, a big dip in the tight end’s reserve snap count. Wright saw his snaps decrease by about 40%, while Meeks didn’t see the field on offense at all.

Only two Jumbo (6th OL) sets in this game, which isn’t too surprising considering one of the two snaps was completely ineffective. The offensive line as a whole was solid in pass protection, sporadic in run blocking, and took too many penalties—six for the group—especially in critical moments.

The Lions’ defensive line was the defense’s bright spot, and even they stepped back from last week’s production. Panthers quarterback Bryce Young is quick and efficient with his throws, and even in situations where the Lions’ interior creates a push, the ball is out before they get home. McNeill was arguably the Lions’ best defender on Sunday, registering another sack, two quarterback hits and two tackles for loss.

Hutchinson’s opposite role remains a rotation between Wonnum and Lacy, and the pair saw an almost equal split in this game, unlike previous games where one side got heavy snaps. Fans are still waiting for Moore to see significant playing time, but the second-round rookie has been relatively quiet, except for one play where he fumbled and forced Young up the middle.

The third linebacker role is once again a rotation of Rodriguez—who started the last two games—and Nowaske—who missed out on Rodriguez both times. Rookie Rolder’s feet are still wet after returning from a training camp hamstring injury, but he registered three tackles on the day. This group is stretched thin with the defensive line pass rushing and the secondary struggling; they start to make mistakes, look tired, try to do too much, or hesitate.

The Lions are sticking with their starters from the last game—in both base and subpackages—and the results have been disastrous all the same… the problem is: I’m not sure there’s a better option right now. Barring a trade, or some drastic improvement in their fundamentals—both in man and zone areas—this unit will hurt the Lions’ chances of winning every week.

After an impressive Week 3 performance, Izien came back down to earth against the Panthers, as both he and Clark looked vulnerable in coverage and saw their weaknesses exposed. The return of Brian Branch will certainly go a long way in stabilizing this unit, but the safeties group has dealt with too many injuries, being asked to cover the mistakes of the corners, and, in turn, making their mistakes.

Solid game for this trio.