What did yesterday’s snap counts reveal about the Week 5 clash between the Carolina Panthers and San Francisco 49ers?
Let’s dive in.
Continuity
Carolina’s offensive line was shuffled around more than a deck of cards at a Las Vegas casino in 2021. Through injury, uncertainty and just some plain old bad play—the team threw out 14 different starting lineups in the trench over their 17 games.
2022, however, has been refreshingly different. For the fifth straight game, the same five starters held firm for each offensive snap of the day.
One of the most important, if not the most important, keys in building an offensive line is continuity. You have to give your hog mollies time and reps beside one another to allow them to gel.
And at this point in the season, no offensive line has gelled more than the Panthers’—who are the NFL’s only unit to play every single snap together.
Opportunity
With Laviska Shenault Jr. out on Sunday (and for the foreseeable future), opportunity came knocking for two second-year receivers.
The first, Shi Smith, put together a much needed step in the right direction. He totaled 69 yards and four catches over a career-high 43 offensive snaps.
The second, Terrace Marshall Jr., got his first real run of the 2022 season. Active in just his third game thus far, the 2021 second-rounder posted his first four catches and 30 yards of the year in 26 snaps.
Availability
The defense didn’t have a perfect attendance record either—as starters Frankie Luvu, Jeremy Chinn and Xavier Woods were all out. As a result, a handful of defenders saw their most action of the campaign.
Linebackers Cory Littleton (67) and Damien Wilson (45) helped man the middle. Safety Juston Burris, in his first game on the active roster in 2022, went for 65 plays. And versatile defensive back Myles Hartsfield played in 100 percent of the snaps for the first time since Week 18 of last season.
