The regular season is now over after the Minnesota Vikings lost to the Detroit Lions by a score of 30-20 on Sunday. The Vikings finished the regular season with a record of 7-10 and it ended with four consecutive losses.
There were questions on how the Vikings would handle this game. The likely solution was that they were going to do everything they could to try and win the game but how much were they going to try and mix in young talent to give them playing time?
We got our answer on Sunday afternoon and the snap count analysis from the loss to the Lions shows that the Vikings played some young talent to get them involved.
Offensive snap counts
- 73: Blake Brandel, David Quessenberry, Christian Darrisaw, Garrett Bradbury, Nick Mullens
- 71: Dalton Risner
- 68: Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison
- 55: Johnny Mundt
- 41: K.J. Osborn
- 39: Josh Oliver, Ty Chandler
- 23: Alexander Mattison
- 20: C.J. Ham
- 9: Brandon Powell
- 2: Chris Reed, Nick Muse
- 1: Lucky Jackson
Offensive snap count analysis
There isn’t a ton to look at with the offense. Mundt took over as the TE1 in the offense with Oliver maintaining his role post T.J. Hockenson injury.
Chandler played the majority of the snaps at running back, outsnapping Mattison 39 to 23. He was also significantly more effective, averaging more than five yards per carry.
Lucky Jackson got a snap again for the second consecutive week and Nick Muse got the first two snaps of his NFL career, including his first-ever catch.
Defensive snap counts
- 57: Josh Metellus, Camryn Bynum
- 54: Pat Jones II
- 53: Harrison Smith
- 49: Danielle Hunter
- 48: Harrison Phillips
- 45: Jordan Hicks
- 44: Jonathan Bullard
- 36: Khyiris Tonga
- 32: Andrew Booth Jr.
- 31: Joejuan Williams
- 27: Akayleb Evans
- 18: T.J. Smith
- 17: Ivan Pace Jr.
- 15: Anthony Barr
- 12: Sheldon Day
- 11: Jaylin Williams
- 10: Jay Ward, Andre Carter II
Defensive snap count analysis
Both Metellus and Bynum played every snap once again but Smith and Hicks didn’t.
Pace also played one his lowest snap shares of the season at just 17. Barr also played 15 snaps meaning that linebacker was a decent roatation.
Booth outplayed Evans 32 to 27 snaps. That feels like a bit of a surprise but Evans hasn’t played like himself over the last few weeks. What was a surprise was that Cine didn’t get a single snap on defense with this being the last game of the season. Not a great sign going into the offseason.
