By the NFL's official numbers, here's how the Titans lined up in yesterday's 30-24 overtime loss to the Texans.
Offense (70 total)
QB: Jake Locker 70
RB/FB: Chris Johnson 57, Collin Mooney 20, Jackie Battle 13
TE: Delanie Walker 59, Craig Stevens 34, Taylor Thompson 5
WR: Kenny Britt 60, Nate Washington 58, Kendall Wright 32, Justin Hunter 8, Michael Preston 4
OL: Andy Levitre 70, Michael Roos 70, David Stewart 70, Rob Turner 70, Chance Warmack 70
Defense (82 total)
DE: Karl Klug 12, Derrick Morgan 71, Ropati Pitoitua 48, Kamerion Wimbley 24
DT: Jurrell Casey 72, Sammie Lee Hill 9, Antonio Johnson 40, Mike Martin 22
LB: Moise Fokou 82, Zach Brown 71, Akeem Ayers 52, Patrick Bailey 1
CB: Jason McCourty 82, Alterraun Verner 80, Coty Sensabaugh 34
S: Michael Griffin 82, Bernard Pollard 80, George Wilson 40
Beau Brinkley, Tommie Campbell, Colin McCarthy, Mike Otto, Darius Reynaud, Chirs Spencer, Daimion Stafford, and Blidi Wreh-Wilson each only appeared on special teams. Ryan Fitzpatrick did not appear in the game.
Commentary:
1. I indicated in last week's snap report that I expected Chris Johnson to play in between 60 and 85% of the snaps, depending on the game. Last week he was down around 64%, this week back up to 81%. While I have noted before I do not particularly rate Jackie Battle, I thought the Titans could have used his skills more. Does CJ's playing time have more to deal with what the Titans wanted to do with him, or what they think of Battle?
2. Last year, Taylor Thompson had a clear niche as the second blocking tight end and a player who could line up in the backfield or on the wing as a blocker. This year, Delanie Walker, a much better blocker than Jared Cook, fills those roles. Given Collin Mooney's cramping played a role in the 25 snaps he played in Week 1, we should probably expect a total more like 5 snaps for him going forward.
3. Kenny Britt's holding penalty and only 4 grabs on 9 targets weren't enough to see him not play more snaps than any other Titans receiver.
4. Kendall Wright was targeted 11 times on his 32 snaps. Yes, I think the Titans wanted to target Texans nickel back Brice McCain (33 snaps).
5. Even though the defense played 29 more snaps, Kamerion Wimbley played 3 fewer snaps than he did Week 1. I guess that answers the question posed by whether he would lose playing time to Akeem Ayers at end in sub package situations.
6. I would guess Antonio Johnson was the beneficiary of most of the snaps Sammie Lee Hill otherwise would have played had he not gotten hurt early.
7. Patrick Bailey's single snap on defense probably came on the first-and-goal play in overtime, as Ayers was shaken up on the pass play that set that up. I don't recall noticing this at the time.
8. I had been skeptical we would see quite as much three safety package as some reports seemed to indicate we might. George Wilson's 40 snaps showed that those reports were in fact correct, and it was largely in response to 12 personnel rather than a unusual nickel choice against 11. (As McCain's snaps matched Wright's, both Coty Sensabaugh and Texans slot WR3 Keshawn Martin played 34 snaps. Again, I do not think this is a perfect 1:1 correlation, but it works for my purposes here.)
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