Week 13 Snap Count Analysis: Bucs At Panthers

The Bucs have committed to making Bucky Irving their top rusher in the running back room. He had the best performance of his career rushing 25 times for 152 yards and a touchdown. Rachaad White played well, too, with 11 attempts for 76 yards, but the high difference in rushing attempts shows where Tampa Bay wants to go with it.

However, despite the discrepancy in touches, they played almost the same amount with Irving playing 43 snaps (54%) and White 42 (52%). Keep in mind that a hip injury kept Irving out of the game occasionally, including overtime, so this could have been different. Sean Tucker did not factor into the rotation at all. Maybe his fumble last week put him in the dog house. But the Bucs ran for 236 yards so there’s nothing to complain about.

Tampa Bay ramped up the usage of Mike Evans going from 60% of the snaps last week to 84% on Sunday. He was certainly needed much more considering the Bucs were down three points with 30 seconds to go. It was good to see the extra workload didn’t impact him throughout the game as he led all receivers in snaps and had eight catches for 118 yards and a touchdown. Jalen McMillan was second among receivers at 76% followed by Sterling Shepard at 44%.

After surprisingly seeing Cade Otton at 82% last week, he went right back up to his usual amount at 94%. Fellow tight end Payne Durham played just a little bit more than in the previous game as well at 39%. The Bucs’ commitment to the ground game saw some more two tight end personnel and sometimes even three tight ends. Ko Kieft had nine snaps, which is more than usual. Vita Vea got in for one goal line snap and backup quarterback Kyle Trask got in for two plays when Baker Mayfield briefly exited the game.

Bucs Defense

With Joe Tryon-Shoyinka ruled out earlier in the week before Sunday, the Bucs relied heavily on their starters Yaya Diaby and the hero of the game, Anthony Nelson. Diaby wound up playing 93% of the snaps, the most amount he’s ever played in his two-year career. Nelson clocked in at 79% and made the season-saving play of forcing a fumble on Chuba Hubbard when the Panthers were in field goal range in overtime. The fumble was recovered by Diaby of all players and the Bucs went on to win.

Tampa Bay didn’t have much trust in Chris Braswell or Jose Ramirez as Braswell played 21% of the snaps and Ramirez was in for 7%. Todd Bowles typically likes to rotate his edge rushers but was not left with much of a choice given Tryon-Shoyinka’s injury. It’ll be interesting if he goes back to being a starter when he returns or if they’ll stick with Nelson because of the big play and the consistent pressure he provided.

Injuries in the game played a factor in moving around defenders and seeing different snap numbers for others. K.J. Britt exited the game early, putting him at just 14 snaps for the whole game. Coming in for him was J.J. Russell, who played 43 snaps and 61% while recording five tackles. Safety Mike Edwards also left with a hamstring injury and did not return after 30 snaps and 43%, putting Tavierre Thomas into his role.

The Bucs did not dress Tyrek Funderburk and had Josh Hayes only on special teams, so Thomas was their first choice. Thomas is great on special teams but we haven’t seen him too much playing on defense. He played 29 snaps and 41%, recording three tackles.