The Minnesota Vikings took on the defending NFC champion San Francisco 49ers on Sunday in a game they knew would be an “all-hands-on-deck ” affair.
Thanks in large part to another big-time performance from quarterback Sam Darnold, as well as contributions from several key non-starters, the Vikings came out on top, defeating the 49ers 23-17.
Here’s a look at snap counts in all three phases as well as some observations from the Vikings’ Week 2 victory.
Minnesota Vikings’ Snap Count Totals in Win Over San Francisco 49ers
Offensive Snap Counts
- Blake Brandel, G: 54 (100%)
- Brian O’Neill, T: 54 (100%)
- Christian Darrisaw, T: 54 (100%)
- Ed Ingram, G: 54 (100%)
- Sam Darnold, QB: 54 (100%)
- Jalen Nailor, WR: 50 (93%)
- Johnny Mundt, TE: 38 (70%)
- Justin Jefferson, WR: 38 (70%)
- Aaron Jones, RB: 33 (61%)
- Brandon Powell, WR: 32 (59%)
- Josh Oliver, TE: 29 (54%)
- Ty Chandler, RB: 19 (35%)
- Trent Sherfield, Jr., WR: 16 (30%)
- C.J. Ham, FB: 10 (19%)
- Trishton Jackson, WR: 5 (9%)
Defensive Snap Counts
- Blake Cashman, LB: 69 (99%)
- Stephon Gilmore, CB: 68 (97%)
- Harrison Smith, S: 65 (93%)
- Cam Bynum, S: 57 (81%)
- Andrew Van Ginkel, LB: 57 (81%)
- Byron Murphy, Jr., CB: 55 (79%)
- Josh Metellus, S: 50 (71%)
- Ivan Pace, LB: 48 (69%)
- Jonathan Greenard, LB: 47 (67%)
- Harrison Phillips, DT: 44 (63%)
- Jerry Tillery, DT: 38 (54%)
- Jonathan Bullard, DE: 37 (53%)
- Pat Jones II, LB: 34 (49%)
- Shaq Griffin, CB: 30 (43%)
- Jonah Williams, DE: 23 (33%)
- Dallas Turner, LB: 18 (26%)
- Jihad Ward, LB: 17 (24%)
- Taki Taimani, DT: 13 (19%)
Special Teams Snap Counts
- Kamu Grigier-Hill: 18 (78%)
- Theo Jackson: 17 (74%)
- Jay Ward: 17 (74%)
- C.J. Ham: 15 (55%)
- Brian Asamoah II: 14 (61%)
- Ivan Pace: 14 (61%)
- Dallas Turner: 13 (57%)
- Nick Muse: 12 (52%)
- Akayleb Evans: 10 (43%)
- Will Reichard: 10 (43%)
- Josh Oliver: 9 (39%)
- Josh Metellus: 9 (39%)
- Pat Jones: 9 (39%)
- Andrew DePaola: 8 (35%)
- Ryan Wright: 8 (35%)
- Trent Sherfield, Jr.: 7 (30%)
- Blake Cashman: 5 (22%)
- Blake Brandel: 5 (22%)
- Brian O’Neill: 5 (22%)
- Christian Darrisaw: 5 (22%)
- Ed Ingram: 5 (22%)
- Dan Feeney: 5 (22%)
- David Quessenberry: 5 (22%)
- Brandon Powell: 4 (17%)
- Cam Bynum: 4 (17%)
- Myles Gaskin: 4 (17%)
- Ty Chandler: 3 (13%)
- Jerry Tillery: 3 (13%)
- Jihad Ward: 3 (13%)
- Taki Taimani: 3 (13%)
- Jalen Nailor: 1 (4%)
- Johnny Mundt: 1 (4%)
- Trishton Jackson: 1 (4%)
- Jonah Williams: 1 (4%)
Vikings’ Snap Count Takeaways
Vikings Offense
- Aaron Jones may be the featured back in Minnesota, but he’s not the only back. The eight-year veteran has a 64% snap share and solid production to show for it, with a 94-yard, one-touchdown outing in Week 1. But his running mate, Ty Chandler, has been a key contributor, too.Chandler, who logged 19 snaps this past Sunday, has a 38% snap share on the season and was key for the Vikings’ offense on Sunday with 82 yards rushing on 10 carries.
- The silver lining in the early-season injuries to Jordan Addison and Justin Jefferson is the continued emergence of Jalen Nailor, who is making the most of his opportunity with the same number of touchdowns (two) as Jefferson despite playing fewer snaps (84-76).
We're really about to put an active player in Canton.@JJettas2
📺: @NFLonCBs pic.twitter.com/cephalTst9
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) September 15, 2024
- While Jefferson had the highlight-caliber play on Sunday, it was Nailer who helped seal the victory thanks to a clutch third-down grab late in the fourth quarter, which put the Vikings in range for a game-sealing field goal.
- Due to a combination of factors, including the defense creating turnovers, which lead to short fields for the offense, and the offense finding ways to score quickly, the Vikings’ offense has played significantly fewer snaps (99) than the defense (141) so far this season.That inevitably will change from week to week, but the disparity early in the season has led to more snaps for the defense and, thus, a better look as to the effective depth on that side of the ball compared to the offense.
Vikings Defense
- Defensive coordinator Brian Flores has been liberal with his rotations on defense, particularly in the front seven. There have been a few mainstays through it all, however, with Harrison Smith (133/141 snaps) and Blake Cashman (132/141 snaps) leading the way in snap share.Smith is the long-tenured leader who represents the heart and soul of the Vikings’ defense, while Cashman wears the green dot and relays Flores’ sideline calls to his teammates.
- The defender making the most of his snaps for the Vikings is edge rusher Pat Jones II, who rotates in behind starters Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel. In far fewer snaps than those two, Jones is making as significant an impact as anyone on his side of the ball.Jones II has two sacks in each game, totaling four to lead the Vikings on the season. He’s done this despite playing 45% of the snaps compared to Greenard (70%) and Van Ginkel (71%).
- As noted in last week’s snap count observations, Stephon Gilmore is clearly the Vikings’ top cornerback. He led all players at his position in snap share once again, logging 97% (68/70) of the snaps. Byron Murphy, Jr. had the second-highest share at 79% and Shaq Griffin came in third with a 43% share.