In their 38-20 loss to the Carolina Panthers in Week 3, the Arizona Cardinals played 63 defensive snaps. How was the playing time divided up?
Let’s take a look at the snap counts and what it meant on Sunday.
Defensive line
Corey Peters, 56; Rodney Gunter, 46; Zach Allen, 37; Clinton McDonald, 11; Miles Brown, 7
Allen’s playing time has dipped a little. It is hard to believe the Cardinals want Peters to play that many snaps in a game. McDonald and Brown barely played.
The Cardinals had a few plays in which they only had one defensive lineman and five linebackers.
Linebackers
Inside linebacker: Jordan Hicks, 63; Haason Reddick, 63
Outside linebacker: Chandler Jones, 57; Terrell Suggs, 40; Cassius Marsh, 27; Brooks Reed, 6
Reddick has completely taken over his inside position. Joe Walker did not play a single snap. Unless there is an injury, Hicks and Reddick should play 100 percent of those snaps the rest of the season.
On four plays, the Cardinals went with three outside linebackers in the game, going with Jones, Suggs and Marsh and only one defensive lineman.
Defensive backs
Cornerback: Byron Murphy, 63; Tramaine Brock, 52; Chris Jones, 28
Safety: D.J. Swearinger, 63; Budda Baker, 63; Deionte Thompson, 11
There isn’t much variety here. Three defensive backs never leave the field. Jones comes in to be a third cornerback. Thompson came in for a bigger base package. The Cardinals would have only one corner (Murphy) and three safeties.
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