The Minnesota Vikings have a season alive and well after a 22-17 win over the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football.
The game itself was a hard-fought battle that the Vikings had control over after the first two series. Three plays in, the Vikings turned it over only to have the 49ers return the favor five plays later.
There are many angles to take after this game. From the running back position being in flux after seeing more of an even rotation to Brian Flores only using one linebacker, we will spend plenty of time looking at all of them.
Here are the snap counts from Monday night’s game.
Offensive snap counts
- 70: RT Brian O’Neill, LT Christian Darrisaw, LG Dalton Risner, RG Ed Ingram, C Garrett Bradbury, QB Kirk Cousins
- 65: WR K.J. Osborn
- 59: TE T.J. Hockenson
- 52: WR Jordan Addison
- 43: WR Brandon Powell
- 37: RB Alexander Mattison
- 30: TE Josh Oliver
- 27: RB Cam Akers
- 11: FB C.J. Ham
- 8: TE Johnny Mundt
- 4: WR N’Keal Harry
- 3: RB Ty Chandler
Offensive snap count analysis
The biggest takeaway here is the rotation at running back. Mattison wasn’t the bell cow for the first time and Akers took advantage getting 27 snaps to his 37. He looked explosive and broke tackles with ease.
Powell played more snaps on Sunday than he had in the first six games combined. He rewarded the Vikings with an excellent performance, catching four passes for 64 yards and looking explosive.
Defensive snap counts
- 53: S Josh Metellus, S Camryn Bynum, ILB Jordan Hicks, S Harrison Smith
- 52: CB Akayleb Evans
- 47: OLB D.J. Wonnum, OLB Danielle Hunter
- 40: DE Dean Lowry
- 39: NT Harrison Phillips
- 37: DE Jonathan Bullard
- 24: OLB Pat Jones
- 13: CB Andrew Booth Jr.
- 7: S Theo Jackson
- 5: ILB Ivan Pace Jr., NT Khyiris Tonga
- 2: DE Jaquelin Roy
Defensive snap count analysis
The Vikings continue to be a one linebacker team. Pace only playing five snaps is a signal that Flores would prefer to live in big nickel, as all of Metellus, Smith and Bynum didn’t miss a single snap on Monday night.
Booth only playing 13 snaps feels like a situation of who you are playing rather than deteriorating performance. It is notable that Mekhi Blackmon didn’t play a single snap.
