In their Week 6 win over the Arizona Cardinals, the Buffalo Bills - as they have done all season - split their carries between arguably the team's two best offensive players, running backs Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller. Jackson was on the field for 58 percent of the team's 69 offensive snaps, while Spiller got 43 percent.
It'll be interesting to see if that trend continues. Spiller has been the far more explosive back between the two this season - not just in general, but when both have been healthy and involved in the offense - and deserves more playing time. Bills head coach Chan Gailey has already admitted as much. It's clear that both players need to be involved in the offense, but would anyone seriously object if the roles flipped and the roughly 60-40 split favored the third-year back out of Clemson?
While you mull that and prepare your comment, here are a few more notes to consider from this week's snap count data:
- Kyle Williams got one snap on offense. I did a double-take at that one, figured that he must have been on the field for Jackson's one-yard touchdown run, and went back for the visual evidence:
Williams is the lead blocker there, and he put a good lick on Darnell Dockett on the touchdown. Buffalo's five "skill" players in this goal line package? Jackson, Corey McIntyre, Scott Chandler, Lee Smith and Kyle. Boom.
- Chad Rinehart got the start at right guard, but with a calf injury still bothering him, the Bills rotated tackle-by-trade Sam Young into the right guard spot throughout the game. Rinehart ended up taking 71 percent of the snaps, while Young picked up the remaining 29 percent.
- With end Mark Anderson sitting out, here's how the team split reps at defensive end: Mario Williams (89 percent), Chris Kelsay (68 percent), and Kyle Moore (41 percent). Also banged up at defensive tackle, Marcell Dareus (84 percent) and Kyle Williams (73 percent) did most of the heavy lifting, with Alex Carrington (34 percent) and Jay Ross (10 percent) filling in from time to time.
- Here's why the starting strong-side linebacker is not a huge deal for Buffalo: Nigel Bradham was on the field for 41 percent of snaps. (Arthur Moats got just three plays to Bradham's 30, by the way.) Bryan Scott was still the second-most used linebacker on the team, trailing Nick Barnett, of course.
- Buffalo seems intent on using all five of their cornerbacks. Stephon Gilmore remains omnipresent (96 percent of snaps, and likely would have played them all had he not been momentarily dinged), while Justin Rogers (56 percent), Aaron Williams (56 percent), Terrence McGee (48 percent) and even Leodis McKelvin (27 percent) all saw substantial playing time.