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The official NFL game book from the Buffalo Bills' 23-21 loss to the New England Patriots on Sunday credits the Bills for running 63 plays on offense, while the Patriots were all the way up at 91. That disparity in the number of total plays run by each offense encapsulates all of the major points of yesterday's defeat: the Bills couldn't run the ball well nor sustain drives, perhaps aided at times by their no-huddle attack, while the Patriots sustained drives left and right and kept Buffalo's gutsy defense on the field far more than what was ideal.
Let's take a closer look at the snap counts for individual players to get a better feel for what went on during yesterday's loss:
Offense
| Pos. | Player | Snaps | % |
| QB | EJ Manuel | 63 | 100% |
| RB | C.J. Spiller | 37 | 59% |
| RB | Fred Jackson | 26 | 41% |
| WR | Stevie Johnson | 62 | 98% |
| WR | Robert Woods | 61 | 97% |
| WR | T.J. Graham | 60 | 95% |
| WR | Marquise Goodwin | 9 | 14% |
| WR | Marcus Easley | 1 | 2% |
| TE | Scott Chandler | 57 | 90% |
| TE | Lee Smith | 2 | 3% |
| OT | Cordy Glenn | 63 | 100% |
| OT | Erik Pears | 63 | 100% |
| OG | Kraig Urbik | 63 | 100% |
| OG | Colin Brown | 63 | 100% |
| C | Eric Wood | 63 | 100% |
The only proof you need that the Bills went into the game with the most basic approach we've seen from them in years? The receiver snap counts. Johnson, Woods and Graham were all on the field for over 95% of snaps. Chandler was on the field for 90%. Spiller and Jackson split the running back snaps right down the middle. The Bills used "11" personnel (i.e. 3 WR, 1 TE, 1 RB) nine plays out of every ten, and it shouldn't be surprising that the Pats didn't have a hard time figuring out what the Bills were trying to do to them.
Beyond that, there isn't a ton to glean from these numbers on the offensive side of the football. We'll see if the no-huddle attack will continue to mandate the use of just one personnel grouping, or if Doug Marrone and Nathaniel Hackett can find ways to vary their looks while still maintaining the pace they desire.
Defense
| Pos. | Player | Snaps | % |
| DL | Marcell Dareus | 72 | 79% |
| DL | Kyle Williams | 65 | 71% |
| DL | Alex Carrington | 57 | 63% |
| DL | Alan Branch | 33 | 36% |
| OLB | Mario Williams | 73 | 80% |
| OLB | Jerry Hughes | 62 | 68% |
| OLB | Manny Lawson | 37 | 41% |
| OLB | Jamaal Westerman | 3 | 3% |
| LB | Kiko Alonso | 91 | 100% |
| LB | Arthur Moats | 24 | 26% |
| LB | Nigel Bradham | 19 | 21% |
| CB | Leodis McKelvin | 90 | 99% |
| CB | Justin Rogers | 87 | 96% |
| CB | Nickell Robey | 67 | 74% |
| CB | Ron Brooks | 10 | 11% |
| S | Aaron Williams | 91 | 100% |
| S | Da'Norris Searcy | 60 | 66% |
| S | Jim Leonhard | 57 | 63% |
| S | Duke Williams | 4 | 4% |
91 snaps is a ton, and Buffalo's defense sprung a few leaks as the day wore on as a result. Dareus, in particular, looked gassed on several occasions as he paced all defensive linemen with a massive workload.
The Bills apparently aren't going to use linebackers a lot in this system - at least not against offenses like New England's, which spread them out. Alonso played the whole game, but Moats and Bradham weren't on the field a ton, even in combination. I'll have to take a closer look at the All-22, but it seems that the Bills were content to use a mix of defensive linemen, pass rushers, Alonso and six defensive backs on passing downs.
Somewhere along the line, it appears that Robey leapfrogged Brooks to become Mike Pettine's nickel cornerback of choice. Either that, or I simply missed a Brooks injury from the stands. I don't know if something was ailing Brooks or what the deal was, but when Robey plays 67 snaps to Brooks' 10, something is up. Pettine seemed locked in on Brooks being the nickel back earlier this off-season, but Brooks was clearly the fourth corner on Sunday - and that was with Stephon Gilmore out of the lineup. Edit: Turns out, Brooks was hurt after all.
What else in these numbers sticks out to you, Bills fans?