Snap count notes: Indianapolis Colts at Buffalo Bills

On the back of two incredible plays in overtime, the Buffalo Bills took down the Indianapolis Colts 13-7 at home. The Bills made some pretty big changes in playing time this week. While some of these were forced by injury or the crazy weather, at least one major shakeup in snap counts seems to have been entirely merit-based.

Offense (67 total plays)

• Despite an extra 10 minutes of play this week, which the Bills mostly hogged to themselves, they matched the snap count totals from last week when it comes to offense. That tells you a good deal about how much extra time was burned with the heavy dose of run game.
• The unfortunate injury to Nathan Peterman forced Joe Webb into a larger role than anticipated. Note that their total percent exceeds 100%, which is accounted for by some trickery with both quarterbacks on the field before Peterman left the game.
• Zay Jones’ time dropped significantly this week (from 97% last week). That’s expected to continue going forward based on coaches’ comments this week talking up Deonte Thompson.
• Mike Tolbert made a return, eclipsing Travaris Cadet’s snap count this week. This could have been weather related, as Patrick DiMarco also saw more work this week in the snow

Defense (71 total plays)

• Following a scary injury last week, Tre’Davious White was able to clear concussion protocol, and he played 100% of defensive snaps this week. He also seemed at home in the elements, with some dance moves you should check out if you missed them.
• Nordly “Cap” Capi debuted at The Cap and helped out at defensive end following the Shaq Lawson injury. The defensive line as a whole continues the trademark rotation of the current Bills’ coaching staff.
• The big news this week is with Matt Milano. There’s been a good deal of clamor for Milano to see snaps in place of Ramon Humber, and that’s exatly what happened this week. The two linebackers flip counts, with Milano taking the majority of time on defense.

Special Teams (22 total plays)

The takeaways here are a result of the big changes above. Milano and Humber switched in this phase of the game as well. Humber saw 16 special teams snaps to only 5 for Milano. As for other linebackers, Lorenzo Alexander saw a bump in time as well, getting in on 17 plays.

Cap Capi is not only a great name to type, but he also was in on 7 special teams snaps this week. With less than a week on the active roster, Capi saw pretty heavy use against the Colts.

Despite being the QB2 to start the game, Joe Webb still remained on special teams, taking eight snaps. This puts him in the game over a third of the time, and it’s a safe bet of these snaps came before the Peterman injury. Sean McDermott was playing with fire, but he comes out clean in the end thanks to a solid team effort in challenging conditions.