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The Chargers’ loss to the Indianapolis Colts was ugly and disappointing. Week to week we look at the Chargers’ snap counts and I cannot wait until I have a week where I do not have to move a player from the top of the snap count chart all the way to the bottom, due to injury. This week the Chargers lost Manti Te’o to a torn Achilles, while the plague of injuries is getting repetitive and old, that is for another article. We will break down the Chargers’ snap count on offense and defense.
Chargers’ offensive snap count:
| Pos. | Name | W2 Snaps | "% of Total W2" | W3 Snaps | % of Total W3 Snaps | WoW % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TE | Hunter Henry | 39 | 57% | 60 | 100% | 43% |
| QB | Philip Rivers | 63 | 93% | 60 | 100% | 7% |
| C | Matt Slauson | 68 | 100% | 60 | 100% | 0% |
| T | Chris Hairston | 7 | 10% | 59 | 98% | 88% |
| T | Joe Barksdale | 68 | 100% | 59 | 98% | -2% |
| G | Orlando Franklin | 62 | 91% | 59 | 98% | 7% |
| WR | Dontrelle Inman | 59 | 87% | 53 | 88% | 1% |
| RB | Melvin Gordon | 51 | 75% | 52 | 87% | 12% |
| WR | Tyrell Williams | 50 | 74% | 51 | 85% | 11% |
| WR | Travis Benjamin | 44 | 65% | 45 | 75% | 10% |
| G | D.J. Fluker | 58 | 85% | 39 | 65% | -20% |
| TE | Sean McGrath | 22 | 32% | 20 | 33% | 1% |
| C | Spencer Pulley | 16 | 24% | 20 | 33% | 9% |
| RB | Dexter McCluster | 0 | 0% | 9 | 15% | 15% |
| FB | Derek Watt | 14 | 21% | 8 | 13% | -8% |
| G | Kenny Wiggins | 0 | 0% | 2 | 3% | 3% |
| TE | Asante Cleveland | 0 | 0% | 2 | 3% | 3% |
| WR | Griff Whalen | 0 | 0% | 1 | 2% | 2% |
| WR | Isaiah Burse | 5 | 7% | 0 | 0% | -7% |
| QB | Kellen Clemens | 5 | 7% | 0 | 0% | -7% |
| T | King Dunlap | 63 | 93% | 0 | 0% | -93% |
| RB | Danny Woodhead | 5 | 7% | 0 | 0% | -7% |
| TE | Antonio Gates | 36 | 53% | 0 | 0% | -53% |
| RB | Kenneth Farrow | 13 | 19% | 0 | 0% | -19% |
The amount of injuries and absences on the offense is evident, which does not include Keenan Allen’s injury. The amount of players that drop to the bottom of list due to injuries is already getting old. While the injuries keep racking up, the top of the list remains consistent from Week 1-3. Philip Rivers, Matt Slauson, and Joe Barksdale remain consistent week to week in the amount of snaps they participate in. However, a pleasant surprise is seeing Hunter Henry getting more involved with the offense, due to Antonio Gates injury. Henry’s playing time saw a spike and will be interesting to watch as the season goes on and with his involvement in the offense. A topic I keep harping on is feeding Melvin Gordon. Melvin Gordon needs more touches, plain and simple. Optically, he looked like he was a new and improved player and he has confirmed all the hype so far. His amount of snaps have increased week after week, partially due to injuries to key players, such as KA13 and Danny Woodhead.
MGIII’s involvement in the offense will be necessary to help keep the Chargers’ offense moving forward since he is one of the Chargers’ top weapons. The wide receiver core does not yet have a standout receiver. Keenan Allen’s absence is definitely evident and the receivers this game all received equal burn in the snap count. It will be interesting to see how the new additions to the Chargers offense will play int to next week’s snap count and to see if McCoy trusts in their younger offensive weapons.
Chargers’ defensive snap count:
| Pos. | Name | W2 Snaps | "% of Total W2" | W3 Snaps | % of Total W3 Snaps | WoW % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FS | Dwight Lowery | 57 | 86% | 71 | 100% | 14% |
| LB | Denzel Perryman | 32 | 48% | 69 | 97% | 49% |
| CB | Brandon Flowers | 55 | 83% | 63 | 89% | 6% |
| CB | Jason Verrett | 54 | 82% | 62 | 87% | 5% |
| LB | Melvin Ingram | 41 | 62% | 56 | 79% | 17% |
| DT | Corey Liuget | 40 | 61% | 53 | 75% | 14% |
| DE | Darius Philon | 38 | 58% | 48 | 68% | 10% |
| FS | Dexter McCoil | 14 | 21% | 42 | 59% | 38% |
| CB | Casey Hayward | 44 | 67% | 42 | 59% | -8% |
| LB | Kyle Emanuel | 39 | 59% | 40 | 56% | -3% |
| NT | Brandon Mebane | 21 | 32% | 39 | 55% | 23% |
| SS | Adrian Phillips | 0 | 0% | 33 | 46% | 46% |
| LB | Jatavis Brown | 31 | 47% | 31 | 44% | -3% |
| LB | Jerry Attaochu | 30 | 45% | 24 | 34% | -11% |
| DT | Tenny Palepoi | 25 | 38% | 23 | 32% | -6% |
| LB | Nick Dzubnar | 9 | 14% | 22 | 31% | 17% |
| LB | Tourek Williams | 23 | 35% | 22 | 31% | -4% |
| DT | Caraun Reid | 24 | 36% | 17 | 24% | -12% |
| LB | Manti Te'o | 57 | 86% | 15 | 21% | -65% |
| CB | Craig Mager | 16 | 24% | 5 | 7% | -17% |
| FS | Darrell Stuckey | 9 | 14% | 3 | 4% | -10% |
| SS | Jahleel Addae | 55 | 83% | 0 | 0% | -83% |
| CB | Pierre Desir | 12 | 18% | 0 | 0% | -18% |
Again, Dwight Lowery tops the Chargers’ defensive snap count. The one number that should stand out, like in Week 1, is the amount of snaps the defense saw versus the Chargers’ offense. The defense saw more snaps than the offense did, similar to what we saw the Chargers’ loss to the Chiefs. The performance on both sides of the ball was not what we were hoping to see, with the exception of the first defensive touchdown this week. A recurring theme in Week 1-3 is if the defense is on the field longer than the offense, the Chargers lose.
While we have a snap count breakdown and the numbers behind the distribution of playing time, it does not tell the entire story. It will interesting to see how the Chargers’ defense handles the Saints’ shoot out offense. The Chargers have a great chance at continuing to exploit the Saints defense so watch out for MGIII and Hunter Henry next week.