Curtis Samuel is on a tear.

In only 17 snaps (27%) this week, Samuel managed two highlight reel touchdowns, making for a quartet of touchdowns in 2018 on only ELEVEN offensive touches – you read that correctly. Samuel is averaging a touchdown every 19.25 SNAPS, an insane number that can’t possibly continue – either he’ll get more snaps and touches to correct that ratio, or he’ll just become the most prolific scorer in the history of the NFL.

At the wide receiver position, DJ Moore (53-85%) actually outsnapped x-receiver Devin Funchess (45-73%) as Norv Turner lined the rookie up in multiple slots along the line and used motion and misdirection to create room for both Moore and others – although Moore had only two touches in 53 snaps and Funchess corralled all four of his targets in a lighter load. Jarius Wright (22) had a key third-down catch early and Damiere Byrd (9) saw the field occasionally – it will be interesting to see how the receiver snaps shake out when Torrey Smith is fully healthy, which likely won’t be until Week 11 at Detroit.

With the ground game effective and playing with a lead for most of the day, it wasn’t surprising to see Chris Manhertz get 25 snaps – the Panthers also used an extra lineman in the jumbo package (Marshall Newhouse) on three snaps – the same amount as CJ Anderson. Greg Olsen ceded two snaps to rookie Ian Thomas and Christian McCaffrey continued his ironman pace as he picked up 157 total yards on 98% of the snaps.

Despite suffering a shoulder sprain early in the fourth quarter, safety Eric Reid put forth a gutty performance to play every single defensive snap – rookie Rashaan Gaulden, who Ron Rivera said earlier this year would likely rotate in when the situation allowed, only saw two snaps in relief of Mike Adams.

On the defensive line, Kyle Love (36) continues to get more snaps than Dontari Poe (25) while the defensive end rotation continues to be different on a weekly basis – after receiving the fewest snaps last week, the playing time of Wes Horton (25) far outweighed Efe Obada (12) and Bryan Cox, Jr (4).

Shaq Thompson (35) received even less work than last week as Eric Washington appeared to prefer the nickel – especially against a passing offense like Tampa Bay that was playing from behind, Captain Munnerlyn (53) was on the field for 79% of the defensive snaps – his highest percentage of the season thus far.

Check out the entirety of the snap counts below:

PlayerPositionOffensive SnapsPercentageDefensive SnapsPercentageSpecial Teams Snaps

Percentage

G Van RotenG62100%619%
C ClarkT62100%619%
T MotonT62100%619%
T TurnerG62100%516%
R KalilC62100%13%
C NewtonQB62100%
C McCaffreyRB6198%
G OlsenTE6097%
D MooreWR5385%
D FunchessWR4573%
C ManhertzTE2540%1134%
J WrightWR2235%
C SamuelWR1727%2062%
A ArmahRB1016%2166%
D ByrdWR915%1753%
M NewhouseT35%619%
C AndersonRB35%516%
I ThomasTE23%928%
J BradberryCB67100%825%
D JacksonCB67100%619%
L KuechlyLB67100%516%
E ReidSS67100%26%
M AdamsFS6597%516%
M AddisonDE5379%13%
C MunnerlynCB5379%
T DavisLB5075%412%
K ShortDT4872%516%
J PeppersDE4060%516%
K LoveNT3654%
S ThompsonLB3045%1959%
V ButlerDT2537%516%
W HortonDE2537%412%
D PoeNT2537%
E ObadaDE1218%1856%
B CoxDE46%
R GauldenFS23%619%
C ElderCB11%1856%
C JonesSS2681%
B JacobsLB2166%
D MayoLB2166%
J CarterLB2166%
G GanoK1341%
J JansenLS1031%
M PalardyP1031%
T LarsenG619%
Josh Klein on Twitter
Josh Klein
Editor-In-Chief at The Riot Report
Josh Klein is Editor-In-Chief of The Riot Report. His favorite Panther of all time is Chad Cota and he once AIM chatted with Kevin Greene. Follow Josh on Twitter @joshkleinrules.