With the injury bug biting the Carolina Panthers the past few weeks, it was to be expected that some unusual lineups would be seen on Sunday against the Lions. With top free safeties Kurt Coleman and Demetrious Cox both declared inactive, the sight of Colin Jones in the starting lineup didn’t come as a surprise, but when Daryl Worley was in-and-out of the game when he tweaked his ankle after missing last week’s game against the Patriots, the secondary lineup consisted at one point of Bradberry-Seymour-Adams-Byrd.
Certainly unexpected, considering two of those players were not on the roster as training camp ended.
After aggravating a groin injury on Thursday, tackle Matt Kalil not only rebounded to play 100% of the snaps, he performed extremely well against one of the better defensive lines in the league. Week 5 marks the first game that Jonathan Stewart outsnapped his backfield mate Christian McCaffrey, but that may have been due to the large lead in the third and fourth quarter as the Panthers tried to grind out the clock; the team employed the jumbo package with Amini Silatolu as an extra offensive lineman for 10 plays, also due to the lead in the second half. Chris Manhertz had his busiest day, on the field for almost half of the plays on Sunday, and Alex Armah got his first snap of the season on offense, which turned out to be the 57-yard play-action pass to Ed Dickson.
It may have taken a rib injury, but Shaq Thompson has overtaken Thomas Davis as the main will linebacker, playing 100% of the snaps as Davis is slowly worked back into the rotation; Davis took full advantage of his time on the field, securing the only turnover of the game with a third quarter fumble recovery. Colin Jones played almost 60% of the snaps at free safety and newly signed Jairus Byrd played the rest; Ron Rivera said that Byrd was in on mostly passing situations and Jones acted more as the run-stopper because he loves the way he plays downhill. Kevon Seymour replaced Daryl Worley at cornerback as Worley battled through the shoulder and ankle injury; Bryan Cox saw limited action in his first NFL game ever being active – Rivera said he was activated as insurance due to concerns with Julius Peppers’ shoulder injury.
As always, the table is sortable, so fool around and draw your own conclusions. Have questions? Let us know in the comments!
| Player | Position | Offensive Snaps | Percentage | Defensive Snaps | Percentage | Special Teams Snaps | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E Dickson | TE | 66 | 100% | 8 | 25% | ||
| D Williams | T | 66 | 100% | 6 | 19% | ||
| T Turner | G | 66 | 100% | 6 | 19% | ||
| A Norwell | G | 66 | 100% | 6 | 19% | ||
| T Larsen | C | 66 | 100% | ||||
| M Kalil | T | 66 | 100% | ||||
| C Newton | QB | 66 | 100% | ||||
| K Benjamin | WR | 50 | 76% | 2 | 6% | ||
| D Funchess | WR | 41 | 62% | ||||
| J Stewart | RB | 40 | 61% | ||||
| R Shepard | WR | 38 | 58% | 11 | 34% | ||
| C McCaffrey | RB | 37 | 56% | 7 | 22% | ||
| C Manhertz | TE | 29 | 44% | 9 | 28% | ||
| C Samuel | WR | 15 | 23% | 20 | 62% | ||
| A Silatolu | T | 10 | 15% | 6 | 19% | ||
| F Whittaker | RB | 3 | 5% | 21 | 66% | ||
| A Armah | RB | 1 | 2% | 19 | 59% | ||
| S Thompson | LB | 61 | 100% | 7 | 22% | ||
| L Kuechly | LB | 61 | 100% | 5 | 16% | ||
| J Bradberry | CB | 60 | 98% | 8 | 25% | ||
| M Adams | SS | 60 | 98% | 5 | 16% | ||
| D Worley | CB | 46 | 75% | 7 | 22% | ||
| K Short | DT | 44 | 72% | 5 | 16% | ||
| S Lotulelei | DT | 42 | 69% | 5 | 16% | ||
| C Jones | FS | 36 | 59% | 15 | 47% | ||
| C Johnson | DE | 36 | 59% | ||||
| T Davis | LB | 31 | 51% | 5 | 16% | ||
| M Addison | DE | 31 | 51% | 1 | 3% | ||
| C Munnerlyn | CB | 30 | 49% | ||||
| J Peppers | DE | 29 | 48% | 5 | 16% | ||
| K Love | DT | 28 | 46% | ||||
| J Byrd | FS | 24 | 39% | 1 | 3% | ||
| W Horton | DE | 20 | 33% | 4 | 12% | ||
| B Cox | DE | 16 | 26% | 2 | 6% | ||
| K Seymour | CB | 15 | 25% | 12 | 38% | ||
| D Mayo | LB | 1 | 2% | 21 | 66% | ||
| C Artis-Payne | RB | 21 | 66% | ||||
| B Jacobs | LB | 21 | 66% | ||||
| J Norris | LB | 19 | 59% | ||||
| J Jansen | LS | 12 | 38% | ||||
| M Palardy | P | 12 | 38% | ||||
| G Gano | K | 12 | 38% | ||||
| D Southward | CB | 11 | 34% | ||||
| G Van Roten | G | 9 | 28% | ||||
| T Moton | T | 6 | 19% |
