Patriots 2018 Season Snap Counts: Nobody Died

If nothing else, the NFL season depends on attrition. Just a key injury to a player or two can completely derail the best-laid offseason plans. It happened in the first quarter of the first game of the 2008 Patriots’ season. That’s why you shouldn’t bet on Super Bowl 53 in June.

These days, all that really matters is if Tom Brady, Julian Edelman, Dont’a Hightower and Rob Gronkowski make it to January. Despite any regular season ups and downs these guys have always shown up when the lights are brightest. And they will always give the Patriots a fighting chance in any game, even in, gasp, Kansas City.

Here we are on the playoff bye week and guess what, nobody died. Outside of the disappointing loss of Ja’whaun Bentley and a few guys taking a game off here and there, the 2018 Patriots have remained remarkably healthy and that is everything to their Super Bowl chances.

They’ve got their bumps and bruises for sure, as does every team, but with every key veteran piece accounted for the Pats should still have their best football in front of them.

Here’s a breakdown of who played the most, it’s no surprise the Pats once again gained a first round bye.

Offense

Joe Thuney plays every snap and suddenly he’s not quite the perceived weak link of the offensive line. I’ve always been a bigger Thuney fan than most and he’s developed into an excellent two-way guard. As always, experience goes a long way especially on the offensive line.

Even Marcus Cannon played three-quarters of the snaps, illustrating the overall season-long continuity up front. But nowhere are there bigger questions away from Gillette Stadium than with the starting five.

Edelman would be much higher if he had played in the first four games, but coming off an ACL it wasn’t the worst thing to give him September off. He’s been dominant for a player in his first year back from that injury, especially for a receiver at his age.

Gronk right around 75 percent which is probably as good as we could’ve hoped for all things considered. They’ve been rotating him in and out more and more recently, which at this point in the season, I have zero problem with.

And of course, Brady going wire to wire himself as much as you’d want him to. Hoyer getting just a bit of mop up/we surrender time. He sure looked fully healthy in the season finale to me.

Defense

The secondary was once again the consistent core, with JC Jackson rising late and eating into Jason McCourty‘s time. Jackson played 98 percent of the snaps against the Jets and is likely the 2019 opening day starter next to Stephon Gilmore who had one of the best cornerback seasons in the NFL.

Hightower at 75 percent is a win. He might be a restructure target this offseason but if he’s back in 2019 Bentley’s return will help prolong his career. Kyle Van Noy was the front seven MVP and rarely comes off the field. On a defense that is getting older and facing some transition, Van Noy is one of the few sure things.

Lawrence Guy led the DTs with 50 percent of then snaps. He had his down games and only a handful of splash plays but he had a solid year. He’ll need the best three games of his career if the Pats are to get to Atlanta and win.

Special Teams

The forgotten unit, the special teams didn’t have a great start to the year especially for the punt and kick teams. They played better as the season progressed though and were once again better than average. But not by much.

As you’d expect, Matthew Slater, Nate Ebner and Brandon King led the way, along with Jonathan Jones, who also played half the snaps on defense. Patrick Chung and Devin McCourty chipped in with plenty of special teams work, both with 41 percent.

Guy played more than a third as well, further illustrating the value he brought this season in two phases.

Three Disappointments

1. Malcom Brown 43.9 percent – you’d hope to be leaning on a first-round pick in a contract year but Brown’s bad games finally outnumbered his good ones. The Pats ask a lot of their DTs and Brown just hasn’t mastered it. Danny Shelton only managing 31 percent was another disappointment.
2. Rex Burkhead 13.5 percent – Another year of Burkhead being mostly sidelined by injuries. He always shows flashes of explosiveness but it’s always ended with him in the erect-a-tent. He’s healthy now and getting his touches. A big play from him next weekend feels like a lock. If he could just stay healthy until the Super Bowl…
3. Ja’Whaun Bentley 13.2 percent – Bentley is just a distant memory now, but he was really coming on before tearing his biceps. There’s seems to be no question that despite the litany of rookie injuries, the Pats already know they found two defensive starters in Bentley and Jackson. He was just what they missed most the rest of the way and seems like the heir apparent to Bruschi-Mayo-Hightower.