An analysis of the snap counts from the Minnesota Vikings' 37-35 loss to the Miami Dolphins on Sunday at Sun Life Stadium
Offense (61 total plays)
Quarterback: Teddy Bridgewater 61
Offensive line: Matt Kalil 61, Joe Berger 61, John Sullivan 61, Mike Harris 61, Vlad Ducasse 61. Austin Wentworth 3.
Receivers: Charles Johnson 55, Greg Jennings 47, Jarius Wright 34, Cordarrelle Patterson 9, Adam Thielen 6.
Running backs: Matt Asiata 45, Joe Banyard 16, Jerome Felton 10.
Tight ends: Rhett Ellison 47, Chase Ford 33.
Noteworthy: On a day where Bridgewater completed passes to nine different receivers, the Vikings worked deep into their skill-position personnel, getting key contributions from a number of unlikely candidates. They were ready to run out the clock at the end of the first half until Banyard's hard-fought 16-yard run led them to reconsider things, and Bridgewater made a perfect throw to Ford for 22 yards on the drive. The Vikings found a handful of plays for Patterson, including an option pitch that lost 2 yards, and Thielen was more involved than usual, catching one pass (which might have been intended for Wright) and getting open for a would-be touchdown on a play where Bridgewater chose to run instead. ... Offensive coordinator Norv Turner committed to a power running scheme early, pulling guard Joe Berger on an early 10-yard run from Asiata and using Felton for 10 snaps after he got just three against Detroit. Ben Tate didn't see any action, a week after carrying five times for eight yards against Detroit. ... Kalil gave up four hurries, according to Pro Football Focus, and allowed pressure on the play where Bridgewater threw hurriedly to Asiata, on a pass that turned into an interception after the running back deflected it. But the Dolphins largely worked on Harris, who had a tough time with Cameron Wake.
Defense (85 total plays)
Defensive line: Everson Griffen 77, Brian Robison 72, Sharrif Floyd 58, Linval Joseph 53, Tom Johnson 30, Shamar Stephen 28, Corey Wootton 21.
Linebackers: Gerald Hodges 85, Jasper Brinkley 52, Chad Greenway 43, Audie Cole 13, Brandon Watts 6.
Defensive backs: Captain Munnerlyn 85, Harrison Smith 85, Xavier Rhodes 85, Robert Blanton 64, Josh Robinson 56, Andrew Sendejo 22.
Noteworthy: After missing two games -- and playing sparingly in another two -- because of a knee bruise, Floyd saw a full game's worth of action on Sunday. He got the first of the Vikings' two sacks when the Dolphins' offensive line appeared to be confused on a snap count, with several linemen remaining in their stance as the tackle surged toward Ryan Tannehill. ... Joseph had one of his better days in recent weeks, showing good pursuit of Tannehill and chasing down Lamar Miller on a 12-yard screen play. ... It has been a rare week when the Vikings have gone without an injury to their linebacking group, and Sunday was no exception; Greenway injured his knee in the second half, leading the Vikings to first try Cole at weak-side linebacker before giving Watts some action. Brinkley saw most of the work in nickel situations after Greenway was hurt, with Hodges playing all 85 snaps. The second-year linebacker appeared to be in zone coverage on the Dolphins' game-tying touchdown pass. ... The Vikings again used Rhodes to shadow a receiver (Mike Wallace) at times on Sunday. He nearly had his second interception on Wallace's first touchdown catch, tipping a pass back to the receiver. Smith got his fifth interception of the season in impressive fashion, batting a pass to himself on a blitz of Tannehill, but was kicking himself after the game for dropping another pick earlier in the game. ... The Dolphins went after Munnerlyn, targeting him 10 times and completing eight passes for 117 yards, according to Pro Football Focus. Munnerlyn was in coverage on Tannehill's 40-yard completion to Brandon Gibson on the Dolphins' game-tying TD drive. ... Blanton returned at safety after Sendejo left with a head injury, and might have the starting job back for the season's final game, depending on Sendejo's health.
Top special-teams contributors: Justin Trattou (23 snaps), Cole (21), Marcus Sherels (20), Thielen (19), Banyard (19), Antone Exum (19), Watts (17), Jabari Price (15), Scott Crichton (13), Brinkley (11)
