Colts vs. Texans Snap Counts | Week 1

What stood out about players' playing time in the Colts' 20-20 tie with the Texans?

The Indianapolis Colts came out of NRG Stadium with a tie on Sunday, leveling things with the Houston Texans with a score of 20-20.

It should be noted that the contest went to overtime, which inflated everyone's playing time a bit. Although technically neither a win nor a loss, it feels much more like a loss than it does a victory.

We've gone over what happened both in written and podcast form, but something we've yet to look at is the playing time for each player. Today, we take a look at how many snaps players got on offense, defense, and special teams.

Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

OFFENSE

• 92 (100%) — QB Matt Ryan, LG Quenton Nelson, C Ryan Kelly, RG Danny Pinter, RT Braden Smith
• 90 (98%) — WR Michael Pittman Jr.
• 80 (87%) — LT Matt Pryor
• 71 (77%) — WR Parris Campbell
• 70 (76%) — RB Jonathan Taylor
• 51 (55%) — TE Kylen Granson
• 50 (54%) — TE Mo Alie-Cox
• 47 (51%) — WR Alec Pierce
• 32 (35%) — WR Ashton Dulin
• 26 (28%) — RB Nyheim Hines
• 16 (17%) — OL Bernhard Raimann
• 11 (12%) — WR Mike Strachan
• 8 (9%) — TE Jelani Woods
• DNP/Inactive — QB Nick Foles, QB Sam Ehlinger, WR Dezmon Patmon, OT Luke Tenuta, IOL Wesley French

The first thing that jumps out is the Colts giving some of starting left tackle Matt Pryor's snaps to rookie Bernhard Raimann. The latter was an extra blocker occasionally in heavy formations but Pryor missed 12 snaps with the rest of the starting offensive line. The line is a unit heavily reliant on chemistry and cohesion, so although they'd like to get Raimann some live work, taking out one of your new starters in a group dependent on everyone being present may not always go smoothly.

Nyheim Hines was also effective as a pass-catcher in the work that he saw. Seeing only a quarter of the snaps is an area the Colts could probably improve on, as he represents a unique threat to defenses that they must account for. It doesn't have to mean taking Jonathan Taylor off the field either, as there are opportunities for them to be on the field together.

Kylen Granson out-snapping and seeing more pass targets (7 to 2) than Mo Alie-Cox also feels important.

Mandatory Credit: Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports

DEFENSE

• 70 (100%) — LB Zaire Franklin, LB Bobby Okereke, CB Stephon Gilmore, CB Kenny Moore II, S Julian Blackmon, S Nick Cross
• 60 (86%) — DT DeForest Buckner
• 57 (81%) — DE Yannick Ngakoue
• 55 (79%) — DE Kwity Paye
• 39 (56%) — DT Grover Stewart
• 38 (54%) — LB E.J. Speed
• 32 (46%) — DL Tyquan Lewis, CB Brandon Facyson
• 14 (20%) — DT Byron Cowart
• 11 (16%) — DE Ifeadi Odenigbo
• 4 (6%) — DL Dayo Odeyingbo, DT Eric Johnson
• 2 (3%) — DE Ben Banogu, S Rodney McLeod
• DNP/Inactive — LB Shaquille Leonard, CB Dallis Flowers

It's common for safeties to play every snap, but although rookie Nick Cross was listed as a starter, a general assumption was that the Colts could give some three-safety looks more often, which would put Rodney McLeod on the field more often. Instead, Cross played every snap and McLeod was primarily a special teams player. That may change throughout the season as the Colts operated out of their base defense quite a bit, which is why E.J. Speed saw as much action as he did as the SAM linebacker. Cornerbacks Brandon Facyson and Isaiah Rodgers also saw less action as a result.

Coming into the season, defensive tackle depth was a concern but it appears that there may be a lack of depth across the line. Starters Yannick Ngakoue, Kwity Paye, DeForest Buckner, and Grover Stewart played an average of 53 snaps (76%) while Tyquan Lewis was the only rotational player to see much work.

Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

SPECIAL TEAMS

• 24 (75%) — E.J. Speed
• 23 (72%) — Grant Stuard, Tony Brown
• 20 (62%) — Ashton Dulin, JoJo Domann
• 18 (56%) — Rodney McLeod
• 17 (53%) — Zaire Franklin, Isaiah Rodgers
• 15 (47%) — Deon Jackson, Ben Banogu
• 13 (41%) — Julian Blackmon
• 12 (38%) — DeForest Buckner, Grover Stewart
• 11 (34%) — Rodrigo Blankenship, Ifeadi Odenigbo
• 9 (28%) — Matt Haack, Luke Rhodes, Kylen Granson, Kenny Moore II
• 8 (25%) — Nyheim Hines, Bobby Okereke
• 7 (22%) — Byron Cowart
• 5 (16%) — Dennis Kelly, Will Fries, Mo Alie-Cox, Matt Pryor, Quenton Nelson, Danny Pinter, Rodney Thomas II
• 4 (12%) — Nick Cross
• 3 (9%) — Kwity Paye

What do you think of this week's playing time? Drop your thoughts below in the comment section!

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