Packers Wild Card Snap Counts: All hands on deck for Green Bay’s receiving corps

Romeo Doubs got the headlines, but the fact that the Packers had all of their receiving options available helped significantly on Sunday afternoon.

The Green Bay Packers’ offense had a full deck of cards at head coach Matt LaFleur’s disposal on Sunday for the first time all season. Every one of the Packers’ wide receivers and tight ends was healthy enough to play in the team’s Wild Card game against the Dallas Cowboys, and although a few key players still had their snaps limited, the team was able to roll out every one of them in some capacity.

The versatility that LaFleur was able to employ throughout the game helped the Packers score six offensive touchdowns at AT&T Stadium, including a stretch of five straight drives that finished off in the end zone. It also allowed Jordan Love to come one incompletion short of a perfect passer rating, even as one wide receiver ended up being his favorite target on the day.

In all, the Packers’ ability to roll through a variety of personnel groupings and formations proved to be a key factor in the game, as the Cowboys’ defense was unable to adjust. Green Bay was able to run or pass out of every look, and it helped them reach the 400-yard mark on offense in just 54 offensive plays.

Here’s a look at the playing time in Green Bay’s huge 48-32 victory.

OFFENSE (56 total snaps)

Quarterbacks

Jordan Love 53, Sean Clifford 3

Up 48-24 with about six minutes left in the game, the Packers brought Clifford in to hand off to Patrick Taylor three times before punting away to the Cowboys and letting them close to within two scores. After that, Love came back in the game to try to salt it away, and his third-down pass attempt fell incomplete to rob him of a perfect rating.

But it was Love’s first three-plus quarters that will be memorable, as the playoff debutant carved up the Dallas defense. Love finished 16-for-21 for 272 yards and three touchdowns in a truly masterful performance that will be firmly planted in Packers fans’ memories (and those of Cowboys fans as well) for a long, long time.

Running Backs

Aaron Jones 35, Emanuel Wilson 15, Patrick Taylor 6

While Love did the work with his arm, Jones had another phenomenal game in his home state of Texas. He ran for 118 yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries, posting each of the Packers’ first two scores and adding another in the third quarter. This performance extended Jones’ 100-yard rushing streak to four games and a 13-yard reception carried him over 130 yards from scrimmage in each of those games as well.

Wilson, not Taylor, was the change-of-pace back for Jones, and he carried the ball eight times on his 15 snaps. He was particularly ineffective, however, averaging just 2.5 yards per carry. Taylor’s only notable action came on the Clifford drive, when he got all three of his carries for six yards.

Wide Receivers

Romeo Doubs 39, Dontayvion Wicks 31, Jayden Reed 26, Christian Watson 23, Bo Melton 22

With Watson back in the lineup for the first time since week 13, the Packers sent Malik Heath to the inactive list for this game and kept these five receivers active. They rotated through the group heavily, with each player seeing at least 20 snaps in the game. Four of the five receivers got multiple targets — Doubs had six, Reed three, and Wicks and Melton two each.

Doubs was the unquestioned star, however, as he caught all six of his targets for a career-high 151 yards. The Packers also got him a score in the fourth quarter to cap off his day, which saw him become the third straight different Green Bay receiver to hit 100 yards in the past three weeks.

Wicks brought in another touchdown from Love, a 20-yarder up the seam that sent the Packers’ front office into a tizzy in their box. Melton had just one catch for 7 yards, Watson caught his only target for 9, and Reed was a surprising 0-for-3 on targets.

Tight Ends

Tucker Kraft 45, Luke Musgrave 15, Ben Sims 13, Josiah Deguara 10

With Musgrave continuing to work his way back into the lineup gradually, Kraft remains the team’s primary in-line tight end, though the Packers did work in a number of plays with 12 personnel. The big play from this group was Musgrave’s touchdown, a 38-yarder on a leak play that saw the Cowboys blow the coverage. Musgrave was the most open receiver at the catch point at any point in the entire NFL season, according to Next Gen Stats, and he finished with three catches for 52 yards. Kraft caught two of three passes for 15 yards, though he could not corral the third-down ball from Love on the final notable drive.

Offensive Linemen

Rasheed Walker 56, Josh Myers 56, Zach Tom 53, Elgton Jenkins 49, Jon Runyan, Jr. 34, Sean Rhyan 26, Royce Newman 3, Yosh Nijman 3

Despite speculation to the contrary, the Packers continue to rotate Runyan and Rhyan at right guard; meanwhile, Newman and Nijman came in for Jenkins and Tom briefly during the Clifford drive.

The first series of the game was a bit rough, and Love helped bail the line out with a few great throws under pressure. However, after that the line settled in and only allowed a handful of pressures, including just one by All-Pro Micah Parsons. Between that performance and a nearly 150-yard day on the ground, it was an exceptional day all around for the offensive line.

DEFENSE (95 total snaps)

Defensive Linemen

Devonte Wyatt 50, Kenny Clark 48, Karl Brooks 45, Colby Wooden 34, T.J. Slaton 23

While the Packers were in the mid-50s in terms of snaps, the Cowboys had 89 offensive plays and a few additional snaps counted due to penalties and two-point conversion attempts. However, with the Packers out to a big lead early, they were able to rotate their pass-rushing linemen in throughout the game rather than needing to rely on Clark and Slaton to be run-stuffers.

The Packers also made the decision to play mostly backups in the fourth quarter — even despite Dallas having plenty of time to mount a potential comeback. That also surely contributed to the snap breakdown. In total, the line had just one TFL (Clark) and two QB hits (Clark, Brooks), but in general they held up well and did not allow a Cowboys running back to gain more than 11 yards on any single carry.

Outside Linebackers

Preston Smith 55, Lukas Van Ness 50, Kingsley Enagbare 40, Rashan Gary 39

With the Packers inserting their backups in the game so frequently in the fourth quarter, Gary found his snaps at less than 50 percent, while Van Ness played his most total snaps in any game this season. Gary had just one hit on Dak Prescott and while not a game-changing factor, did have a handful of pressures.

Van Ness’ previous high was 37 on Thanksgiving Day, while Enagbare had more than 30 on just three occasions, and all of those were between 40 and 42. Van Ness picked up a sack, his second straight game doing so as he seems to be turning things on a bit more late this season.

Unfortunately for Enagbare, after recording two QB hits, he appears to have torn his ACL late in the game, which forced Smith back on the field. The veteran was gassed in the fourth quarter, but Smith had another very good game with a sack and a batted pass.

Inside Linebackers

De’Vondre Campbell 75, Quay Walker 67, Eric Wilson 20, Isaiah McDuffie 16

The Packers’ linebacker plan seemed strange early, with the team playing Walker and McDuffie on run downs early and pulling McDuffie for Campbell on passing downs. That lasted until McDuffie got a stinger and had to leave the game; Green Bay then went with a Campbell/Wilson duo late in the game after pulling starters.

Walker ended up tying for the team lead with 11 tackles, while Campbell had eight, including a sack and a pass breakup (that could have and maybe should have been an interception in the end zone). Wilson had five tackles on defense (plus one on special teams) while McDuffie had four on defense and two on special teams.

Safeties

Jonathan Owens 89, Darnell Savage 79, Anthony Johnson, Jr. 23, Zayne Anderson 13

At safety, the big kudos in this game go to Savage for his huge pick-six late in the second quarter. With the Cowboys threatening to score and go for a double-up around halftime to possibly pull back within one possession of the Packers, Savage’s score raised Green Bay’s lead to 27-0 and ended up putting things pretty well out of reach.

Johnson got some decent run as a dime back in this game with Dallas playing catch-up, while Anderson came out on defense for the first time this season as a substitute for Savage when the Packers inserted backups late.

Cornerbacks

Carrington Valentine 90, Keisean Nixon 89, Jaire Alexander 52, Corey Ballentine 43, Robert Rochell 5

With the Cowboys living in 11 personnel, the Packers had Nixon on the field almost nonstop in this game. He responded with 11 total tackles, a great sack on Prescott, and a pair of pass breakups, though he got a little bit handsy and took a penalty that allowed Dallas a chance to score at the very end of the first half. Valentine had a solid game again, posting eight tackles and generally providing solid coverage throughout.

Alexander appeared to tweak his injured ankle early in the second half, but he delivered a huge early statement with a fantastic interception on the Cowboys’ second drive that helped set up a second Packers touchdown. He would finish the game with seven total tackles as well, and Ballentine came on to make five stops in relief of the veteran.

SPECIAL TEAMS LEADERS

Wilson 19, Owens 18, Rochell 16, Anders Carlson 15, Kraft 15, Ballentine 12