Stefon Diggs’ return to Buffalo was a full-on success.
Not only did the New England Patriots ended up beating his former club, the Bills, in upset fashion, he also played a pivotal role in the game. The first-year Patriot caught 10 passes for 146 yards, his best statistical output since joining the team as a free agent in March.
Given his production — he was responsible for 45.5% of the Patriots’ receptions and 53.5% of their receiving yards — Diggs being classified as New England’s WR1 seems to make
sense. However, his playing time does not reflect that label: he was only the third most-used wideout on the team on Sunday night, with both Kayshon Boutte (37) and Mack Hollins (35) seeing more snaps than Diggs’ 30.
The difference between those three starter-level players is not significant, but it shows that the 31-year-old is not the clear top option his performance would suggest. Even though he is leading the team with 34 targets, 29 catches and 359 receiving yards through five games, he is still being employed as a package player rather than an every-play contributor — a likely byproduct of the fact that he suffered a torn ACL less than 12 months ago and that the Patriots are relying on plenty of a 12-personnel groupings.
That said, he is making the most of his opportunities so far.
Here is our full snap count report from the Patriots’ 23-20 win at Highmark Stadium.
Offense
Total snaps: 60 | Time on the field: 24:15 | *denotes starter
QB Drake Maye* (60; 100%), LT Will Campbell* (60; 100%), LG Jared Wilson* (60; 100%), C Garrett Bradbury* (60; 100%), RG Mike Onwenu* (60; 100%), RT Morgan Moses* (60; 100%), TE Hunter Henry* (52; 87%), WR Kayshon Boutte* (37; 62%), WR Mack Hollins* (35; 58%), TE Austin Hooper (34; 57%), RB Rhamondre Stevenson* (31; 52%), RB TreVeyon Henderson (30; 50%), WR Stefon Diggs* (30; 50%), WR DeMario Douglas (17; 28%), FB/TE Jack Westover (14; 23%), WR Kyle Williams (10; 17%), RB Antonio Gibson (9; 15%), OT/TE Vederian Lowe (1; 2%)
As noted above, the Patriots gave Kayshon Boutte and Mack Hollins more reps than Diggs on Sunday, but neither had the same impact on the game. Boutte was solid, making three big catches including a 19-yarder on the game-winning drive, while Hollins did not catch any passes. Nonetheless, the latter clearly remains ahead of fellow outside receiver Kyle Williams at this point in the season.
The composition of the depth chart will also be interesting to watch at running back. With Rhamondre Stevenson losing his third fumble of the year on Sunday, and with Antonio Gibson suffering a season-ending knee injury on a kickoff return, rookie TreVeyon Henderson might be in line to see an increased role. Against Buffalo, he end Stevenson effectively ended up splitting reps.
Elsewhere, Jared Wilson went wire-to-wire in his return from a one-week absence due to knee and ankle injuries; Jack Westover played his most snaps of the season with New England incorporating more 13-personnel looks; Vederian Lowe was flagged for a false start penalty on his lone snap as a jumbo tight end (although Wilson might have flinched first).
Defense
Total snaps: 68 | Time on the field: 33:34 | *denotes starter
LB Robert Spillane* (68; 100%), CB Christian Gonzalez* (68; 100%), S Jaylinn Hawkins* (68; 100%), S Craig Woodson* (67; 99%), CB Carlton Davis III* (67; 99%), ED Harold Landry III* (62; 91%), CB Marcus Jones* (52; 76%), DT Christian Barmore* (41; 60%), DT Milton Williams* (40; 59%), LB Christian Elliss* (37; 54%), DT Khyiris Tonga (28; 41%), LB Jack Gibbens (24; 35%), ED Keion White* (23; 34%), ED Anfernee Jennings (22; 32%), DT Joshua Farmer (22; 32%), DT Cory Durden (21; 31%), LB Jahlani Tavai (15; 22%), ED Elijah Ponder (13; 19%), LB Marte Mapu (5; 7%), S Brenden Schooler (2; 3%), CB Charles Woods (2; 3%), S Kyle Dugger (1; 1%)
One week after making his season debut, Christian Gonzalez was back to a full workload against Buffalo. The Patriots’ CB1 was on the field for all 68 defensive snaps on Sunday night, and he was credited with one reception allowed for 23 yards; he also had a big pass breakup to force the Bills to kick a field goal late in the game. His usage, plus the fact that Carlton Davis and Marcus Jones are mainstays as well, meant that Alex Austin has officially been relegated to emergency duty: he did not play any defensive snaps against his former team, a first for him this season.
Speaking of heavy workload, Harold Landry was on the field for a season-high 62 snaps versus the Bills. The fact that fellow starting outside linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson did not make the trip due to a knee injury likely contributed to his usage, as did Keion White exiting the contest with an elbow injury in the early third quarter. Still, Landry has now played 81.4% of defensive snaps this season and one has to wonder whether his high level of exposure is sustainable over the course of a 17-game season. Yes, he has always been a high-usage player in his career, but he is not getting any younger either.
Jahlani Tavai’s season debut was less active. After missing four months due to a calf injury sustained during organized team activities in early June, he played 15 snaps in his first game action of the year; as expected, Tavai lined up both on the line of scrimmage as an edge and off the ball as a classic inside linebacker.
The team managing his workload meant that Christian Elliss and Jack Gibbens mostly shared LB2 duties next to Robert Spillane. Both played good games, with Elliss’ performance particularly encouraging given his struggles earlier in the year.
Elsewhere on defense, Brenden Schooler saw his first two defensive snaps and was flagged for a late hit on one of them; Joshua Farmer and Cory Durden both set new personal season marks in playing time share; Kyle Dugger, meanwhile, played a career-low one defensive snap.
Special teams
Total snaps: 25 | Time on the field: 2:11
LB Jack Gibbens (20; 80%), S Brenden Schooler (20; 80%), S Dell Pettus (20; 80%), ED Anfernee Jennings (19; 76%), LB/PP Marte Mapu (16; 64%), LB Christian Elliss (13; 52%), LB Jahlani Tavai (13; 52%), FB Jack Westover (12; 48%), ED Elijah Ponder (12; 48%), CB Alex Austin (11; 44%), DT Khyiris Tonga (10; 40%), K Andy Borregales (10; 40%), P/H Bryce Baringer (9; 36%), LS Julian Ashby (9; 36%), ED Keion White (7; 28%), CB Charles Woods (7; 28%), S Kyle Dugger (6; 24%), RB/KR TreVeyon Henderson (5; 20%), WR Mack Hollins (5; 20%), TE Austin Hooper (5; 20%), OT Vederian Lowe (5; 20%), OT Marcus Bryant (5; 20%), OL Jared Wilson (5; 20%), OL Mike Onwenu (5; 20%), OL Ben Brown (5; 20%), DT Joshua Farmer (5; 20%), S Craig Woodson (5; 20%), RB/KR Rhamondre Stevenson (3; 12%), LB Robert Spillane (3; 12%), RB/KR Antonio Gibson (2; 8%), CB/PR Marcus Jones (2; 8%)
The Patriots’ kicking game operation experienced a major shakeup on Sunday. As noted above, one of the team’s two designated kickoff returners, Antonio Gibson, tore his ACL on his second runback and will miss the remainder of the season. The expectation is that fellow running back TreVeyon Henderson will continue to fill one of the return spots, with Rhamondre Stevenson being inserted in Gibson’s place down the stretch against Buffalo.
Gibson’s departure was the biggest change relative to last week, but not the only one. Alex Austin, for example, increased his special teams output to a season-high 44% of snaps; he was used on kickoff return, punt return, and field goal/extra point block. Jahlani Tavai played 52% of snaps in his first game back, splitting time between kickoff return, punt coverage and the blocking squad.
In the meantime, the Patriots’ core four — i.e. players used on all four return and coverage units — mostly remained the same as last week. Anfernee Jennings, Jack Gibbens, Marte Mapu, Brenden Schooler and Dell Pettus all continued their high-volume roles, with the only change being Darius Harris not getting promoted from the practice squad this week.
Did not play
QB Joshua Dobbs
With the game against Buffalo coming down to the wire, the Patriots unsurprisingly kept starting quarterback Drake Maye in the lineup throughout the night. That meant that backup Joshua Dobbs went back to sidelines after seeing some brief late-game action during the Week 4 blowout win over Carolina.
Inactive
QB3 Tommy DeVito, ED K’Lavon Chaisson, DT Eric Gregory, OL Caedan Wallace, WR Efton Chism III
The Patriots had already ruled out the aforementioned K’Lavon Chaisson before making the trip to Buffalo. The other four inactives, meanwhile, were all healthy scratches and for the moment remain little more than emergency depth at their respective positions.
