In the Arizona Cardinals' 36-30 loss to the San Francico 49ers, 16 players participated in at least one of the 87 offensive snaps.
The Cardinals had two possessions longer than eight minutes and four had 12 or more plays (one with 12 and three with 14).
How was the playing time divided up? Below are the snap counts for every player who got into the game on offense.
The first number after each name is the snap count, and the second is the percentage. Players in bold were starters.
Quarterbacks
- Jacoby Brissett (87/100)
- Did not play: Gardner Minshew II
- Inactive: Carson Beck (emergency QB)
Brissett completed 73.1 percent of his passes (38 of 52) for 280 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions for a passer rating of 98.2, but the completions averaged 7.4 yards, the lowest of any team in the first 15 games of Week 3. The longest play was 19 yards to wide
receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. Brissett evaded pressure several times and rushed for four yards on four attempts, scoring on a 1-yard run.
Running backs
- Jeremiyah Love (56/64), Tyler Allgeier (31/36)
- Did not play: Bam Knight (played only on special teams)
- Injured reserve: James Conner (eligible to return after Week 4), Trey Benson
Love combined for 109 yards from scrimmage (90 yards on 21 rushing attempts and 19 receiving yards on fives catches, including a one-yard touchdown. The only wait now is for explosive plays, as his long was eight yards on Sunday. He battled for extra yardage and most important was that the play-calling included him even after the Cardinals fell behind 23-6 early in the third quarter. In the ensuing 14-play, 69-yard drive for a TD, he had seven carries for 31 yards.
Always his best critic, Love said, "I didn't take full advantage of all the opportunities, so kind of something I got to reflect on and get better at next week. The increase in carries, did a fairly decent job with converting third downs and getting first downs and doing all I got to do for the team, but I got to get better, got to do better and take advantage of those opportunities."
Left tackle Paris Johnson Jr. said, “I'm proud of Jeremiyah. He’s a young star. I love the way he plays. I love the way he talks after even a three-, or four-yard gain. I love the energy he has. But again, I believe it's on us as a line to be able to allow him to multiply those numbers. I'm proud of what he was able to do on the field today, but I know there's a lot more in the tank. That's on us to give him the range to extend plays the way he does.”
Head coach Mike LaFleur concluded, “I thought he got in a groove right there. Like I just told him, 'Hey, just keep trusting your reads, keep taking the ball.' You have to stay disciplined as a back, but we don’t have a clicker in our hand on Sundays. These guys have to go play their game, see it and play fast. I thought he did that. We just didn’t get any of those to break for more than eight yards. But I thought he did a good job. I thought he handled the workload well.”
Wide receivers
- Michael Wilson (81/93), Marvin Harrison Jr. (67/77), Kendrick Bourne (48/55), Jalen Brooks (4/5)
- Did not play: Devin Duvernay, Simi Fehoko (both played only on special teams)
- Inactive: Reggie Virgil
Wilson had a whopping 17 targets and caught 11 for 89 yards (8.1 average) with a touchdown. The Harrison noise subsided somewhat as he was targeted five times and caught three for 40 yards. Bourne had two catches for 22 yards, both on the fourth-quarter TD drive that cut the 49ers' lead to 29-27.
On Wilson, Brissett said, “The calls were some of the things that he was really good at, and he did a good job.”
As for Harrison, Brissett said, “It’s awesome. Obviously, finding our mojo and finding more ways to get him involved in the offense, and I thought when his opportunity (got) called today, he made every one of them count. I know he's going to continue to get better and I'm going to try to continue to get better for him.”
Tight ends
- Trey McBride (79/91), Elijah Higgins (35/40), Hunter Long (30/34)
- Reserve/PUP: Tip Reiman (eligible to practice after Week 2 and play after Week 4)
- Injured reserve: Jamison Geers
McBride had nine receptions on 11 targets for 75 yards (8.3 average). He also had a questionable offensive pass interference penalty that wiped out a 10-yard third-down pass play that led to a punt. Higgins had three catches for 20 yards.
Offensive linemen
- LT Paris Johnson Jr. (87/100), LG Isaac Seumalo (87/100), C Hjalte Froholdt (87/100), RG Isaiah Adams (87/100), RT Elijah Wilkinson (87/100), T Jayden Williams (4/5)
- Did not play: G/C Jon Gaines II, G/C Hayden Conner (both played only on special teams)
- Inactive: T Josh Fryar
- Injured reserve: G Chase Bisontis
Penalties aborted possessions in the first half including false starts by Adams and Wilkinson and a holding penalty on Johnson all in the same possession.
LaFleur said, “I thought there were some good things we did. Then, sometimes when we were looking to take some shots, it got a little bit leaky on Jacoby. So again, I have to go back and look at that in terms of what we’re asking these guys to do from a play-action standpoint and how long we’re asking them to hold up.
“We ran the ball well. When your longest rush is eight yards and we’re not getting explosives, it’s tough sledding sometimes. Like I told the guys, for the most part, they were on their assignments. They were moving these guys. We were getting good, efficient yards. We were in second-and-manageable territory quite often. You have to stick with it. One of these is going to pop, and it just hasn’t for us yet.”
Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire's Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple Podcasts.
This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: Arizona Cardinals Week 3 offensive snap counts, observations vs. 49ers
