Key Observations From Bears Snap Count in Their Week 5 Loss Against Packers

The Chicago Bears suffered a tough loss against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday afternoon. Very few things went right for Chicago on either side of the ball in the blowout 31-7 defeat to their hated NFC North foes.

The offense came out flat with backup Tyson Bagent under center (until he got benched in the second half). The defense also had easily their worst performance of the season, which is saying a lot considering the fact that they gave up 37 points to Carolina in the season opener.

Surprisingly, it was pretty even from a time-of-possession standpoint (largely because the Packers had a lot of chunk plays and struggled to run the ball). Chicago's offense ran 69 offensive plays, and the defense was on the field for 61 snaps.

The official snap count on both sides of the ball produced a few interesting developments.

Offensive snap count

Observations

The most noteworthy development for the offensive snap count is how much 11 personnel they ran. The game script definitely played a role there, but the fact that they didn't have Kyle Monangai at their disposal also factored into the pass-heavy approach. They clearly missed his presence.

Rookie receiver Zavion Thomas saw a career-high 15 offensive snaps, and he actually got involved with an 11-yard catch and an 11-yard run. On an offense that did virtually nothing right, he at least stood out as somewhat of a bright spot.

Running back Roschon Johnson (27 snaps) played Monangai's normal complement of snaps (before the Week 4 explosion against New York, anyway), but he didn't make the most of them. He finished the game with only five attempts for six yards. D'Andre Swift (40 snaps) clearly wasn't 100%, but he still looked like their best offensive weapon.

With them trotting out three receivers far more often, Cole Kmet (29 snaps) saw a season-low in playing time by a wide margin. Coming into the game, his 43 snaps played against Carolina and Philadelphia were the fewest of the year. Third-string TE Sam Roush (5 snaps) also saw a season-low by a wide margin (his previous was 12 in the season opener).

It's also worth noting that Case Keenum (23 snaps) threw for 21 more yards than Tyson Bagent (46 snaps) despite seeing exactly half as much playing time. Both players had ugly performances, but it's painfully obvious who should start if Caleb Williams isn't healthy next week.

Defensive snap count

Observations

The most stark observation for the defensive side of the ball is why they were in base defense so much against Green Bay's weak rushing offense. Based on the snap counts, it seems like they had three linebackers on the field for 32 of 61 snaps (unless they had four backers on the field at the same time at any point, which I don't think happened).

Any way you slice it, that's an odd decision on defensive coordinator Dennis Allen's part. The Packers came into the game with the league's worst rushing offense, and they were constantly destroying the secondary with deep shots over the top. Good for Noah Sewell for playing 22 snaps in his first game back from being activated off IR. They still should've had more speed on the field.

With that said, an injury to Tyrique Stevenson (31 snaps) may have played a role. It was interesting to see Clark Phillips IIInot see any action as a result. Malik Muhammad II (49 snaps) moved to the outside, and Cam Lewis (36 snaps) moved down to the slot. I know Ben Johnson has a vendetta with Kyler Gordon, but he can't return to the field soon enough.

Edge rusher Austin Booker (44 snaps) led the defensive line in snaps for the first time this season, and that was for good reason. He was the only true bright spot on either side of the ball.

Dayo Odeyingbo's day getting cut short (22 snaps) probably was a slight factor in why Booker was on the field a bit more. His absence had a bigger impact on the defensive tackles, though. Kentavius Steet saw a season-high 30 snaps, and James Lynch's 27 snaps were only one away from his season high. Seeing the latter get right back into the swing of things after being a healthy scratch last week was a good sign.