Cardinals’ Week 12 defensive snap counts and observations vs. Chargers

In the Arizona Cardinals’ 25-24 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, the defense was on the field for 66 snaps. Interestingly, the offense and defense played an equal number of snaps, something I don’t think I have seen.

How were the snaps divided up? Below, we go over the individual snap counts for each player who played in the game and give any observations to be taken from the numbers.

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Defensive line

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J.J. Watt, 53; Zach Allen, 52; Leki Fotu, 17; Trysten Hill, 15; Jonathan Ledbetter, 13

Watt and Allen continue to get most of the snaps with the others getting rotational looks.

Outside linebacker

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Markus Golden, 50; Myjai Sanders, 29; Cameron Thomas, 15; Victor Dimukeje, 11; Dennis Gardeck, 10

Gardeck got hurt, which is why his numbers were low and Sanders’ higher.

Golden continues to get most of the playing time, while Dimukeje has seen his role reduced.

Inside linebacker

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Zaven Collins, 66; Isaiah Simmons, 65; Ben Niemann, 33; Tanner Vallejo, 16

Collins continues to play every snap and Simmons now almost doesn’t come off the field.

Cornerback

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Antonio Hamilton, 61; Marco Wilson, 57; Trayvon Mullen, 29

With Byron Murphy out, no one played every snap. Hamilton had to leave the game with an ankle injury but returned.

Safety

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Budda Baker, 66; Jalen Thompson, 66; Chris Banjo, 1

The Cardinals went with a three-safety defense once.

Story originally appeared on Cards Wire