Miami Dolphins Week 9 Snap Count Observations

Highlights from the play points from the Miami Dolphins’ 30-27 loss to the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium on Sunday:

We’ll start with the inactive list, highlighted by the quartet of players missing due to injuries: DT Zach Sieler (eye), CB Kader Kohou (neck), CB Storm Duck (ankle) and TE Julian Hill (shoulder). Inactives include RB Jeff Wilson Jr. and OL Andrew Meyer were also present.

Every active player including training squad upgrades Neil Farrell and newcomer Matt Overton, Other than backup quarterback Skylar Thompson, the game saw action.

Six players saw action solely on special teams: Kendall Lamm, Lester Cotton, Patrick Paul, Channing Tindall, Ethan Bonner, and Anthony Walker Jr., who was replaced as a linebacker in the starting lineup. Alan David Long Jr.

The teams’ offensive game numbers were very close to each other, and Buffalo had a 66-61 advantage.

What stood out on offense was the disparity at running back; De’Von Achane took 42 snaps, Raheem Mostert took just 14 and rookie Jaylen Wright took nine. Achane not only took the undisputed lead, but also became the focal point of the attack.

It’s easy to say that Mostert’s playing time was affected by a turnover early in the second half, but we should also note that after that turnover, the Dolphins made their next offensive attempt. The 14 rushing touchdowns represented the lowest total for Mostert since rejoining the Dolphins in 2022.

As for Wright, the idea that he can take tons of pictures at any time remains more of a media creation because he looks better as a rookie than he actually is.

For the second straight game, rookie Malik Washington had the third-most snaps at wide receiver, this time with 23, again well behind Tyreek Hill’s 59 and Jaylen Waddle’s 52.

Odell Beckham Jr., who played 11 offensive snaps in his first three games, also recorded 12 snaps in this match. Even though he recorded his first two catches with the Dolphins, it’s clear he’s still not a huge part of the game plan.

He played just 19 snaps at fullback as Alec Ingold was out with a calf injury. Note that Ingold was on the injury report with a cal issue throughout the week.

With Julian Hill out, Durham Smythe saw a slight increase in snap count, but nothing overly significant (17 to 26). Of course, it didn’t help that Smythe was flagged for a false start and then pushed back into the backfield on Mostert’s unsuccessful third-and-1 series.

The Dolphins had five players on the field on all 66 defensive snaps: Walker, fellow linebacker Jordyn Brooks and three starters in the secondary – Jalen Ramsey, Marcus Maye and Jordan Poyer. Cornerback Kendall Fuller was only out of the field for a moment.

Veteran linebacker Calais Campbell saw another increase in his snap count as he continued his truly impressive season. Campbell played a season-high 50 snaps; That’s seven more than against Arizona and 13 more than in any other game this season. The last time Campbell reached 50 defensive snaps in a game was in Week 7 of the 2023 season against the Atlanta Falcons.

Da’Shawn Hand again had long work up front, this time playing 57 snaps with Sieler out due to an eye injury. That’s 86 percent of defensive snaps that are Sieler territory.

Emmanuel Ogbah, who recovered from his bicep injury, managed to take 49 shots in defense.

Rookie first-round pick Chop Robinson managed to pick up his first NFL loss against the Bills, but his snap count (33) was his lowest in four games.

Cam Smith, who played 35 defensive tackles against Arizona in the first game of the season, dropped to 29 defensive tackles against Buffalo despite the defense still missing Kohou and Duck as well as Holland for the entire game.

Kamara played just five defensive snaps in his second NFL game; that was 11 fewer than he had in his first game against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 6. Kamara looked a little hesitant on defense, which explains why he spent so much time on the field. inactive list as a rookie.

We close out with special teams, where Siran Neal and Quinton Bell are again tied for the lead in snaps for the seventh time in eight games, this time with 20 each. Duke Riley followed with 19 points. Tanner Conner, who returned to the squad after being inactive against Arizona, led all offensive players in special teams with 15 points, followed by Smythe with 13 points.