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Chicago Bears snap count breakdown vs the Green Bay Packers

The Chicago Bears not only won the time of possession last night against the Green Bay Packers, 33:06 to 26:51, they also ran a season high 77 total plays to just 55 from the Packers.

Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

It was a brilliant offensive game plan by Marc Trestman and the Chicago Bears, and it was executed to a T by Josh McCown. Here's how the Bears spread out the playing time on offense.

McCown and the five offensive linemen obviously played every snap, 77 according to the official NFL Gamebook, and next highest were the two starting wide outs. Alshon Jeffery played 73 and Brandon Marshall played 71. Marshall appeared to be dinged up a couple times, but his health was obviously good enough to stay on the field. Earl Bennett, while not having a ball thrown his way all night, was on the field for 47 plays (61%). All three of these guys were providing good blocks on the outside to aid the running game.

The only other receiver to see action on offense was rookie Marquess Wilson who had 15 snaps. Joe Anderson didn't dress because of an abdomen injury, and Eric Weems only saw time on special teams. Nineteen snaps to be exact.

Matt Forte saw the bulk of time at tailback, playing 67 snaps, but Michael Bush had 11 snaps after not seeing the field at all in week seven. Forte had 29 touches last night with 179 yards from scrimmage. He was a big part of the game plan, and Trestman stayed true to his comments about getting Forte the ball.

Tight end Martellus Bennett played 82% of the snaps, and Dante Rosario was in for eight, the same amount of snaps as fullback Tony Fiammetta. Rosario also played the most special teams snaps, 24. One of those snaps was the missed assignment that led to the blocked punt. Rosario should have blocked out as the man to his inside was accounted for.

Offensive tackle turned blocking tight end, Eben Britton, played 22 snaps (29%). I'm really hoping the Bears throw one his way at some point.

Over on the defensive side of the ball, rookie middle linebacker Jon Bostic never left the field. He played all 55 snaps, as did fellow LB James Anderson, who controlled the defensive huddle by the way. Rookie OLB Khaseem Greene made four tackles on his 24 plays.

The entire secondary remained on the field for all 55 plays. It had to be a good sign that Charles Tillman was able to go start to finish, and he even chimed in with six special teams plays. Now is about the time where you realize that Chris Conte and Major Wight never left the field. I would hope that Craig Steltz and Anthony Walters, who each played 19 special teams snaps, would get a longer look in practice this week at safety.

Nickleback Isaiah Frey logged 56% of the defensive playing time (31 snaps) and he made 2 tackles. He also had 5 special teams snaps.

With the Bears offense winning the time of possession battle, it allowed their defensive line to stay a bit fresher throughout. Shea McClellin had three big sacks and three QB hits in is 42 snaps (76%). That percentage may seem high still, but his total snap count is down.

Two weeks ago against the Redskins, McClellin played 62 snaps. In fact, the 42 snaps he played last night is the lowest since he also played 42 in week 2.

Stephen Paea played the most on the D-Line with 47 snaps, followed by 45 from Julius Peppers. I thought Pep looked very active all night, maybe the week off did his body good. If he's able to play like this moving forward, that will be a game changer for the Bears D.

Corey Wootton had 42 snaps, and the next highest went to defensive end David Bass who had 23 snaps (42%). Landon Cohen saw 16 snaps, and Christian Tupou had five. Interesting to note that the Bears made Zach MInter inactive for the game.

Once Jay Ratliff is ready to go, it will allow Wootton to kick back outside for more DE snaps, and that will also keep the entire D-Line rotation that much fresher.

What were your thoughts on the playing time distribution last night?

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