It's time for our weekly look at the snap counts for the San Francisco 49ers from the team's Week 2 win against the Detroit Lions. Below are all of the takeaways from who played and how much during Sunday's contest at Levi's® Stadium. The offense played 64 total snaps and the defense played 77. It was the second straight week that the defense was on the field for more plays than the offense.
- Mike Person (foot) surprised everybody when he was able to play against the Lions. Kyle Shanahan said postgame that he didn't expect Person to make enough progress in order to start at right guard. Najee Toran was expected to be in the lineup. Instead, Person was put through a workout Sunday morning before determining that he was good to go. Shanahan gave the veteran major props for gutting it out for all 64 snaps as Person was nowhere near 100 percent.
- It's incredible what Matt Breida was able to accomplish in just 26 snaps. The second-year back accumulated 160 total yards on just 14 touches, including a career long 66-yard touchdown run in the second half. San Francisco is likely to continue to split touches between Breida and Alfred Morris (31 snaps). Breida is currently leading the NFL with 184 rushing yards and 8.4 yards per carry (min. five carries).
- Elijah Lee played 72 snaps in his first career start and recorded a game-high 12 tackles.
- Antone Exum played six snaps at strong safety in place of the injured Jaquiski Tartt (shoulder). Exum would likely start in Week 3 if Tartt is unable to go.
- Jimmie Ward (19 snaps) mixed in at cornerback in a rotation with Ahkello Witherspoon (64 snaps). Matthew Stafford zeroed in on the left side of the field, ignoring Richard Sherman's side completely. It was a strategy that worked for the Lions in the second half and is something the 49ers defense will need to address in the weeks to come.
- DeForest Buckner saw his usage rate increase in Week 2. He played 64 snaps (83 percent) against the Lions compared to the 76 percent of snaps he saw against the Minnesota Vikings. Robert Saleh said the goal was for no defensive lineman to play more than 50 snaps in a game, but that's just not possible when the defense is on the field for as long as it was on Sunday.
- Ronald Blair out-snapped Solomon Thomas 40-37 on Sunday which is an indicator that the 49ers currently prefer Blair to Thomas in passing situations. Robert Saleh said last week that Thomas will continue to be taken out in sub packages until he proves he's one of the best players on a consistent basis in those situations.
- Kyle Juszczyk's usage rate skyrocketed in Week 2 to 62 percent, up from 39 percent in Week 1. He was used several times as the 49ers third-down back. The fullback had three catches for 13 yards.
- Dante Pettis led all 49ers receivers with 56 snaps played. He came down with just one reception for 35 yards on two targets.
