Deone Bucannon plays limited snaps, Markus Golden getting most OLB snaps in Week 12

The Arizona Cardinals played 56 defensive snaps on Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers. They were able to get off the field, never allowing the Niners to convert on a third down. But in looking at the snap counts, we notice a couple of things that stand out.

Let's take a look:

Defensive line: Calais Campbell, 56; Rodney Gunter, 34; Xavier Williams, 21; Josh Mauro, 14; Red Bryant, 14

With a first look, the Cardinals really limited their three-lineman packages. Having only five linemen available will do that. Kareem Martin, now an outside linebacker, also got nine snaps on the defensive line.

Linebackers: Kevin Minter, 56; Markus Golden, 44; Alex Okafor, 28; Dwight Freeney, 27; Sean Weatherspoon, 17; Kareem Martin, 9

As mentioned, Martin actually played on the D-line. Perhaps the one thing we can see is how Markus Golden has become the every down linebacker. Okafor used to play the most snaps. Whether because of coming back from injury, because of his effectiveness or because of the play of Golden, Okafor is playing less. Weatherspoon got his first extended playing time of the season. He was used in base packages, allowing Deone Bucannon, who has been playing every down, to come in for sub packages only after recovering from a concussion.

Defensive backs: Rashad Johnson, 56; Patrick Peterson, 56; Tyrann Mathieu, 56; Deon Bucannon, 38; Tony Jefferson, 32; Jerraud Powers, 32; Justin Bethel, 27

Powers left because of injury and Bethel went the rest of the way.