NEW ORLEANS — View the snap counts and playtime percentages for the Panthers against the Saints in Week 14 of the regular season.

• Tommy Tremble only caught one pass but took the bulk of the work at tight end, with a usage rate higher than normal, even before Ian Thomas left with an ankle injury. When a season leaves the rails as this one has, you want to see guys who care and give full effort, and Tremble is that guy.
• When you get to this point in the season, you might as well look at some young players, and wideout Ihmir Smith-Marsette has shown some utility. He played 26 snaps on offense after playing just 37 in his other 12 games, and never more than the 12 he got last week in Tampa. He's at least a distraction as a receiver in motion but he also converted a first down with a nice end-around run. It's something, at least.
• If there's a single entry in the Snap Counts 2023 library that sums up the Panthers season, it's starting left guard Justin McCray's one snap against the Saints before he left the game with a calf injury and did not return. He's one of six players to log time at left guard this season, and seven have played right guard, which helps explain a lot of what's happened to Bryce Young.

• The first thing you notice is that the defense played just 52 snaps. That tells you right off the bat the work they were doing is good. And it allowed Derrick Brown to play practically every snap of the game, and he's playing them at a high level. He had 10 tackles (again, there were only 52 plays), with a quarterback hit and an interception. He's having the season of a lifetime, and it's not getting much attention outside Charlotte.
• Not only is Jaycee Horn past the pitch count portion of the season, but he's also looking like himself again. He played all 52, and getting downfield and breaking up the deep ball to Chris Olvae showed a sign of the form you expect of him when he's well.
• Jeremy Chinn had a bigger role than last week also, part of which is because of scheme. With him playing more snaps, third outside corner CJ Henderson didn't play any on defense since Troy Hill is the passing-down nickel.

• Look at that list of guys playing special teams snaps. Other than Johnny Hekker, JJ Jansen, and Eddy Piñeiro, only Sam Franklin Jr. and Henderson went to training camp with the Panthers. Speaks volumes.
• It's also worth pointing out, and it's not as dramatic as the guard situation, but rookie Alex Cook was the fourth personal protector on the punt team this season. He's the guy who makes the line calls for Hekker. It's not his fault the Saints rusher went unblocked (shooting the gap between Tae Davis and Ian Thomas), but when you have that much turnover in any role, things happen.