Bengals Week 13 Snap Counts: Running back split revitalized, and the success behind shutting down Lamar Jackson
The Bengals returned one of their running backs to the offense, and the defense took care of Lamar Jackson.
The Cincinnati Bengals got off the schneid on Thanksgiving with a huge 32-14 win over the Baltimore Ravens. Cincinnati now has a 5% chance at making the postseason according to The Athletic’s Playoff Simulator, which is about 4% greater compared to earlier in the week. That’s what Joe Burrow coming back can do for you.
Let’s see what the snap counts had to say about the Bengals’ holiday win over Baltimore.
Kris Jenkins Jr. leads the way for defensive tackles
Cincinnati had Lamar Jackson in shambles for most of the evening, and credit to the defensive line for that. 26 total pressures were contributed by the Bengals’ pass rushers, including five from second-year defensive tackle Kris Jenkins Jr. (43). Jenkins actually out-snapped both yearlong starters B.J. Hill (38) and T.J. Slaton Jr. (20), which has only happened once this season back in Week 9.
Jenkins had five pressures, according to Pro Football Focus, and Next Gen Stats tracked him with an average distance of 4.11 yards away from Jackson as a pass-rusher. The league average is 4.58 yards and Joseph Ossai (50), who had eight pressures, was 3.87 yards away from Jackson on average, so Jenkins had an active night indeed.
Chase Brown splits again with Samaje Perine
The return of Samaje Perine (33) was felt throughout the game, but the veteran tailback didn’t have nearly as much success as Chase Brown (50) did with comparable usage. Perine rushed for 39 yards with a 29% success rate on his 14 attempts while Brown doubled his production with 78 yards and was successful on 47% of his 15 attempts.
Perine’s value as a pass protector is immense. Joe Burrow’s second passing touchdown wouldn’t have been possible with his block on that play. As a runner, Brown is simply better at this stage of the season, and the split needs to favor the younger option going forward as the Bengals should continuing leaning into the efficiency they’ve found on the ground.
Expert analysis on Bengals Week 13 snap counts vs. Ravens
- The plan to replace Tee Higgins went as expected. Ja’Marr Chase (82) played all but one snap in his first game back while Andrei Iosivas (78) and Mitchell Tinsley (56) were the starters alongside him. Tinsley was second in targets with eight, but only caught two of them. Iosivas’ one catch was arguably Joe Burrow’s (83) best throw of the night.
- Drew Sample (49) led the tight ends in snaps yet again, and Noah Fant (35) got the edge over Mike Gesicki (23) this time around after Gesicki played more last week.
- Daijahn Anthony did not see any playing time on defense but did get five reps on special teams in his first game since being activated off the Reserve/Injured list this year.
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A feast with follies.
