Bengals Week 9 Snap Counts vs Raiders: 2 players make their NFL debuts for Cincinnati in big win
The Cincinnati Bengals finally took care of business at home by defeating the Las Vegas Raiders, 41-24. It was the first time the Bengals won a game long before the clock hit triple zeros in the fourth quarter, and a few players took advantage of a positive game script for once. Let's see what the snap counts […]
The Cincinnati Bengals finally took care of business at home by defeating the Las Vegas Raiders, 41-24. It was the first time the Bengals won a game long before the clock hit triple zeros in the fourth quarter, and a few players took advantage of a positive game script for once.
Let's see what the snap counts had to say about the game.
Bengals Week 9 Snap Counts vs Raiders
Weapons management
The Bengals knew they wouldn't have wide receiver Tee Higgins or running back Zack Moss for this game, but they didn't expect rookie tight end Erick All Jr. (15) to go down with what's feared to be a torn ACL in the second quarter. All's injury forced the Bengals to adapt once again and tight end Drew Sample (56) had his busiest game of the year as he played a season-high 28 snaps on passing downs and caught his first touchdown of the season. Tight end Mike Gesicki (27) saw a similar workload to what he managed last week and put up even better numbers as a receiver with 100 yards and two touchdown receptions. He's become the offense's best answer for when Higgins is off the field.
While wide receivers Andrei Iosivas (67) and Ja'Marr Chase (65) played nearly the whole game, the third wideout spot was split between Gesicki, Trenton Irwin (22) and practice squad elevation Kendric Pryor (18). Jermaine Burton was supposed to see the field often before he missed Saturday's walkthrough and was made an inactive.
In the backfield, running back Chase Brown (59) had the busiest game of his career as a starter and carried the ball a career-high 27 times and also added five receptions. No other running back on the roster touched the ball. This is unlikely to be the case going forward if Moss is out for an extended period of time. Perhaps a running back will be added via a surprise trade deadline move?
Joseph and Jordan rising
Figuring out answers with pass rush and the safety room has been a struggle for Cincinnati this season. Sunday was a sign of where things could be going as edge defender Joseph Ossai (27) outplayed Myles Murphy (20) for the second time since Murphy returned from injury in Week 5. Ossai was second in pressures (3) on 19 pass-rushing snaps. Murphy's only logged one pressure in the last two weeks and his role looks to be decreasing in favor of the more experienced Ossai.
The trend of strong safety Jordan Battle (31) taking over for Vonn Bell (30) has been a slow burn for weeks now and Sunday was the first time all year Battle played more than the team captain. Plenty of second-stringers such as cornerback Josh Newton (13) and linebackers Joe Bachie (8), and Maema Njongmeta (7) got some run late in the game which factored into Battle's usage, but he was even involved on the first drive of the day. The arrow is undoubtedly pointing up for him.
Other notes
Defensive tackle B.J. Hill (12) left the game early due to a rib injury and was declared out by halftime. His status is very much up in the air for Thursday night's game against the Baltimore Ravens. Rookie Kris Jenkins Jr. (32) ended up playing the second-most snaps at the position behind Sheldon Rankins (38). Rookie McKinnley Jackson (27) saw an uptick and even fellow rookie edge defender Cedric Johnson (13) played half of his snaps at defensive tackle.
Two players for the offense made their NFL debuts. Rookie running back Kendall Milton (5) came on the field at first for Joe Burrow's (73) kneel-down at the end of the first half and he came for four passing plays in the fourth quarter. Right tackle Devin Cochran (1) came in early in the third quarter for Amarius Mims (73) on the same play Sample got his touchdown for his first-career snap.
Cochran became needed this week with Orlando Brown Jr.'s injury, and Milton is now on the active roster to help out depth with Moss out.
‘What’s there to be happy about?’ — Joe Burrow’s reaction to win over Raiders is exactly what the Bengals need
Burrow had bigger things on his mind after throwing for five touchdowns against the Raiders.
