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NFL Week 5 Bengals Snap Counts: Strange things happening

Taking a look at the Bengals’ snap count from Sunday in Dallas, there are some questions you’re likely going to ask yourself. Like, why did Domata Peko play so much, and why did Ryan Hewitt play so little?

Cincinnati Bengals v Dallas Cowboys Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

The Bengals offensive and defensive snap counts in Dallas offered some surprises. A lot of that had to do with playing from behind and attempting to get into scoring positions, but, there are some questions that linger after looking over the numbers.

Somewhat surprisingly, in his first active gameday for the Bengals, Cody Core took 13 snaps on offense. Core also had a tackle on his first play, the opening kickoff. Alex Erickson also played 10 snaps on offense and Tyler Boyd was more involved than he has been the last two weeks, playing 50 snaps on offense. The defensive line snap counts are more concerning as certain players' involvement doesn't make as much sense. We'll get to that and more below.

  • Josh Shaw seems to have overtaken Darqueze Dennard for the slot cornerback job. Shaw played nearly double the number of snaps as Dennard in Dallas.
  • The defensive line saw an interesting (hint: in a bad way) rotation. Margus Hunt played the same number of snaps as Carlos Dunlap (34). Michael Johnson played 39 snaps (68%), which was matched by only Geno Atkins. Domata Peko played 38 snaps (67%) which also seems like far too many for the veteran, even in a run-heavy game.
  • Derron Smith was stiff armed by Jason Whitten and clearly the coaches didn't like what they saw as that was his only play of the day.
  • Tyler Boyd saw more snaps on Sunday than he has been with 50 (71%).
  • It seems to be a trend that when Ryan Hewitt is minimally involved, the Bengals lose. Such was the case in Dallas where he took just 6 offensive snaps. Maybe the Bengals don’t trust him, or maybe play calls aren’t suited for his strengths, but, the Bengals need to get Hewitt involved. They did just give him a three year, $7,500,000 contract in the offseason.
  • Jake Fisher was on the injury report leading up to the Dallas game with a back injury and he did not play on Sunday, even on special teams.
  • C.J. Uzomah continues to earn the majority of the tight end snaps over Tyler Kroft. Uzomah had 54 snaps to Kroft's 23. Uzomah caught 5 passes for 43 yards on sunday while Kroft caught three for 29 yards. Neither missed a target or dropped a pass, which is a step in the right direction for the duo.
Position Player Snap Count Percentage of Time
Offensive Line Kevin Zeitler 70 100%
Clint Boling 70 100%
Russell Bodine 70 100%
Cedric Ogbuehi 70 100%
Andrew Whitworth 70 100%
T.J. Johnson 0 0%
Jake Fisher 0 0%
Eric Winston 0 0%
Christian Westerman INACTIVE INACTIVE
Tight Ends Tyler Eifert INACTIVE INACTIVE
C.J. Uzomah 54 77%
Tyler Kroft 23 33%
Quarterback Andy Dalton 70 100%
AJ McCarron 0 0%
Jeff Driskel INACTIVE INACTIVE
Wide Receiver A.J. Green 59 84%
Tyler Boyd 50 71%
Brandon LaFell 65 93%
James Wright INACTIVE INACTIVE
Cody Core 13 19%
Alex Erickson 10 14%
Running Back Jeremy Hill 15 21%
Giovani Bernard 53 76%
Rex Burkhead 2 3%
Fullback/H-Back Ryan Hewitt 6 9%
----------------------- ---------------------------- ---------------- ----------------------------
Defensive Tackle Geno Atkins 39 68%
Domata Peko 38 67%
Deshawn Williams INACTIVE INACTIVE
Pat Sims 26 46%
Defensive End Margus Hunt 34 60%
Will Clarke 18 32%
Carlos Dunlap 34 60%
Michael Johnson 39 68%
Linebacker Karlos Dansby 39 68%
Rey Maualuga 46 81%
Vincent Rey 13 23%
Nick Vigil 0 0%
Vontaze Burfict 44 77%
Marquis Flowers 0 0
Safety George Iloka 57 100%
Shawn Williams 56 98%
Derron Smith 1 2%
Clayton Fejedelem 0 0%
Cornerback Adam Jones 57 100%
Dre Kirkpatrick 57 100%
Josh Shaw 19 33%
Chykie Brown INACTIVE INACTIVE
Chris Lewis-Harris 0 0%
Darqueze Dennard 10 18%
Keivarae Russell INACTIVE INACTIVE