Bengals Week 17 snap counts: Young players rise to the occasion

The Bengals’ season ended on a high note with a win against the division rival Ravens.

Without much to play for and with many starters sidelined with injuries, a number of changes were made to the Bengals’ lineup and playing time breakdown in the season finale.

Darqueze Dennard still played second fiddle to Josh Shaw, but saw the field for 31 defensive snaps. Young players like Nick Vigil, Clayton Fejedelem, Trey Hopkins, and Derron Smith saw increased opportunities. Even rookie cornerback KeiVarae Russell played one snap on defense, and on that one snap, grabbed an interception, on a deep pass targeted for Breshad Perriman. Cody Core and Tyler Boyd also saw considerable playing time, as they have for weeks, and both made a nice impact in the win.

Here are some further takeaways from the snap count breakdown:

• Kevin Zeitler managed to play 100% of the Bengals’ snaps all season long, an incredibly impressive feat that includes more than 1,000 consecutive snaps played. The Bengals should do everything they can to get Zeitler to re-sign long-term in Cincinnati.
• T.J. Johnson started the first game of his career in what could be his final game in Cincinnati as he’s also set to hit free agency. Johnson did well on Sunday at left guard and helped Rex Burkhead rush for 119 yards.
• Trey Hopkins was promoted from the practice squad last week and actually got to play 10 snaps on offense.
• The wide receiver snap count saw Brandon LaFell with the most snaps, closely followed by Core, Boyd and then Alex Erickson. James Wright didn’t play on offense on Sunday.
• Also brought up from the practice squad over the last two weeks were Tra Carson, P.J. Dawson and Trevor Roach, they were active but did not play other than on special teams, and Carson didn’t even play on special teams. Jake Kumerow was also added to the roster from the practice squad, but was made inactive for the game.
• Fullback Ryan Hewitt played his second highest snap total of the season. Interestingly, it was one of the best days for the Bengals’ running game all season. Coincidence? I don’t think so.
• In what could be Domata Peko’s final game with the Bengals, he played 27 snaps and registered 1 tackle. Pat Sims actually out-snapped him with 33 plays and had a half sack in the process. Peko failed to record a sack all season.
• Margus Hunt and Will Clarke played an even snap count, neither recorded a statistic on Sunday in the 27 snaps each played. I see no reason for Hunt to return to the team once he hits free agency in March.
• With Vontaze Burfict out, Karlos Dansby played 88% of defensive snaps. Rookie Nick Vigil also benefited with 37 snaps played, by far the most he’s played all season. He did a great job and had 6 tackles, 4 of which were solo tackles. He also broke up a fourth down pass, which highlighted his day.
• Rey Maualuga played only nine snaps and it seems his days in Cincinnati are numbered.
• Derron Smith got in at safety for 11 snaps toward the end of the game.