NFL Week 8: Bengals’ snap count distribution vs Colts shows changes were made

The Cincinnati Bengals managed to steal a win on Sunday. They defeated the Indianapolis Colts 24-23 mostly due to a late pick-six by Carlos Dunlap.

It may have been one of the very few highlights on a day where the Bengals seemed to look their worst. They allowed the Colts to lead most of the game. The Bengals took the lead in the third before they handed it right back to the Colts on the following drive.

The snap counts tell us the Bengals tried to do a few new things, but the execution simply wasn’t there for most of the game.

Snap count takeaways:

• Joe Mixon (35) got the playing time this week. He played a majority of snaps compared to Giovani Bernard (14) and Jeremy Hill (7). Mixon didn’t do much on the ground. He carried the ball 11 times for 18 yards, but he caught three passes for 91 yards. It’d be nice if the Bengals stuck with the run long enough to wear a defense down, but as long as they are getting Mixon in open space I can’t complain too much.
• John Ross (6) was active but not used. We thought this would be the week Ross would finally see some playing time, but the team inexplicably didn’t play the rookie who practiced all week. Meanwhile, fellow rookie Josh Malone (19) caught his first NFL reception and touchdown against the Colts. Alex Erickson (13) even played more than Ross. Ross got one target from Andy Dalton.
• Andre Smith (24) was clearly the low man on the tackle rotation this week. Cedric Ogbuehi (48) and Jake Fisher (49) both played a vast majority of the snaps. The offensive line continued to struggle though, but the blame doesn’t entirely go to the tackles.
• The Bengals went back to more of their nickel package on defense against the Colts. Nick Vigil (74) and Vontaze Burfict (74) both played every defensive snap. Vincent Rey (20), who is filling in for the injured Kevin Minter, played sparingly and left with a stinger, but he was able to return. No other linebacker received a defensive snap. One should question whether the rookie linebacker Jordan Evans should get some snaps while Minter is out. Evans was very impressive during the preseason, and Rey hasn’t been playing well at all.

• Michael Johnson (24) exiting the game with a back injury opened the door for Chris Smith (34) to fill his role. He even kicked inside to defensive tackle during passing situations. Jordan Willis (20) seemed to stay in his role as a relief pass rusher, which really shows how the Bengals view the two players on their depth chart.
• Despite Adam Jones (44) starting, William Jackson (41) ended up playing quite a bit. It seems the team was rotating the two players more than before Jones got injured against the Bills in Week 5. Dre Kirkpatrick (62) also left with an injury, but he returned soon after. Darqueze Dennard (54) also played extensively, but at one point the Bengals had Jackson in the slot in place of Dennard.
• George Iloka (42) only played a little over half of the defensive snaps. Josh Shaw (32) seemed to be his backup, and Shawn Williams (74) played every single defensive snap. Something seems to be up with Iloka. Last week he played about 70 percent of the snaps, and this week he dropped back even more. It probably isn’t anything serious, but it is worth monitoring.