Bengals’ snap count distribution vs Broncos shows changes needed on offense

The Cincinnati Bengals have kept the hope of their season alive with a victory against the Denver Broncos. Those hopes may be on life support, but they’re still kicking.

Sunday’s game was weird because it is really getting frustrating seeing offensive players not get opportunities over players who aren’t performing.

On the defensive side they have slowly incorporated these younger players, and the defense has been way better because of it. The youth on that side of the ball has really rejuvenated a unit that was starting to roll downhill.

On offense, however, we are still seeing the same players out there not performing, but changes just aren’t being made.

Snap count takeaways:

• Leg cramps seemed to have a huge effect on this game late for the Bengals defense. Especially because they played 81 total snaps. Vontaze Burfict (76) had to leave the game several times, but he still ended up playing most of the snaps. Even Nick Vigil (78) who hasn’t missed a snap in a long time had to run off the field at one point. The Only defensive player to play all 81 snaps was Darqueze Dennard, who had to start on the outside with Adam Jones and William Jackson both out this game.
• The entire offensive line again played all of the available snaps (55). TJ Johnson even came in for three plays, which means they ran some six linemen formations. This was probably due to Tyler Kroft missing a few plays, but it is still interesting they tried it. It may be something they want to consider going forward to get the run game going.
• Joe Mixon (35) is still getting about the two thirds advantage to Giovani Bernard (20) in the backfield. Although neither was really effective against the Broncos defensive front seven. Mixon ran the ball 20 times for 49 yards, and he got stuffed on two goal line attempts early in the game. Bernard ran for negative four yards on the day. If the Bengals really want to expand on this second life to their season, the running game needs to get going.
• John Ross was a healthy scratch in Week 11. The receiver has been practicing every week after the loss to the Steelers, but because he made a mistake on one play last and Tyler Boyd (22) is now healthy the Bengals saw no reason to activate first round pick from this season that they spent the ninth overall pick on. All wide receivers not named A.J. Green combined for six catches on the day in case you were curious.
• Alex Erickson (10) needs to get more offensive snaps. He is out performing players like Boyd and Josh Malone (18) with far less snaps. He clearly has a connection with Andy Dalton as the two connected for the receiver’s first NFL touchdown this week on a pretty pass. The guy just makes plays. I know because of special teams he can’t play a huge amount of snaps, but it is clear he’s been super productive so far this season in his very limited role.
• Andrew Billings (42) showed up again. The team waived Pat Sims this week, which has opened up the spot for Billings to be the main guy beside Geno Atkins (53). Ryan Glasgow (32) is also getting more involved. It seems like we are witnessing the birth of a new era in the middle of the defensive line.
• Chris Smith (40) saw the most playing time he’s seen all season. He was super productive last week against the Titans, and it seems the team is rewarding him. He was rotated in at defensive end and defensive tackle most of the game.
• Carl Lawson (31) had a more limited role this week as the Bengals didn’t force the Broncos into too many obvious passing downs. Jordan Willis (18) also seemed to lose snaps to Smith this week.
• Jordan Evans (10) got into the game for a little while. He had a nice tackle for a loss. The Bengals’ linebackers seemed to be dropping like flies on Sunday, so it opened up a few spots for Evans to get some run. Hopefully the team allows him to expand on his performance.
• The Bengals’ corner depth was tested this game. Josh Shaw was given plenty of opportunity to make up for his poor performance last week by playing 65 of the 81 snaps. KeiVarae Russell (7) also got into the game for a little while.