Bengals snap count takeaways: Cincinnati’s offense asserted control over Oakland

The Bengals snapped a five-game losing streak on Sunday when they defeated the Raiders, 30-16.

Winning without A.J. Green and Andy Dalton in the lineup has never been easy for Cincinnati, and they didn’t even have Tyler Boyd for most of the game as well, but the defense stepped up despite getting hit with a few injuries, and the offense finally has found an identity.

Here are the snap count takeaways for Week 15:

• It is always nice to get to start on a positive note. The Bengals offense (80) ran 21 more plays than the Raiders (59) on Sunday, and if you are new to snap count takeaways, that is basically flipping the script from what a normal game has looked like for the Bengals this season. The Bengals weren’t exactly spectacular on offense on the day. They converted eight of their 19 third-down conversion. If you throw in two fourth-down conversions it helps a little. However, the Bengals defense is really the unsung hero here, as they only allowed the Raiders to convert three of their 14 third downs on the day. On a day where neither team got to over 300 yards, getting all those stops was a pretty big key to victory.
• Joe Mixon was obviously the main offensive force on the day. He only played 52 snaps though as the team still refuses to play him during the two-minute drill. He ended up with 129 rushing yards on 27 carries, but he only managed one yard on two catches. His lack of receiving production is something offensive coordinator Bill Lazor has failed to fix all season, as he is too talented of a receiver to only get two catches on failed screen plays.
• Tyler Boyd (39) was another bright spot, but his day was over after he took a helmet to the knee while blocking on a running play. I would say how disappointing it is that we didn’t see John Ross (73), Cody Core (51) or Alex Erickson (36) contribute in his absence, but Jeff Driskel was having a terrible time with his accuracy all day. Regardless, having Erickson run a seam route and expecting Driskel to drop it in his hands perfectly probably isn’t the right play call. If only the offense had a big bodied receiver like Auden Tate who could high-point those errant throws in traffic. Unfortunately, Tate was far too busy getting nine special teams snaps to even get a single offensive snap.
• The linebackers got depleted again. Jordan Evans started out the game as the nickel linebacker next to Nick Vigil (59), but he only lasted 10 plays before going down with an ankle injury. That forced Vincent Rey (17) into action, but he also left the game for an extended period of time before finally returning. That didn’t leave the Bengals with many options, but they ended up choosing the one they know. Hardy Nickerson (45) ended up playing most of the game, while Malik Jefferson only played one snap behind him. With only two games remaining on the schedule, we’re getting dangerously close to entering 2019 with Jefferson as a complete unknown as he’s played a grand total of 11 snaps on the year.
• The tight ends played a major role on Sunday, especially after Boyd went down and the team refusing to play Tate. C.J. Uzomah (69) and Matt Lengel (40) got plenty of playing time. They only ended up with one catch for 27 yards between them, but the pass catchers shouldn’t get too much flak with how bad Driskel struggled.
• The offensive line went back to its original starting lineup with Cordy Glenn returning from a back injury. Glenn, Clint Boling, Billy Price, Alex Redmond and Bobby Hart each played all 80 snaps. For how bullish offensive line coach Frank Pollack has been about guys like Price and Redmond, the unit hasn’t been too bad, but it was fairly obvious that we saw some of their best offensive linemen when some starters were hurt. Those replacements can’t seem to get off the bench though, which is beyond frustrating at this point. It’s fair to give him a pass for keeping Price at center rather than moving him to guard to see if he can play through his issues before making a change with him, but even with Pollack here, this coaching staff doesn’t operate like that.