Snap count takeaways from Bengals’ overtime thriller in Miami

The Bengals and Dolphins had a wild finish to a game most people wrote off as an unwatchable affair earlier this year. After scoring 16 points in the final 29 seconds, the Bengals forced overtime, which obviously changes things for snap counts considering they played an extra quarter.

Cincinnati still made some changes this week, which were either planned or due to injury that should help them evaluate some guys going into the offseason.

Here are the snap count takeaways from the Bengals loss to the Dolphins:

• Ironically, both teams ran 90 offensive snaps on the day. It was really a story of two halves as the Dolphins jumped out to a huge lead in the first half. The Bengals also managed to put together 16 points in under a minute due to an onside kick recovery. Both teams put together a surge of offense, but they just came at different points in the game.
• One big change on Sunday was Cincinnati giving Fred Johnson (62) time at left tackle to see what they have in him. This sort of gives us an indication of what many may have already assumed, that Cordy Glenn (28) most likely won’t be returning this upcoming offseason. How did Johnson look? He was solid. It was his first time playing for an extended period of time. He had a few penalties, and there was some rough sledding in the running game, but it is hard to pin that solely on Johnson. He should be a candidate to at least bring onto Cincinnati’s 90-man roster this offseason to compete for a spot.
• One player we have to talk about is Darius Phillips (27). He eventually came in for the injured William Jackson III (40), and he looked like he picked up where he left off early in the season. On a day where it looked like no one had any interest in covering any Miami receiver, Phillips had the sole interception, and in overtime he made several plays that either broke up passes or were split seconds away from being another possible turnover. Considering he looks like he is on the cusp of turning a corner with such little playing time, he has to be someone who starts next week. He is playing less than Darqueze Dennard (80), B.W. Webb (88) and Greg Mabin (5) even took some snaps before they left Phillips get a shot in the game. Whether they were holding him back due to health concerns or feeling they had better guys, Phillips has proved he deserves a shot to prove what he can do with a full workload.
• Joe Mixon showed up on the injury report this week with a calf injury, and we all didn’t think much of it, especially after he was a full go at practice the following days. On Sunday, though, he only ended up playing 39 snaps. Zac Taylor mentioned after the game that Mixon wasn’t completely healthy and alluded to the running back being sick. In his place, Giovani Bernard (51) took every other running back snap. It would’ve been nice to see Trayveon Williams for a drive or two in this instance, but that appears to be wishful thinking at this point.
• Geno Atkins (72) and Andrew Billings (72) seemed to be on a very specific rotation with Josh Tupou (47) on Sunday. Freedom Akinmoladun was also active on the day, but he only played two snaps. It Seems Renell Wren’s injury really has shortened up the defensive tackle rotation to a point where Atkins and company is probably playing more than coaches would like. The team may have to spend a late-round pick on a defensive tackle they can stash on the practice squad to avoid a similar situation next season, or they could play Sam Hubbard (74) a few more snaps at defensive tackle, and allow Carl Lawson (51) and Carlos Dunlap (67) a chance to absorb those extra snaps.
• Billy Price (81) started at right guard for the Bengals, and he had a pretty rough start to the day. It was so rough that John Jerry even came in and replaced him for nine snaps. After that though Price seemed to settle down a bit. He wasn’t spectacular by any means, but he wasn’t having the mental errors we saw at the beginning of the game. He is a player who we may see again in the final week of the season as it appears his spot on the roster isn’t a certainty going into next season.