Bengals vs. 49ers snap count takeaways: O-line depth put to the test

Well, the snap count takeaways will certainly have a different tone this week. We were excited to see some new developments last week with a new head coach starting out in Zac Taylor. It also came during a game where the Bengals *almost* won.

This week was rough, and that is putting it nicely. We can still try to gleam some information from the Bengals’ second game in the Taylor era.

Bengals’ snap count takeaways:

• Unlike last week where the Bengals dominated the number of snaps, they faced a team that could actually stay on the field and keep up with them in the 49ers. To be fair, it wasn’t as bad as in 2018 when the Bengals would get out snapped due to a terrible offense. The Bengals converted eight of 17 third downs, which isn’t great. That does tell you how bad 2018 was though. The Bengals defense only forced the 49ers into nine third downs, and they converted five of those. Ultimately it was a pretty even split as the Bengals offense ran 70 plays and the 49ers ran 72. Cincinnati just had issues with penalties and having drives last long enough to earn points.
• The first issue we encounter was the commitment to linebackers Preston Brown (62) and Nick Vigil (71). They weren’t necessarily the biggest problems on Cincinnati’s defense, but their lack of athleticism while the 49ers were running constant misdirection didn’t help. Last week we saw rookie Germaine Pratt get a drive, and we should’ve seen him in the game at least by the time San Francisco was way out in front. For whatever reason, Pratt didn’t see any snaps on defense.
• Joe Mixon was active after suffering an ankle injury last week. It would’ve been a reasonable to think he would be limited in snaps coming into the game. He had 38 snaps while Giovani Bernard had 28 snaps. Neither player was able to get going, but you could say that about most of the offense.
• We saw some players get pulled which gave opportunities to some younger guys or people lower on the depth chart. We saw Drew Sample (19), the Bengals’ second round pick from this past draft, get his first reception and extended action when things got out of hand. That means we saw a dip in Tyler Eifert’s (19) snaps. It was still C.J. Uzomah who dominated tight end snaps with 42. Cincinnati is clearly picking and choosing the times to play Eifert while Uzomah seems like their true No. 1 tight end.
• Left tackle Andre Smith got benched/injured(?) which resulted in John Jerry playing most of the game at left tackle. Smith only played 33 snaps while Jerry had the rest of the 47 plays. This just shows how much Cincinnati needs a healthy Cordy Glenn with them having to play Jerry at left tackle. We also saw Billy Price (15) come in and play left guard after rookie Michael Jordan (55) went down with an injury.
• It was interesting to see more of Alex Erickson (15) this week. Although his snap counts didn’t go up by that much. It just seemed like Dalton was looking for him more. It was actually Auden Tate (25) who saw the biggest increase in snaps after being inactive last week. Rookie Damion Willis (45) fell the most after playing almost every snap in Week 1. Overall, John Ross III (60) and Tyler Boyd (55) dominated the snaps.
• Jessie Bates III, Shawn Williams, William Jackson and Dre Kirkpatrick played the whole game. What was interesting, as far as snap counts go, was when B.W. Webb (32) left with an injury, we saw a mix of Brandon Wilson (8), Tony McRae (5) and Darius Phillips (2) take his place. If Webb has to miss next week we will have to watch to see if he is replaced by a committee, or if they find a guy during practice. Also it was weird not to see Clayton Fejedelem receive any defensive snaps in three-safety sets.