Bengals vs. Ravens snap counts show one-sided affair in Cincinnati

There is no way around the fact that the Bengals season-ending loss to the Ravens was a complete mismatch. Cincinnati had strung together a couple of upsets, but Baltimore was a team set on making the postseason rather than going home.

That depressing reality aside, we can still get some information based on who played Sunday for the Bengals. There is still plenty of room for improvement for how this team approaches Sundays.

Snap count takeaways from the Bengals getting steamrolled by the Ravens:

• I have seen plenty of one sided games as far as snap counts are concerned, but this one has to be the worst one of 2020. The Ravens were able to run 74 plays to the Bengals 43. Baltimore almost played twice as much as Cincinnati on offense. The biggest contributor to this is simple, the Ravens were able to move the ball on offense, and Cincinnati was lucky if they got a first down on their drive.
• The Bengals have been pretty thin on offensive threats all season. This week they were dealt another early blow when rookie wide receiver Tee Higgins (3) went down early with a hamstring injury. It is just frustrating to see that for a team that is so desperate for any sort of offensive playmaking that Giovani Bernard (16) and Samaje Perine (19) couldn’t have seen the field more. Baltimore’s defense is obviously a different beast than Houston’s, but Bernard and Perine have shown they are two of the better offensive players on this team, so seeing them play so little is pretty frustrating. The Bengals need to find a way to get two of their running backs on the field at the same time, and the fact that has never really been part of the offensive game plan is frustrating given Bernard’s skillset. Alex Erickson played 37 of the 43 offensive plays, by the way.
• As told by how long the Bengals’ defense was on the field, this game was well out of reach fairly early. The defensive line rotation was fairly even across the board because of it. Carl Lawson (49) and Sam Hubbard (48) each led the way, but they went from playing closer to 80 percent of the snaps to roughly 65 percent. Margus Hunt (40), Xavier Williams (42) and Christian Covington (38) had a pretty even rotation going on in the middle of the defensive line. We also saw plenty of rookie defensive end Khalid Kareem (22), which is encouraging as he should become a bigger part of the rotation going forward.
• Rookie linebacker Logan Wilson unfortunately missed yet another game, but the good news is fellow rookie linebackers Akeem Davis-Gaither (54) and Markus Bailey (12) played plenty of snaps. Davis Gaither has seen his playing time spike when Cincinnati plays Baltimore each time this year because the defense deploys a 4-3 look against them. The rookie also came up with his first interception of his career on Sunday, so there is a bit of good news for you. Germaine Pratt (60) and Josh Bynes (62) dominated the snaps for linebackers again, but hopefully next season we can see more of Davis-Gaither and Wilson mixed in.
• Lou Anarumo’s job status as the team’s defensive coordinator may’ve already been determined before Sunday, but this game was unacceptable. William Jackson and Mackensie Alexander not playing had little to do with the defense allowing over 400 rushing yards. On a day where speed and effort could have been more of an issue for this defense, we also saw Shawn Williams play only five snaps in what was probably his last game in Cincinnati. Integrating him into the secondary could’ve helped out both Vonn Bell and Jessie Bates, who both struggled. Williams is a very capable player, and he could’ve been utilized more on Sunday when the Bengals really needed more talent on the field. To not really change anything seems pretty disheartening.