Bengals had young players step into bigger roles against Steelers

The Cincinnati Bengals defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers in Pittsburgh for the first time since the 2015 season. It seems that these Bengals are finally finding their groove. The newcomers combined with the young draft picks are finding their roles and are coming together. There are still plenty of things we can see from the snap counts, though.

Snap count takeaways from Bengals thrashing Steelers:

• Pittsburgh nearly ran twice the offensive plays as Cincinnati on Sunday to the tune of 83 offensive plays to 47. Most of that had to do with the Steelers’ late drives that were long and drawn out, but only ended up yielding three total points. Meanwhile, the Bengals seemed to score quickly or not at all. They only had 12 first downs on the day compared to the Steelers 21. Still, points are what get counted at the end of the day, and Logan Wilson’s two interceptions set up a couple of easy scores for the offense.
• Tee Higgins was inactive with a shoulder injury this week, so we got to see plenty of the depth behind the top three wide receivers. Of course, Tyler Boyd (37) and Ja’Marr Chase (39) led the group. However, Auden Tate (27) outpaced Mike Thomas (10) while Trent Irwin (6) who was activated for the first time this season played more than Stanley Morgan (3). The downside is that group only combined for two catches for 33 yards.
• The running back position saw saw mixing up with Mixon (35) still receiving plenty of snaps Samaje Perine (10) and Chis Evans (5). Neither backup did much on the ground averaging under two yards per carry. However, Evans did have a couple of nice receptions, one of which was a crucial third down conversion. He finished behind Boyd and Chase in receiving as well. It will be interesting to see if he gets more work going forward.
• One interesting note from the snaps is Mike Hilton played two offensive plays, which didn’t amount to anything. However, clearly Cincinnati had something planned for Hilton’s return to Pittsburgh.
• Speaking of cornerbacks, Chidobe Awuzie (41) left the game with an injury which opened the door for Darius Phillips (42) to actually get some play this season. Eli Apple (83) has been starting in place of Trae Waynes, so we haven’t seen much of Phillips. His name wasn’t mentioned much during the game. Take that as you will as he wasn’t tested too much.
• Akeem Davis-Gaither (45) saw a jump in playing time as he played more than Germaine Pratt (36). Most of that could have been because the Steelers were playing from behind changed the game script to allow that. Wilson also led the group again with 67 plays.
• Rookie Jackson Carman had his first start and played pretty well. He had a penalty and an apparent miscommunication early in the game on a blitz. However, he didn’t have a recorded pressure allowed. He also had quite a few nice run blocks. He still looked green on a few plays, but it is encouraging to see him playing at all.

What was your biggest takeaway from this week's snaps?