This week’s snap count takeaways will focus on the defense, as that is where most of the interesting developments are taking place.
Before we dive too deep into snap counts, it is notable to mention that while the offense couldn’t seem to find the end zone, they did control the ball. The time of possession, and as a result, they took significantly more snaps than their defensive counterparts.
For example, the Bengals’ defense had four players who took every snap (Dax Hill, Geno Stone, Jordan Battle, and Barrett Carter). That was 41 snaps for each of them. The offense had one player who took exactly 41 snaps, Drew Sample. This was only 54% of the offense’s 76 snaps. Ten players took more offensive snaps than he did. In fact, he wasn’t even the top tight end.
So, keep that in mind when I tell you that Myles Murphy took all but three snaps defensively. That made for 38 snaps (93%). He has been one of the few bright spots in recent weeks, and at this point, he is a guy who needs to be on the field as much as humanly possible for this team to succeed. Joseph Ossai took only 26 snaps, by comparison, leaving 10 for Cedric Johnson and 9 for Cam Sample.
On the interior of the defensive line, another young player is leading the way. Kris Jenkins took 27 snaps while veterans B.J. Hill and T.J. Slaton took 25 and 24, respectively. McKinley Jackson rounded the group out with 13.
Demetrius Knight has been seeing a lot of action on the edge in the team’s odd fronts. This has led to increased usage for Oren Burks at linebacker. This week, he saw 24 snaps.
The Bengals’ defense is starting to take shape. It is flawed and damaged, but they are fighting.