The Cincinnati Bengals got a big win over the Buffalo Bills on primetime, with the snap counts revealing some pretty big takeaways in the process.
Chief among those is a bigger showing for first-round rookie Myles Murphy, so here’s a look at the takeaways:
- First-round rookie Myles Murphy played 10 snaps, or 17 percent of the total. Doesn’t sound like much, but it’s notable because it checks in as six more chances than Joseph Ossai got, which speaks to the trust he’s earning from coaches. He even got deployed in key moments, taking snaps on first and second downs while Trey Hendrickson came in as a pass-rush specialist on third down. It’s very notable that he’s coming along after he entered the season a question mark to even be active on game days and that could keep Hendrickson much fresher going into a possible playoff push.
- Hendrickson still ended up playing 84 percent of the snaps while Cam Sample also remains a key part of the rotation and subpackages at 36 percent.
- Chidobe Awuzie appears to be coming along nicely from his back injury and played 60 percent.
- On offense, Ja’Marr Chase played 90 percent despite the back injury that has his status for next week in question.
- Joe Mixon continues to dominate the backfield at 73 percent this time, which is a concern for keeping him fresh all season. Trayveon Williams took 13 snaps, Chris Evans five.
- Three tight ends played 23 percent or more snaps, with Tanner Hudson having a huge breakout and Irv Smith and Drew Sample scoring touchdowns.
The full chart:
