Cincinnati Bengals Snap Count Analysis: DJ Turner II Outplays Cam Taylor-Britt in Win Over Carolina Panthers

The Bengals beat the Panthers 34-24 on Sunday afternoon.

Sep 29, 2024; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Panthers wide receiver Xavier Legette (17) catches ball as Cincinnati Bengals cornerback DJ Turner II (20) attempts a tackle in the second quarter at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images / Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

CINCINNATI – The Cincinnati Bengals defensive line took another hit in Sunday’s 34-24 victory at Carolina when edge rusher Trey Hendrickson left the game with 8:34 remaining with what the team is calling a stinger.

Even before the Hendrickson injury, which resulted from a collision with teammate Sam Hubbard, the Bengals were employing a heavy rotation on the defensive line.

Eight defensive linemen played at least 32 percent of the snaps.

But the most interesting – and unusual – rotation came at cornerback, where DJ Turner II logged more snaps than struggling starter Cam Taylor-Britt.

Let’s take a look at all the snap counts (on plays not negated by penalties) and what they tell us:

OFFENSE

Running Back

Head coach Zac Taylor and offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher have been talking about creating a more even split between Zack Moss and Chase Brown, and Sunday they made it happen.

Moss played 36 of 62 snaps (58 percent), while Brown had 26 (42 percent).

Both players had 15 carries, while Moss had four catches on four targets and Brown grabbed two passes on three targets.

Expect the workload split to look more like Sunday moving forward, especially with Brown leading the NFL in yards per rushing attempt among running backs with at least 22 carries (5.5 per game).

Wide Receiver

Andrei Iosivas out-snapped Tee Higgins 46 to 39 despite Higgins catching six passes in the first two quarters, one shy of his first-half career high.

Higgins only played half the snaps in the second half (19-of-37), and there are a couple of reasons that could be the case.

First, the Bengals had a two-score lead for most of the second half. Second, because of that lead, they leaned more into the running game in the fourth quarter to chew clock. And third, added rest is never a bad idea when a player of Higgins’ caliber is only six days removed from returning from a hamstring injury.

Ja’Marr Chase led the receivers with 49 snaps (79 percent), while Jermaine Burton had four and Charlie Jones had three.

Tight ends

For the first time this year, rookie Erick All led the group in snaps with 38 (61 percent).

He also caught four passes for the third consecutive game to give him 12 receptions on 12 targets for the season.

Drew Sample was right behind All with 36 snaps (58 percent), while Mike Gesicki logged just 20 (32 percent).

Personnel Groupings

11 (one running back, one tight end): 30 plays

12 (one running back, two tight ends): 19 plays

Jumbo (extra offensive lineman): 13 plays

The Bengals used Cody Ford as an extra offensive lineman on 13 plays, nine of which came in the fourth quarter when the team leaned heavily into the run game to shrink the clock as the group played its best overall game of the season.

The 30 snaps in 11 personnel marked just the fifth time in the Taylor era the Bengals have been under 50 percent, and just the second time since his first season in 2019.

DEFENSE

Defensive Line

For a guy battling through a hamstring injury that has limited his production, Hubbard gave a gutsy performance Sunday, leading the defensive line with 55 of a possible 69 snaps (79 percent).

Ten of Hubbard’s snaps came at defensive tackle, the most he’s had on the interior since Week 3, 2020, when the Bengals played a full overtime period in a 23-23 tie against the Eagles.

Each of the other defensive linemen played at least 32 percent of the snaps.

• Joseph Ossai, 39

• Zach Carter, 38

• Trey Hendrickson, 35

• Lawrence Guy, 30

• Jay Tufele, 29

• Cedric Johnson, 23

• Kris Jenkins, 22

Linebackers

Logan Wilson played all 69 snaps, while Germaine Pratt had 64 (93 percent).

Akeem Davis-Gaither had two snaps, and Joe Bachie one.

Cornerback

One of the biggest topics heading into next week’s divisional game against the Baltimore Ravens will be what is going on at cornerback after Cam Taylor-Britt struggled badly and was replaced DJ Turner II.

It’s hard to call it a benching because it turned into a rotation, but Turner out-snapped Taylor-Britt 51 to 35.

With 69 defensive snaps, that’s barely 50 percent for Taylor-Britt.

From the second quarter on, Turner played 43 of 50 snaps (86 percent), while Taylor-Britt had just 19 (38 percent).

Turner and Taylor-Britt were on the field for six snaps together while starter Dax Hill took a break.

Safety

Vonn Bell and Geno Stone played all 69 snaps, which is standard.

The most notable part of this group was Tycen Anderson played one snap, marking the first defensive play three years after the Bengals drafted him in the fifth round in 2022.

Rookie seventh-round pick Daijahn Anthony also logged a single snap to go along with his huge play on special teams when he broke up a pass on what would have a tide-turning fake punt by the Panthers.

Personnel Groupings

Nickel (five defensive backs): 57 plays

Dime (six defensive backs): 5 plays

Quarter (seven defensive backs): 1 play

Short yardage: 5 plays

4-3: 2 plays

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