Evaluating Cardinals Week 5 Snap Counts

The Arizona Cardinals weren't able to get the win against the Cincinnati Bengals - perhaps the snap counts tell the story.

ARIZONA -- The Arizona Cardinals are now 1-4 after five weeks of football, though they've been in each game they've played, a testament to the coaching job by Jonathan Gannon and the rest of his staff after many believed Arizona wouldn't sniff the levels they've played at.

The Cardinals are 4-1 on the moral scoreboard, though the team isn't worried about anything other than actual wins and losses. 

In their latest loss, the Cardinals held a lead in the first half and only trailed by one possession heading into the fourth quarter. The game was very winnable until Cincinnati kicked the doors down in its late stages.

Snap counts from Week 5 (via Pro Football Reference):

Offense 

Four of Arizona's five starting offensive linemen played every single snap, as LG Elijah Wilkinson continues to split time with Trystan Colon. The Cardinals also utilized plenty of multi-TE sets as all three players at the position played at least 33% of snaps. 

As for WR's, Marquise Brown paced the team with 91% of snaps played. The next highest were Michael Wilson (75%) and Rondale Moore (67%). Zach Pascal played ten snaps and Greg Dortch played one.

James Conner looked strong in the 12 snaps he played before heading out with a knee injury. Emari Demercado took over and played the rest of the way, scoring the first touchdown of his career. 

Defense

Three defensive players hit 100% of snaps in K'Von Wallace, Kyzir White and Marco Wilson - who was on the opposite end of the historic day Bengals WR Ja'Marr Chase had after reeling in 15 receptions - three of which were touchdowns. 

The main story of the game came down to the lack of usage of Kei'Trel Clark, as the fifth-round rookie has arguably been the team's best corner in 2023. He played just 40 (49%) of snaps and Antonio Hamilton took over as CB2 duties. 

The Cardinals typically use a lofty amount of rotation within their front seven and that continued, as ten DL/OLB were rotated on Sunday with Jonathan Ledbetter ruled out and L.J. Collier on injured reserve.