Behind the Bengals' Week 3 snap counts

CINCINNATI -- Only two Cincinnati Bengals played 100 percent of the snaps on their side of the ball in Sunday's 33-7 win.

That is a byproduct of a 26-point victory that was effectively decided in the first half.

Thanks to the lopsided win, the Bengals were able to give many of their starters a few breaks Sunday. Quarterback Andy Dalton, for example, played 87 percent of the offensive snaps. He and most of the starters left late in fourth quarter. Backup quarterback Jason Campbell entered and played eight snaps with the second-team.

It's very rare during the regular season for a team to have the luxury of resting its starters, so the Bengals were quick to take advantage.

There were no injury issues in Sunday's game that affected the way the snap counts broke down. The two injured contributors on defense who left the game late suffered injuries around the time they likely would have been replaced. After the game, coach Marvin Lewis intimated that Margus Hunt and Emmanuel Lamur would be fine to play in two weeks when the Bengals return from their bye with a Sunday night game at New England.

One regular contributor whose snap counts were considerably lower Sunday than they were last week was running back Jeremy Hill. He played 18 fewer snaps in Week 3 than in Week 2.

Cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick was one backup who received more defensive snaps than he has at any other point this season. They were mostly costly ones, too. Kirkpatrick had two personal foul penalties, one of which set up the Titans' lone touchdown. Both of Kirkpatrick's infractions came on the same drive.

Here are this week's complete snap counts with help from Pro Football Focus and the NFL's Game Statistics and Information System:

OFFENSE (62 plays)*

OG Clint Boling (62), C Russell Bodine (62), OT Andre Smith (60), OG Mike Pollak (59), OT Andrew Whitworth (54), QB Andy Dalton (54), TE Jermaine Gresham (49), WR Mohamed Sanu (48), WR A.J. Green (47), RB Giovani Bernard (40), WR Brandon Tate (33), H-back Ryan Hewitt (31), RB Jeremy Hill (15), WR Dane Sanzenbacher (14), OT Marshall Newhouse (12), TE Kevin Brock (9), WR James Wright (9), QB Jason Campbell (8), RB Cedric Peerman (8), OG T.J. Johnson (3), FB/DT Domata Peko (3), OT Tanner Hawkinson (2).

DEFENSE (71 plays)*

S George Iloka (70), CB Terence Newman (61), S Reggie Nelson (61), CB Adam Jones (59), LB Emmanuel Lamur (56), LB Vincent Rey (49), DE Carlos Dunlap (48), CB Leon Hall (46), DE Wallace Gilberry (45), Peko (43), DE Robert Geathers (42), LB Rey Maualuga (41), DT Geno Atkins (40), DE Margus Hunt (27), DT Devon Still (26), CB Darqueze Dennard (16), CB Dre Kirkpatrick (14), S Taylor Mays (10), S Shawn Williams (10), DE Will Clarke (8), LB Jayson DiManche (7), LB Marquis Flowers (2).

SPECIAL TEAMS (25 plays)**

DiManche (21), Williams (21), Flowers (19), Peerman (17), Mays (17), Kirkpatrick (16), Dennard (15), Hunt (14), Wright (13), K Mike Nugent (11), Nelson (10), LS Clark Harris (9), P Kevin Huber (9), Hewitt (9), Rey (8), Peko (8), Brock (7), Tate (7), Lamur (5), Newhouse (5), Gresham (5), Whitworth (5), Pollak (5), Smith (5), Bodine (5), Dunlap (3), Still (3), Jones (3), Newman (2), Hall (2), Maualuga (2), Clarke (2), Sanzenbacher (1), Sanu (1), Bernard (1).

*Counts come from PFF.

**Counts come from the NFL's GSIS.