Bengals Week 3 Snap Count Takeaways: Tee Higgins handles heavy workload in season debut

New faces, minimal impact along the defensive line 

What truly did the Bengals in Monday night was their front four. Outside of a handful of wins from Trey Hendrickson (38) late in the evening, the Bengals got absolutely nothing from their pass rush in a historically awful night for the defense . Sam Hubbard spent the night about 20 feet away from Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels, and even Hendrickson was non-existent for most of the game.

Zach Carter (41) and Jay Tufele (35) both started once again and were supplemented by rookie Kris Jenkins Jr. (20) and Lawrence Guy Sr. (18), each of whom made their Bengals debuts. While their efforts did show up at times against the run, their inability to put pressure on Daniels and contain him inside the pocket led to the rookie quarterback dicing up the defense. Daniels only threw two incompletions and averaged 11 yards per attempt. 

Tee time all the time

If there was any doubt about how much wide receiver Tee Higgins (56) would play in his first game back from a hamstring injury, those were erased as he was only off the field for six snaps. Quarterback Joe Burrow made sure to get him involved in a great night for the offense by targeting him six times. Higgins hauled in three receptions for 39 yards in his debut.

Higgins' return had obvious implications for the rest of the receiving corps. Trenton Irwin was a healthy scratch, and Jermaine Burton (3) and Charlie Jones (2) hardly saw the field. Irwin's inactive status paved the way for Andrei Iosivas (48) to be the clear-cut third receiver of the group. He caught five of his seven targets for 52 yards and a touchdown.

The Bengals will want to keep with their starting trio of Higgins, Iosivas, and Ja'Marr Chase (61) going forward, with the slight exception of getting Burton out on the field a little more often. 

Rookie debuts

The Bengals' other loss of the night happened on the offensive line when Trent Brown (24) went down with a knee injury in the second quarter. Brown was carted off the field and replaced by first-round pick Amarius Mims (39), whom was active for the first time this year. Mims had 27 pass-blocking reps and allowed two pressures and a sack off the bench. 

On top of Mims and Jenkins' aforementioned first games, it was also the first appearance for sixth-round pick Cedric Johnson at edge defender. Johnson played 10 snaps and recorded two tackles.