ensive snaps anyway.The defensive line saw their first look including Adolphus Washington (17) at defensive tackle. The Bengals

CINCINNATI (AP) — Still winless as September winds down.The Bengals are off to another one of their season-scuttling starts Hardy Nickerson Jersey , this time under a new coach.They were pushed around in the first half, pulled off a big rally for a late lead, then frittered it away in the closing minutes for a 21-17 loss in Buffalo .Zac Taylor is 0-3 in his first year as head coach, matching Marvin Lewis’ start when he was hired in 2003. The Bengals have never reached the playoffs after opening a season 0-3.As September fades, it’s already circle-the-wagons time. Taylor admonished his team so loudly after the game that his voice carried outside the locker room. He told his players that the “wolves” were coming — fans and media ready to write the team off — and a big game is up next, one that could change their trajectory.“Thank God we play 16 games and not three because it would be a long year, but we have 13 more to go and we’re going to be headed in the right direction and everyone in that locker room believes it and there’s no doubt about it,” Taylor said.Through the first three games, they’ve lurched from self-destruction to stretches of impressive performance, but they’ve been unable to do things right long enough to get a win Deshaun Davis Jersey Womens , especially at the end of games.“You see the potential,” safety Jessie Bates III said.For now, everyone sees the record.WHAT’S WORKINGThe defense was flattened during a 41-17 loss to San Francisco at Paul Brown Stadium. It was much better a week later, getting a fumble and an interception that gave Cincinnati a chance for its late rally to a 17-14 lead. The defense hung in there despite being on the field for 23 minutes in the first half because the offense managed only one first down.“We put them in a bind and fortunately they held up long enough for us to stick in that game,” Taylor said.The worn-down defense gave up a 78-yard touchdown drive in the closing minutes as Buffalo pulled it out.WHAT NEEDS HELPPenalties were a huge issue again. They were penalized seven times in the first half as the Bills pulled ahead 14-0. A penalty for too many men on the field put the Bills in position to go for a 2-point conversion. A holding penalty wiped out a touchdown on a kickoff return. The offense has put itself in poor down-and-distance situations in all three games.STOCK UPFour days after promising that he was going to re-emerge, running back Joe Mixon was a key part of the offense. He came into the game averaging only 1.6 yards per carry. In Buffalo, he ran for 61 yards, averaging 4.1 per carry, and caught two passes for 34 yards and a touchdown — not a great game, but a move in the right direction.STOCK DOWNReceiver John Ross III topped 100 yards receiving in each of the two first games. In Buffalo Deshaun Davis Cincinnati Bengals Jersey , he dropped a pass and fumbled in the first half. Ross was targeted six times and finished with two catches for 22 yards.INJUREDTaylor said receiver A.J. Green isn’t ready to return to practice and won’t play in Pittsburgh. Green is recovering from an ankle injury suffered the first practice of training camp. He’s expected back sometime in the season’s first half.KEY NUMBER0 — The number of times the Bengals have made the playoffs or even managed a winning record after starting 0-3. It’s the 15th time in the Bengals’ 52 seasons that they’ve dropped their first three games.“Playoffs are so far down the road that we just need to win a game, and it starts this week with our best foot forward and going to get one,” Taylor said.NEXT STEPSThe next step is a doozy. The Bengals play the team that has dominated them, on the stage where they’ve been at their worst. They and the Steelers are 0-6 combined heading into their Monday night game at Heinz Field. The Bengals have lost eight straight and 11 of 12 against their AFC North rival, with the only win coming at Heinz Field in 2015. The Bengals are 6-15 in prime-time games since 2011, when Andy Dalton was a rookie, including 2-5 on Monday night.Bengals snap count takeaways vs. Dolphins: Vontaze Burfict shakes up linebacker rotation The Bengals pulled off a 27-17 win on Sunday against the Dolphins. The team put up 27 unanswered points in the second half — 24 coming in the fourth quarter alone — and 14 of those points came off defensive touchdowns by the defensive line. In the midst of their fourth-quarter comeback, there wereseveral things that the snap counts told us from this week. How did Vontaze Burfict’s return impact the linebackers’ snaps? Which tight end saw the most snaps now that Tyler Eifert is done for the season? How did the rotation of the defensive line look after the unit saw a dominant outing?Here are the snap count takeaways:The Bengals were barely out snapped by the Dolphins. Cincinnati saw 60 offensive snaps while Miami had 64. Neither team was good on third down as the Bengals only converted two of 11 and the Dolphins weren’t much better only converting four of 13. The things that skew the numbers were the Bengals two defensive touchdowns that obviously are great for the team, but it makes the total number of offensive plays sort of a nonissue this week.Tyler Eifert was put on injured reserve, and he left some big shoes to fill. The team even had Mason Schreck activated and played 12 offensive snaps on the day. It was C.J. Uzomah Deshaun Davis Jersey 2019 , however, who saw 55 snaps, which was almost every offensive play for the Bengals. He had two catches, both of which went for first downs and 43 yards overall. It wasn’t the greatest stat line, but if anyone is expecting him to put up Eifert numbers, then they are dreaming. Tyler Kroft also got 24 snaps, so he he is established as the second tight end on the depth chart.Vontaze Burfict made his season debut while playing 34 snaps. It seems like the team wanted to ease him in, but it could be that the Bengals are trying to find a way to get the most out of their linebacking trio. Nick Vigil, who has been playing almost every defensive snap when healthy the past two seasons, only played 46 snaps. That still led the unit Deshaun Davis Jersey Mens , but Preston Brown also saw 42 snaps himself. In the modern NFL, it is hard to have three linebackers out there because offenses use so many three wide receiver sets, but the Bengals seem to be trying to make it work.Also with Burfict’s return, Jordan Evans (11) and Hardy Nickerson Jr. (8) both saw their snaps drop dramatically. Malik Jefferson also was inactive for the second time this season, but he has yet to take any defensive snaps anyway.The defensive line saw their first look including Adolphus Washington (17) at defensive tackle. The Bengals acquired him last week, and this was his first time actually being active. This actually impacted Sam Hubbard (28) the most actually. Last week he led all players not named Geno Atkins (41) and Carlos Dunlap (50) on the defensive line in snaps. Of course, Hubbard still left his signature on the game with his defensive touchdown to help seal the game. Carl Lawson and Jordan Willis each played 31 snaps as well, and Andrew Billings had 36. Billings was actually one of the main players pressuring Ryan Tannehill when he forced the pass that ended up in Michael Johnson’s (22) hands for a touchdown.John Ross was out this week with a hamstring injury, and it seem Alex Erickson is the next up on the depth chart as he played 36 snaps. Josh Malone was next up with 10 snaps and Cody Core with eight. Erickson was the only one to do anything with his time as he caught three passes for 24 yards.Bengals vs Dolphins snap counts#NAMEPOS.SnapsPercentage of snaps#NAMEPOS.SnapsPercentage of snaps