Bengals RB Chase Brown led teammate Zack Moss in basically every category in Sunday night's win over the Giants. He played more snaps (33-24), got more carries (10-6), ran more routes (20-14), drew more targets (3-1), and beat Moss in yards per touch (5.3 to 2.1). The RBs also appeared to get different treatment after their second-half fumbles.
Before Moss lost a fumble in the third quarter, he held a 6-5 edge over Brown in carries -- and neither had been able to collect much yardage. Moss took his 6 carries for just 13 yards. Brown had 13 yards on 5 attempts to that point.
But Moss didn't touch the ball again after that fumble. Brown handled the team's final 5 RB rushes, plus a 1-yard TD in the third quarter that got wiped out by a holding call.
Brown's fourth-quarter production relied heavily on a 30-yard TD scamper on Cincinnati's final play that wasn't a kneel down. That run immediately followed a play on which Brown fumbled out of bounds.
The long TD run accounted for 56.6% of Brown's 53 rushing yards for the game. But that breakaway speed is arguably the biggest edge he has over Moss in their fight for playing time.
Moss' fumble was his first of the season -- as was Brown's. That seems to make the late-game Moss treatment more curious.
Both players entered the game with injury questions. But Brown (quad) was actually questionable, whereas Moss carried no game designation.
We'll need more than just this game to determine whether their roles have changed. but Brown had already been the more productive player in recent weeks and at least looks like the better starting option between them for a Week 7 visit to Cleveland.
Assuming the Cincinnati offense rebounds from a bad night overall against the Giants, there remains room for both RBs to deliver startable fantasy numbers.
The matchup with a hapless Browns team should make Brown and Moss both usable in fantasy lineups.
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