I’ve taken another look at the game between Kansas City and Cincinnati. Not the entire game; just the first three quarters. It was a pretty lousy game, and I didn’t want to watch the garbage-time stuff at the end. For the most part, this game was what I expected, but I did pick up some additional ideas and clarifications.

Cincinnati

They spent most of the day in three-receiver formations. I don’t think this will necessarily be the case against Seattle on Sunday. They no doubt saw Kansas City’s secondary get shredded by Aaron Rodgers the previous week and saw some stuff there they felt they could exploit. Cornerback Phillip Gaines got hurt in the Packers game, and Sean Smith was just coming off suspension.

Bengals used two receivers maybe 20 percent of the time. When they used just two, it was always A.J. Green and Marvin Jones on the field.

Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard split time. Hill played more, and while he’s had a little bit of an off year – benched after a couple of fumbles against San Diego – he played just fine in this game. He carried 9 times for 40 yards, with 3 TDs, plus a 2-point conversion. He broke some tackles. Bernard gets used as a pass catcher, while Hill does not.

Marvin Jones. He had a poor game this time, with just 1 reception for 2 yards. In the third quarter, he got behind his guy down the left sideline but dropped what would have been a 54-yard touchdown. Previously, recall, Jones caught a similar touchdown against San Diego. I think you’ll see them try to hit Jones on one of those kind of balls in most games.

Mohamed Sanu. He turned a slant pass into a 52-yard gain but otherwise had his usual kind of game. His other 3 receptions went for 32 yards. He had 15-34 yards in each of the first three games. Sanu was unsuccessfully targeted on a pass from the 5-yard line.

Tyler Eifert. He was quiet in this game but had a couple of decent catches, including a 30-yarder. He also nearly caught a 2-point conversion on a player that was nullified by a penalty. So Eifert has been involved in some kind of scoring or potential scoring play in all four games. I expect he’ll play a big role on Sunday against the Seahawks, who have had some problems with tight ends.

Andy Dalton. He’s playing well. He’s hitting on some downfield balls. More of them than any quarterback in the league, according to a graphic CBS put up during the game. In this game, he went 17 of 24 for 321 yards, with 1 TD. I expect he’ll be less busy in the game against Seattle on Sunday.

Mike Nugent. I tend to like kickers from good teams. The Bengals are definitely a good team. But Nugent is only 3 of 6 on field goals this year. He hit the upright on a 44-yarder in this game.

Kansas City

Pass protection was lousy in this game, with Smith sacked 5 times. He also took a couple of other hits that potentially could have resulted in injuries. They beat him up, just like the Packers did in Week 4. But Smith seemingly knows that there are fantasy ballers depending on him, because he was firing away in the fourth quarter, piling up cheap stats. Finished with 386 yards.

Charcandrick West. Knile Davis is usually the backup tailback. In this game, they went with West. That was the plan all along, apparently. West was out there on the first series. He didn’t knock it out of the park, picking up only 17 yards on 5 carries, but Davis hasn’t been producing either. I remember being impressed with West in the preseason, thinking he would be a No. 2 on a lot of other teams. Apparently he’s passed Davis. Davis left the Green Bay game with an injury; they took him to the locker room. But Davis was healthy enough that they used him on kickoff returns.

DeAnthony Thomas. I think he’s one of the best kick returners in the league. He’s been doing just punts, but they plugged him in for a kickoff return at the start of the second half of this game and he took it back 70 yards (but it was nullified by a hold). If we’re drafting punt returners for just Week 5, I’ll put him right up there with the very best. They’re home against the Bears, so he should get plenty of return opportunities (Chicago punted 10 times in Seattle).

Chris Conley. Albert Wilson missed this game with a shoulder injury, so they plugged Conley in that spot. Whenever they were in two receivers, he was on the field. Jason Avant and DeAnthony Thomas also played, but only in the three- and four-receiver packages. Conley has great physical tools and upside, so I think they’ll keep him in this role. But they didn’t use him much. Everything is built around Jeremy Maclin and Travis Kelce. Conley caught only 2 passes in this game, and I think they were both in the fourth quarter, after I stopped watching. In the first quarter, he dropped a ball at the 5 that would have given them a better chance to score a touchdown on third down. The other two balls I saw that went his way were both miles off target.

Marcus Peters. He intercepted a pass in the opener, and he had a Pick Six off Peyton Manning in Week 2. In that game, he looked really good battling against Demaryius Thomas, and he was looking like a potential Defensive Rookie of the Year candidate. But the secondary got lit up at Lambeau, and Peters got toasted again in this game. Jeremy Hill threw him aside on the first touchdown of the game, and later Peters got beat for a 55-yard touchdown by Brandon Tate. Peters didn’t touch him when Tate made a diving catch. Poor game for the rookie.

Cairo Santos. I believe Andy Reid plays fantasy football, and that he has Santos as his kicker. With 2:39 left and Kansas City down 36-18, he sent out Santos to kick a 7th field goal. At that point, with the game out of hand, I think a lot of coaches would have been making more of an effort to get their offense into the end zone.

—Ian Allan