Giovani Bernard is the biggest snap-count loser in the Cincinnati Bengals backfield after two games under new offensive coordinator Bill Lazor.

After a borderline amazing turnaround time on a knee injury from last season, Bernard received an average of 31 snaps under former offensive coordinator Ken Zampese.

Under Lazor, Bernard’s averaging 18.7.

Bernard rushed 12 times over the first two games with Zampese, a number that dipped to eight total over three games under Lazor. But like the rest of the offense, Bernard has been more effective. He didn’t score at all under Zampese yet already has two receiving touchdowns with Lazor.

When small usage is producing plays like this, few can complain about a small snap count:

Lazor and the other coaches have remained adamant the best players will play at all spots, and the backfield will ride the hot hand.

But rookie Joe Mixon has absolutely dominated the carry counts under Lazor, while Jeremy Hill has received more carries than Bernard in every game. Two out of the three games under Lazor have seen more runs than passes or an outright equal balance, so game flow isn’t the culprit here.

Regardless of the reason, it’s working. The Bengals offense is leagues more effective under Lazor, transforming from a unit that hadn’t scored a touchdown to a team that has won two games and remains in the AFC North race.

In past years, Bernard’s usage has ramped up as the season progresses. That may be the case this season, but it’s clear Lazor saw enough over two games to brush everyone aside for Mixon, Bernard being the guy taking the biggest hit in usage.