Marvin Jones Once Again Proves to Be Key Piece of Offense as Bengals Roll Bills

Almost in the same way he slips behind coverages and past defenders, Cincinnati Bengals wideout Marvin Jones has managed to fly under the radar as an integral part of the team's historic 6-0 march. 

Jones might never receive the national credit he deserves sandwiched between major names such as A.J. Green and Tyler Eifert. One of the league's best one-two backfield tandems in Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard doesn't help, either.

But he should.

In a Week 6 contest where the Bengals needed Jones at his absolute best, there he was once again, catching nine of his team-high 12 targets for 95 yards and a score. The nine grabs stand as a career high, too.

The score was of the memorable variety, to say the least:

Call it business as usual for Jones, whose impact on the offense simply cannot be understated.

The situation: a Buffalo Bills defense led by guru Rex Ryan that in the five weeks prior had held Andre Johnson, Jarvis Landry, Odell Beckham Jr. and Kendall Wright in check. Corner Ronald Darby entered Week 6 ranked as Pro Football Focus' third-best player at the position with five passes defensed, and Stephon Gilmore ranked fourth with six defensed.

The result: The Buffalo defense held Green to four grabs for 36 yards and Eifert to four for 30 and a score while Jones shouldered the load.

Jones knocked his role out of the park. Before the game, he spoke with ESPN.com's Coley Harvey about how he would attack the Buffalo defense and the importance of the approach:

"

Urgency. That's the biggest thing. When guys are bringing pressures and stuff like that, they try and bring more than you can handle. When they do, it's our job to run our routes with urgency and precision. That's one of the most important aspects because you're racing the blitz. You're not racing the corners.

"

Again, business as usual. Jones' primary job is to win his one-on-one matchups while others soak up extra attention and create big plays if possible. He does his job well, with his longest plays in four games at 45, 32, 44 and 42. He's now scored in half the team's games this year.

The 42-yard catch against the Bills came on a straight-shot down the field with two defenders draped all over him. Dalton dropped it right in the bucket, but it's Jones who kept the speed and concentration to finish the play.

Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images

All one has to do is look at this team's offense one year ago to see how vital Jones' performance is to the unit, deserved publicity or not.

Jones missed all of last season, and observers surely remember the results. Green had 1,041 yards and six scores, and Mohamed Sanu did what he could with 790 yards and five. However, no other player surpassed the 500-yard mark. Dalton averaged a miserable 7.1 yards per attempt and forced it often, throwing 19 scores to 17 picks.

The issue was separation at the line for those players not sporting the last name Green. Nobody stepped up, and defenses cared little what the others did because they knew the available weapons couldn't hurt them.

Jones can.

It's easy to forget he hauled in 712 yards and 10 scores in 2013, his first serious dose of playing time before missing last year. As the season wears on this time around, those numbers are looking less and less like a ceiling and more like a floor.

Bill Wippert/Associated Press

Which is just what these Bengals need to go 7-0 for the first time in franchise history and beyond.

Look, Dalton's much improved this year. He isn't getting shaky in shrinking pockets, he's putting most throws on the money and the occasional mistake isn't some game-ruining affair. Eifert back in the fold helps the offense in a big way, too.

But last year showed what the Cincinnati offense can be. Like last year, there's nobody on the depth chart who will step in for Jones and be anywhere as productive, no matter how great Greg Little looked in exhibitions and no matter how explosive rookie Mario Alford may be.

For an organization many might consider the best drafters of the past five years or longer, coach Marvin Lewis and his staff don't grab players without a role in mind.

Jones has his and continues to execute it to perfection, household name or not. The execution gels perfectly in the overarching plan and is a major cog of the machine that has the Bengals at 6-0 and creating headlines chattering about a historic run.

While he might fade to the back of those discussions, it's just how Jones and the staff would prefer it.

Stats courtesy of NFL.com and accurate as of October 18. All advanced metrics courtesy of Pro Football Focus.