NASHVILLE — No. 400 wasn’t pretty but it was memorable.
The Bengals took advantage of four turnovers by Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis while getting three touchdown passes from Joe Burrow to register a 37-27 win Sunday in Nashville for the 400th regular season win in franchise history.
It was Burrow’s sixth straight game with at least three touchdown passes, the fifth-longest streak in NFL history. Burrow finished 26-of-37 for 271 yards, with three touchdowns, two interceptions and a lost fumble.
The Bengals (6-8) won back-to-back games for just the second time this season while the Titans (3-11) lost two fumbles and had two quarterbacks who combined to throw four interceptions.
The two teams combined for 10 turnovers and 26 penalties in the mistake-filled game. The 10 total turnovers, including six by the Titans, are the most in an NFL game since 2007 in game between the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings. The Bengals committed four turnovers and 14 penalties, committed silly mistakes and had another spate of bad tackling.
But when you are playing a team with a huge problem at quarterback, a lot of those mistakes can be glossed over in a win. That didn’t keep Burrow from getting into a heated exchange with head coach Zac Taylor at the end of the game after Cincinnati’s final score.
“I was just frustrated in the day that we had on offense,” Burrow said. “It was too sloppy, we had too many penalties, too many procedural penalties, I had too many turnovers. It was just a frustrating day on offense.”
Joe Burrow upset about something at the end of the game pic.twitter.com/UvmufpDg2l
— Cincinnati 💔 (@CincyProblems) December 15, 2024
Will Levis started the game at quarterback for Tennessee, completing just 8-of-12 passes for 89 yards and three interceptions before he was benched for backup Mason Rudolph, who finished 21-of-26 for 209 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Tyjae Spears ran for a touchdown and caught another for the Titans, who fell to 1-6 at home.
Leading 14-7 and with a chance to add to the Tennessee lead, Will Levis lost a fumble that turned the momentum in the first half.
Burrow tied the game on a third-down, 2-yard tackle-eligible toss to Sam Hubbard. Moments after the leaping catch, Hubbard was ruled out for the remainder of the game with a knee injury.
Things you love to see: defensive ends catching touchdowns @Sam_Hubbard_
📺: #CINvsTEN on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/oDsJJzlBcM— NFL (@NFL) December 15, 2024
Levis threw interceptions on back-to-back attempts on Tennessee’s next two possessions. Cam Taylor-Britt’s interception set up a touchdown from Burrow to Tee Higgins of 38 yards. Mike Hilton picked off Levis with just over a minute left in the half to pave the way for a 21-yard Cade York field goal and a 24-14 halftime lead for Cincinnati.
After throwing his third interception that Bengals safety Geno Stone returned 39 yards for a touchdown that gave Cincinnati a 31-14 third-quarter lead. Cincinnati safety Jordan Battle was on the verge of returning a fumble 61 yards for another touchdown but lost the ball just before he crossed the goal line and fumbled it out of the end zone for a touchback.
The Bengals were without their top two left tackles as Orlando Brown Jr. missed his second straight game and fifth game in six contests with a fibula injury in his left leg. Adding to Cincinnati’s offensive line woes, backup left tackle Cody Ford turned up ill on Saturday and was declared inactive for the contest.
