Bengals (5-8) at Titans (3-10) Sunday, Dec. 15 at Nissan Stadium (Field Turf), 1 p.m. ET, TV: WXIX-TV Ch. 19 (Cincinnati), FOX (National) Kevin Kugler (PBP), Daryl Johnston (Analyst), Laura Okmin (sideline). Radio: Dan Hoard, Dave Lapham. WEBN-FM (102.7 FM), 700-WLW, ESPN1530.
It will be teacher against student when the Cincinnati Bengals visit the Tennessee Titans this Sunday in Nashville.
The Bengals are fresh off a 27-20 come-from-behind road win over the Dallas Cowboys on Monday night that snapped a three-game losing streak. They are seeking back-to-back wins for just the second time this season.
With a win, the Bengals would record the 400th regular season win in franchise history.
The Titans (3-10) lost at home to the Jacksonville Jaguars, 10-6, last Sunday and have predictably struggled under first-year head coach Brian Callahan.
Callahan knows what he’s going up against this week as he left his position as offensive coordinator under Bengals head coach Zac Taylor and took the rebuilding job in Nashville. Callahan was the offensive coordinator for Joe Burrow’s first four seasons in the NFL and Ja’Marr Chase’s first three years.
The Burrow-Chase combination is taking the NFL by storm this season. Burrow is leading the NFL in touchdown passes with 33 while Chase leads in all three major receiving categories, receptions (93), yards (1,319) and touchdowns (15). Chase caught 14 balls on 18 targets on Monday night for 177 yards and two touchdowns in the win.
Burrow has thrown at least three touchdown passes in each of his previous five games, tied for the fifth-longest streak in NFL history. He would break that tie with another such game against Tennessee Sunday.
“Crazy as it sounds, they keep getting better, the both of them,” Callahan said. “And I think Joe’s playing the position as good as anybody in the NFL right now. If I had a vote, he’d be my MVP vote. I can’t see anybody playing quarterback better than he’s playing right now. And then Ja’Marr, he just continues to do things that everyone thought he could do and then he does something more and their performance has been incredible.”
“We’ve got to find a way to try to keep a lid on as much of it as we can, but they’re both just such fantastic players and I actually have a picture of (Chase) and Joe. I had them sign it a couple years back. And I told them that at some point I’ll look back and they’ll both be in the hall of fame and I’ll get to say that I was a part of their journey and man, they’ve only gotten better. So it’s fun to watch and terrifying to get ready for.”
The Taylor-Callahan storyline isn’t the only reunion taking place this Sunday. Former Cincinnati star receiver Tyler Boyd and shutdown cornerback Chido Awuzie will face the Bengals on Sunday.
The Bengals won a dramatic game when Joe Burrow found Ja’Marr Chase on a 40-yard hitch-and-go route for a touchdown with just 61 seconds remaining to help complete Cincinnati’s rally from a fourth quarter deficit.
“I’m so proud our guys for sticking together through a lot of adversity over
the last month,” Taylor said. “We hadn’t had this feeling in a while.”
Cincinnati’s biggest star is dealing with an off-the-field distraction and an injury. Authorities are investigating a break-in at the Cincinnati suburban home of Joe Burrow while he was playing Monday night. Moments after he limped into the locker room with an injured left knee, he found out that his home had been broken into.
“I feel like my privacy has been violated in more ways than one, and way more is already out there than I would want out there and that I care to share. So that’s all I got to say about that,” Burrow said Wednesday. “It’s part of it. We live a public life, and one of my least favorite parts of that is the lack of privacy, and that has been difficult for me to deal with my entire career, still learning, but I understand it’s the life that we choose doesn’t make it any easier to deal with.”
The Bengals and Titans (formerly Oilers) have met 79 times (including postseason), making the Titans the third-most played foe in Bengals history. Cincinnati has played more games against only Pittsburgh (110) and Cleveland (102). The Bengals and Titans/Oilers were rivals in the old AFC Central Division, playing twice per year in the regular season from 1970-2001.
The series is a relatively even affair, with Tennessee leading 41-37-1 overall (regular season and postseason). The Titans lead 24-15-1 as the home team, and they lead the series 7-5 in games played in Tennessee since their relocation there in 1997. However, the Bengals have won seven of the past 10 meetings overall, and Cincinnati leads 4-3 in games played in Tennessee since parting ways as division opponents with NFL realignment in 2002.
The Bengals have won both postseason meetings between the two teams, 41-14 in a Wild Card Playoff at Cincinnati after the 1990 NFL season, and 19-16 in a Divisional Playoff at Tennessee after the 2021 season.
Here’s what to look for:
- When the Bengals have the ball:
Joe Burrow is on a roll and so, too, is Ja’Marr Chase. Burrow is coming off an AFC offensive player of the month award for November while Chase was the AFC offensive player of the week for his 177-yard performance, two-touchdown performance. But the one thing that Tennessee can hang its hat on is its defense – specifically its pass defense. The Titans are allowing just 175.5 yards per game through the air, best in the NFL. Former Bengal Chido Awuzie is in the secondary on his second week back from IR while tackle Jeffrey Simmons is still a big force in the middle of the line. Awuzie returned last week from a nine-week stint on the IR and recorded his first interception. The Titans defense is still a force to be reckoned with but the Bengals should have more than enough to counter. The biggest challenge in this game will be handling Simmons and rookie T’Vondre Sweat in the middle and the pass rush. Harold Landry leads the Titans with seven sacks, Arden Key has 6.5 and Simmons has four.
- When the Titans have the ball:
Quarterback Will Levis has been playing better of late, completing 19-of-32 passes for 168 yards but couldn’t direct the Titans into the end zone. The biggest weapon is running back Tony Pollard, who has 937 rushing and is toting it at 4.4 yard per carry. Pollard also has 39 receptions for 233 yards. Calvin Ridley and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine lead the passing game. Former Bengal Tyler Boyd is third on the team with 317 yards receiving but has yet to reach the end zone.
- Bottom Line:
Normally, this would be a trap game. But the Bengals are playing with little to no pressure since falling to 4-8 two weeks ago against the Steelers. Last week, they caught a break when the the Dallas Cowboys touched a blocked punt past the line of scrimmage and the Bengals recovered. They should not need such breaks like that this week. Say this for the 2024 Bengals, they have taken care of business against the lesser teams – the Panthers, Browns, Giants, Raiders and Cowboys. The lone exception was New England on opening day, which could wind up keeping them from the postseason. They should take care of business again in Nashville as Joe Burrow goes for another three touchdowns and Ja’Marr Chase ties Carl Pickens 1995 mark with TDs 16 and 17.
Bengals 24, Titans 14
