NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The NFL is the ultimate week to week league, and this week belonged to the Titans who dominated the Bengals throughout Sunday in a 27-3 drubbing inside a sun-splashed Nissan Stadium.
Cincinnati needed just seven plays to reach the Tennessee red zone on its opening possession, but the Titans defense buckled down and held to just a field goal.
The Bengals offense failed to solve their various pressures the rest of the afternoon and never scored again.
Meanwhile, a week after being held to just 94 yards total yards in Cleveland, a franchise low for the past 49 years, the Titans found a rhythm back at home against the Bengals defense. The Titans got a field goal on a 15-play drive on their opening possession, then scored three touchdowns in an explosive second quarter that blew the game open.
Ryan Tannehill had much more time to throw this week without Myles Garrett breathing down his neck, and stepped up on a third and three midway through the second quarter and delivered a perfect 38-yard strike over the shoulder of DeAndre Hopkins down the sideline.
On the next play he found rookie tight end Josh Whyle wide open on playaction for 24 yards into the red zone. Then hit Nick Westbrook-Ikhine for a 13-yard catch and run touchdown on a well-designed play from offensive coordinator Tim Kelly to give the Titans a 10-3 lead.
Everyone got involved.
Tyjae Spears started the next drive by dropping the pitch on a toss sweep, but picked it up, reversed direction and then gathered steam for a 22-yard gain out to midfield.
That set up another playaction strike to Westbrook-Ikhine for 22 yards.
Then, with the defense on its heels, Derrick Henry broke through a couple tackles, delivered a stiffarm and busted free for a 29-yard touchdown run.
It was the 80th career touchdown for Henry, who becomes just the sixth player in NFL history to run for more than 8,000 yards and eight touchdowns in their first eight seasons.
Henry topped 100 yards Sunday for the first time since last year’s season finale, finishing with 122 yards on 22 carries.
He also threw for a touchdown late in the first half after taking a snap in the King Cat formation, rolling right and tossing back to a wide open Whyle who held on for his first career touchdown reception.
The Titans racked up 400 total yards on a day that seemingly represented their ideal offensive attack.
The run game produced more than five yards per carry, and they built off of it with a steady diet of playaction passes against a Bengals D that struggled to hold up in the secondary.
Spears chipped in 40 rushing yards on just five attempts, and seven different Titans caught passes from Tannehill.
There were six explosive plays of 20 or more yards: one each by Henry and Spears on the ground, and completions of 22, 24, 38 and 44 through the air.
On the other side of the ball, a Titans defense that had surrendered 12 “x-plays” through the first three weeks did not allow a play of more than 17 yards against the Bengals.
Tennessee didn’t get the nine sacks it had against Burrow in the playoffs a couple years ago, but if the defense’s no. 1 goal was to impact the quarterback, mission accomplished.
The Titans sacked Burrow three times, hit him nine more times and Trevis Gipson forced a fumble that was recovered by Kevin Byard on his third quarter rush.
Burrow never looked comfortable in the pocket and couldn’t buy extra team as he continues to deal with a calf injury that he suffered during training camp.
The Titans made him pay for that lack of mobility with a steady diet of pressures and solid coverage in the secondary to beat the former no. 1 overall pick for the first time.
With the win the Titans improve to 2-2, along with everyone else in the AFC South, ahead of their first division game next week in Indianapolis.
The challenge now will be to try to duplicate the effort they’ve shown at home on the road where they have failed to score a touchdown in two games this season.
Consistency week to week will be key, but Sunday the Titans showed their potential with a win that flipped the script on a hapless 27-3 loss a week ago and ended a three-year streak of frustration against the Bengals. And that’s something to feel good about.
