NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A year ago the Titans were 7-3 and on top of the AFC South when the Bengals strolled into Nissan Stadium and beat them. It was a loss the Titans seemingly haven’t recovered from.
Tennessee lost the final seven games of last season, surrendered their division lead, missed the playoffs, and failed to post a winning season for the first time since 2015. The struggles have carried into this season with losses in two of the first three games while failing to score a touchdown.
While it’s way too early to call a week four contest a “must-win game”, a win against the Bengals could help the Titans regain some of the mojo they’ve lost over the last 10 months.
“It would definitely be a great morale booster for the organization around here,” defensive tackle Teair Tart said. “What are we against them? 0-3? I got to get one on them. Definitely time to get back on the winning track we’ve been on the previous years.”
This has been the type of game Mike Vrabel's teams excelled at during the first four-plus seasons as a head coach. Often they have played their best football coming off a loss or as an underdog against one of the NFL’s best teams. But the Bengals have been a different story.
Since Zac Taylor took over as head coach and Cincinnati drafted Joe Burrow no. 1 overall in the 2020 NFL Draft, the Bengals have beaten the Titans in three consecutive seasons.
“I was just telling Kristian (Fulton), we owe them a loss,” Titans safety Amani Hooker said. “We’ve lost to them three times since I’ve been here. For me, it’s a bad taste in my mouth, so I definitely want to go out and get a victory.”
The most crushing defeat was a Bengals 19-16 win on an Evan McPherson field goal on the final play of the game in the 2021 Divisional round of the playoffs when the Titans were the AFC’s no. 1 seed. Ryan Tannehill threw three interceptions in that game and the offense never got going.
The Bengals also beat the Titans 31-20 in Cincinnati during the 2020 season and 20-16 last year at Nissan Stadium despite not having star receiver JaMarr Chase available for the game.
“They’ve just been a better team the last few times we’ve played them,” running back Derrick Henry said. “And credit to them. The game plans they’ve put in have worked, and we didn’t execute enough to be able to have success against those guys to be able to win.”
Cincinnati’s once again expected to be one of the best teams in the AFC despite its 1-2 start to the season, and for the Titans, this game feels personal.
Most of the team’s core group of players have endured all three losses against the Bengals during seasons in which they had high expectations. Turning the tables this Sunday, getting back to .500, and beating a contender could provide a jolt of confidence for an organization that’s fallen out of the discussion of the AFC’s best teams.
It’s just one game, but this one does mean a little bit more.
“It does for me,” wide receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine said. “I’ve been here for all the battles we’ve had the last few years, so it would be good to get a win back from them.”
