Bengals-Titans discussion and predictions

[Jmble]

Final Practice before the game and the injury report is looking as good as it can at the moment.

Aside from players we already know are out (Ogunjobi included)

The only person on the Game Status Report is Sanley Morgan who is questionable.

Trey Hendrickson, Josh Tupou, Mike Hilton, Sam Hubbard, and Jalen Davis were all full participants in practice today.

[Jmble]

From the Athletic today.... Man, Paulie D's getting my hopes up.

There may not be a single element of Saturday’s divisional-round playoff game between the Bengals and Titans that has not been broken down to the granular detail this week.

From Derrick Henry’s usage to the Bengals defensive line reinforcements to the matchup between childhood friends Ja’Marr Chase and Kristian Fulton.

And, of course, the possibility that Randy Bullock could be lining up a potential game-winning field goal against a fan base that spent years ripping him for an inability to make clutch kicks. Can you even imagine?

All of those topics make for fun fodder, but there’s one I can’t shake.

The better quarterback should win this game. Not because of any specific matchup, but because they always do. That’s the NFL.

There’s probably an uncle or grandpa in your family calling you right now to talk about how you have to run the football in the cold to win in January.

Tell grandpa he’s wrong.

In every game last week, 10 consecutive divisional-round games and 28 of the last 32 total playoff games, the quarterback with the higher yards per attempt has emerged victorious.

Yes, the same yards per attempt stat in which Joe Burrow led the NFL this season. Such is not to say, Ryan Tannehill couldn’t top the Bengals’ face of the franchise. Running the football to the level Henry does makes an efficient passing game far easier. It’s the reason for Tennessee’s success in recent years. One or two play-action deep crosses to A.J. Brown with a broken tackle for a long gain and there you have the big plays necessary to complement a dominant running game.

There’s no getting past that. The Titans defense brings a physicality that suffocates many teams. You could already read the headlines Sunday morning about the area Cincinnati must address in the offseason being exposed on the biggest stage. The Titans proved the Bengals need another wave of reinforcements on both lines, we’ll write, stating the obvious.

It could smack fans back to reality like Henry one-on-one charging through the hole.

The primary method that makes this less about Burrow would be to bury him. Bury him in pressure and do it without blitzing, because the young quarterback begs for blitzers and roasted them at a league-best rate.

Don’t expect Tennessee to blitz, they rank second only to the Raiders in lowest blitz percentage in the NFL. However, over the second half of the season when they do not blitz they are creating pressure just 26 percent of the time. That ranks 29th in the NFL.

If the likes of Jeffery Simmons, Harold Landry and Denico Autry can’t keep Burrow under duress, the game becomes about Burrow and his weapons. A nightmare scenario for the Titans.

The very nature of these teams and this stage suggests a game that will come down to the final minutes. If the Bengals can jump out early, those drives will be about Tannehill instead of Henry, a game-deciding difference.

This inevitably will at some point be solely about Burrow with the ball and a chance to send the Bengals to the AFC championship for the first time since the 1988 season.

He’s playing the position as well as anybody in the sport right now.

How do you bet against that?

In today’s game, you don’t.

Prediction: Bengals 27, Titans 24. Evan McPherson from 52 at the gun.

[Scooper]

I completely agree. Play to your strengths and throw early, throw often. Even try to push the tempo. The Titans are a damned good team and a healthy Henry can grind a defense down, so the best option is to get them out of playing their game.

[skycruiser]

“And, of course, the possibility that Randy Bullock could be lining up a potential game-winning field goal against a fan base that spent years ripping him for an inability to make clutch kicks. Can you even imagine?”

Yes, yes I could. It would be the most bengal thing of the last 7 years

[Bengals1]

“And, of course, the possibility that Randy Bullock could be lining up a potential game-winning field goal against a fan base that spent years ripping him for an inability to make clutch kicks. Can you even imagine?”

Yes, yes I could. It would be the most bengal thing of the last 7 years

I never thought of that.....

[orange_black]

i will say this:

run the ball. can you imagine if they prepared and prepared for burrow slinging it and we run the ball down their throats?

however, if that dont work..... let burrow have at it.

on defense: stack the box. do NOT let the running game beat us. stack it until tannehill shows that he can beat us through the air.

[MeatHeadbengal]

“And, of course, the possibility that Randy Bullock could be lining up a potential game-winning field goal against a fan base that spent years ripping him for an inability to make clutch kicks. Can you even imagine?”

Yes, yes I could. It would be the most bengal thing of the last 7 years

I never thought of that.....

I bet you're disappointed about that too!

[skycruiser]

“And, of course, the possibility that Randy Bullock could be lining up a potential game-winning field goal against a fan base that spent years ripping him for an inability to make clutch kicks. Can you even imagine?”

Yes, yes I could. It would be the most bengal thing of the last 7 years

I never thought of that.....

I bet you're disappointed about that too!

You’re slipping old man go get some crystals from town and drink some moon water

[Joe Bananas]

So if Henry is healthy and they pound him the best way to counter is two ways. Score often, put them behind early. Or, run the ball and control the clock. Keep Henry off the field.

My take: Do what they've been doing best. Give Burrow the ball and chuck it. Get up 14-0, 14-3 or whatever early.

But..what it that doesn't work..? Oh well, bring Henry on. To be the best we gotta beat the best, right? Let's go. Let's just play our game. I would like to see Mixon make some big runs though and be steady Saturday. That very well might throw the Titans off. Been 5, 6 -7 games since Mixon had a strong performance. Maybe that's what it takes.

BTW: I spot a scooper!

[stripesincarolina]

Ok, injury reports are final. Lets see what you got. Final predictions today boys.

We have not been a first quarter team for much of the season. We've had some flashes, but for the most part I think we all seem to be posting about Zac not having the team ready to go and then Burrow starts Burrow-ing and we manage to come back....sometimes. I dont see this tiger changing his stripes for this game and that becomes problematic on the road, against a good running team who can also get yards thru the air and with the QBs legs. I truly believe our defense is what has to win this game for us. Defense wins Superbowls right? I dont think we win coming from behind. And I dont think our defense is going to be up to this challenge. They have been beaten up pretty severely the last few weeks and had to rely on a miracle INT last week to advance.

I said earlier in the week we either blow them out or just barely fall short in a squeaker. I'm thinking the latter. (Don't shoot me, its just a fair prediction and we cant be 17-0 every year OB).

Titans 31 (4 rushing TDs between Henry and Tannehill)
Bengals 27 (good offensive effort, defense just runs out of steam)

Man I hope I'm wrong!!

Edit - just ran across this stat which supports my concern

"Entering last week's wild-card matchup with the Raiders, Cincinnati had scored only 17 points on opening possessions this season, tied for the second fewest in the NFL."

"Tennessee's 32:39 average time of possession was second in the NFL during the regular season."