Bengals Keys: Beat Up On A Punchless Titans Offense
Credit: Cara Owsley via Imagn Images
After coming up on the positive end of a game for the first time in over a calendar month, the Bengals will travel four hours south to Nashville, Tennessee to take on the Titans. The Titans are one of the worst teams in the NFL this season, as they are one of five AFC teams to currently hold a 3-10 record.
How can the Bengals pull off the road victory and keep their microscopic playoff hopes alive?
Take Advantage Of An Incompetent Offense
The Tennessee Titans, who have been described as an offense that doesn’t know that forward passes are legal, have the NFL’s third lowest-scoring offense.
They are “led” by Will Levis, who is 40th of 40 in PFF passing grade among qualified quarterbacks. The only category he leads the league in is Pick-6s (3). He plays behind an offensive line that has given up 45 sacks in 2024, with only the Chicago Bears and Cleveland Browns surrendering more). Every qualifying quarterback with a worse QB rating than him has either been benched, started the season as a backup, or is Deshaun Watson. Meanwhile, Joe Burrow has completed more passes for a first down (189) than Levis has completed in this entire season (173).
I could keep going.
Considering the explosive nature of the Bengals’ offense, their defense doesn’t have to do much more than not miss the flight to Nashville to give the Bengals a chance to win. The problem is, this season has been as miserable an experience for the Bengals’ defense as it’s been for a Titans’ offense.
But Tennessee is getting worse, putting up just six points on a miserable Jacksonville Jaguars defense last week. If the Bengals can play competent defense, which they have shown their capability of doing against bad offenses like the New York Giants and Cleveland Browns, they could easily travel back to Cincinnati with a victory.
How could they capitalize on the opportunity to face the Titans’ offense?
Force Mistakes
The Tennessee Titans make an awful lot of mistakes. Levis, at times, has turned into a meme of a quarterback for reasons other than the mayo thing.
WILL LEVIS PICK-SIX TO JIMMIE WARD
JUST AWFULpic.twitter.com/DNkvD5xGKT
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) November 24, 2024
In addition to those three Pick-6s, Levis has another six interceptions and three lost fumbles thus far in 2024. It’s been a rough sophomore slump for a quarterback who never got to even enjoy a rookie bump in the first place.
And it’s not just a Levis problem. The Titans have 23 giveaways on the season, which is second to the Las Vegas Raiders (25). It’s not just in turning the ball over — they also struggle horribly in terms of committing mental lapses.
“Sums it up all year no doubt.”#Titans QB Will Levis when asked about penalties and turnovers affecting games this season. pic.twitter.com/084KxrRSjr
— 104-5 The Zone 📻 (@1045TheZone) December 1, 2024
The Bengals are middle-of-the-pack in forcing turnovers, with their 14 turnovers ranking 18th in the NFL, but they’ve been good at making opponents pay. They are one of five teams with three or more defensive touchdowns, and the Titans are a good team to try increasing that number against them.
The Titans’ vulnerability to mistakes goes beyond turnovers. Tennessee has committed 103 penalties on the season, which is second in the NFL. 24 of them have been false start penalties, which leads the NFL and feels almost unfathomable for an offense with Bill Callahan coaching its offensive line. Say what you want about the Bengals, but they’re one of the least penalized teams in the NFL. If they can force he Titans into more mental lapses, Sunday’s game shouldn’t be terribly difficult.
Prevent Star Defensive Tackles From Shining
The Titans aren’t a total lost cause as a team. They feature one of the better defensive tackle duos in the league in Jeffery Simmons and T’Vondre Sweat.
If Jeffery Simmons and T'Vondre Sweat are able to wreck the game on Sunday, the #Bengals could be in trouble. pic.twitter.com/wP4kUla1QX
— Chatterbox Sports (@CBoxSports) December 12, 2024
Simmons is a two-time Second Team All-Pro member, and Sweat was last year’s Outland Trophy winner as the NCAA’s best defensive lineman. The latter of the two has done everything and then some to squash pre-draft concerns about his maturity, and considering his 370-pound frame, he can squash pretty much everything else, too.
Guards Cordell Volson and Alex Cappa may have a hard time containing the Titans’ two defensive tackles, given that they’ve struggled pretty much all season. If Simmons and Sweat can cleaer the way for linebackers Arden Key and Harold Landry III (both of which are extremely solid pass rushers), Burrow may be running for his life, just like he did in the 2021AFC Divisional Round, when the Bengals gave up nine sacks against the Titans. Stopping the stud tackle duo will also be critical for Cincinnati’s ability to use Chase Brown to control the clock if the Bengals take the lead early.
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