The Cincinnati Bengals won their first playoff game in 31 years last week, as they beat the Las Vegas Raiders. They came into the Divisional round facing a road matchup against the top seeded Titans, looking to keep their momentum going.
The game started with a bang. Tennessee got the first possession, and Tannehill proceeded to throw an interception on the first play from scrimmage. It was a play action pass that Jessie Bates pounced on at the intermediate level. The Bengals offence started with great field position as a result, but could not fully capitalise. Instead, they had to settle for a 38 yard field goal by Evan McPherson.
The Bengals defence would get off the field twice more after the opening possession. The Bengals seemed to be blitzing a bit more and Vonn Bell was able to get in on the action with a sack. DJ Reader was also making his presence felt early.
Cincinnati’s offence continued to sputter, largely due to pressure put up by the Titans DL. However, Ja’Marr Chase was able to take a quick screen 57 yards, after making a man miss. Unfortunately, the drive stalled out again thanks to one of the many sacks that the Titans had on the day. McPherson’s 45 yarder made it 6-0 for the road Bengals.
Now in the 2nd quarter, the Titans offence picked things up a little. Ryan Tannehill connected on a 41 yard deep shot with AJ Brown. A 13 yard pass to Julio Jones put them in the redzone for the first time. They continued on, eventually ending up at the Cincinnati 3 yard line. Derrick Henry, from the wildcat, was able to punch it in for the TD.
Randy Bullock’s extra point attempt went through the uprights, but the Bengals were whistled for too many men before the snap. The Titans elected to enforce the penalty half a distance from the 2 yard line and attempt the 2 point conversion. It was a handoff up the middle to Henry, but it was stopped by Clay Johnston and other members of the defence. That left the score at 6-6.
Burrow and co. would respond with probably their best drive of the day to that point. He was able to connect with Tee Higgins on a couple of passes down the field. The second of which was a 22 yard pass that set them up at the Titans 20. However, consistent with the theme, a sack killed the drive. A false start penalty on Prince just earlier didn’t help either. Cincinnati had to settle for yet another field goal. It was a tough 54 yarder from McPherson, but there was no doubt about it from the moment it left his foot. 9-6 Bengals.
The Bengals were the next team to score, and this time, they were able to finish off a drive. Mixon started finding a bit more running room, with three rushes going for 7, 6, and 10 yards respectively. After a sack on 1st down, a completion to Burrow got the Bengals back into a manageable situation on 3rd down. On the next play, Burrow confidently took his space, scrambling for the 1st. Just one play later, Mixon made a nice cut to get loose for a 16 yard TD. That made it 16-6 for the Bengals.
Tennessee was looking to respond quickly, now down 10. Hendry piled up a few good runs before Foreman, who had just subbed in, ripped one off for 45 yards to the Cincinnati 9. However, on the next play, Mike Hilton raced into the backfield. He was able to tip Tannehill’s pass to himself and intercept the pass. Unfortunately, the Bengals offence could not take advantage.
After a deep pass to AJ Brown set up a Titans field goal, they were able to intercept Joe Burrow. The pass was for Samaje Perine, but it bounced off his hands, landing in the hands of Hooker. Their offence came back out, looking to tie it. Well, they needed only two plays. Tannehill launched a perfectly placed 33 yard TD to AJ Brown. Former Bengals Randy Bullock kicked the extra point to officially tie it, 16-16.
Following that TD, the Bengals offence punted twice. The defence needed to come up big, and they did, on both Tennessee drives. The first of which ended in a 4th & 1 stand. Markus Bailey and Logan Wilson were first there, but it seemed like the entire DL dominated that rep as well. The second came with the Titans running their 2 minute drill. With around 30 seconds left, Tannehill tried to force a ball down the field to Westbrook-Ikhine. Eli Apple was able to get a hand on it, tipping the ball to Logan Wilson for the interception.
The Bengals offence went back out. They were on their own 47 with 20 seconds and a couple of timeouts to work with. On the first play of the drive, Burrow completed a pass to Ja’Marr Chase at the sideline. It was for 19 yards. A few plays later, they sent out Evan McPherson to attempt the game winner. It was another challenging one, this time from 52 yards out. The rookie kicker knocked it through with ease, sending the Bengals into the AFC Championship game.
On Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs came back to win a thriller over the Buffalo Bills. This means that the Bengals will head to Arrowhead Stadium next week to take on the Chiefs. The Bengals beat the Chiefs at Paul Brown Stadium in week 17. The rematch will decide who represents the AFC in the Super Bowl.
Modified Homescreen Image Via: All-Pro Reels (CC)
