NFL Playoffs: Titans vs Bengals Game Thread

The divisional round of the NFL playoffs gets started with a Saturday doubleheader. In the first game we have the Tennesse Titans hosting the Cincinnati Bengals.

The 12-5 Tennessee Titans come into this game as the #1 seed in the AFC. The Titans struggled a bit down the stretch after losing Derrick Henry, going 4- 3 over the last seven games of the regular season. Fortunately for the Titans, they get Henry back in the starting lineup this afternoon. The Titans have impressive wins over the Buffalo Bills, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Los Angeles Rams on their resume this year. They feature the NFL’s #2 ranked rushing defense, but the Titans have struggled defending against the pass this year. That pass defense issue may be the path to an upset victory for the Bengals, whose strength as a team lies in their passing attack, featuring Joe Burrow, Ja’marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd.

The 11-7 Cincinnati Bengals come into this game having won four of their last five games, including an impressive win over the Kansas City Chiefs and a win against the Las Vegas Raiders last week in the wild card round. The Bengals feature one of the league’s hottest quarterbacks in Joe Burrow, along with arguably the NFL’s best set of offensive weapons. The Bengals also feature a top 5 rushing defense, and a top 7 scoring offense. The Bengals’ achilles heel is their pass defense, which has not been effective for most of the season. We’ll see if Ryan Tannehill, A.J. Brown and company can take advantage of a suspect Bengals pass defense.

It’s the Titans and the Bengals in the first game of an NFL Saturday doubleheader.

Enjoy the game everybody.