By Paul Dehner Jr., Joe Rexrode and Chris Licata
The Cincinnati Bengals, who entered Sunday with a two percent chance at making the playoffs according to The Athletic’s projection model, kept playoff hopes alive with a 37-27 road win in Tennessee. Despite 744 yards of total offense, both teams combined for 10 turnovers (six by the Titans and four by the Bengals) and 26 penalties for 223 yards.
Cincinnati did much of its damage in the second and third quarters, as Joe Burrow tossed two of his three touchdown passes in the second frame, including one to defensive end Sam Hubbard. The third quarter saw Titans quarterback Will Levis benched after throwing his third interception of the day, a pick-six to Bengals safety Geno Stone. Later, fellow safety Jordan Battle took another would-be touchdown off the board after fumbling through the back of the end zone before crossing the goal line, just seconds after he scooped up a Tony Pollard fumble.
Titans backup Mason Rudolph led his team to a pair of late fourth-quarter touchdowns, but it wasn’t enough to prevent Tennessee from dropping to 3-11.
Oh no Bengals 😳
A fumble through the back of the end zone takes a TD off the board for Cincinnati.
🎥 @NFLonFOXpic.twitter.com/wfp23p2ySY
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) December 15, 2024
All eyes turn to Broncos–Colts as Bengals’ chances remain slim
Cincinnati continues to latch on to its slim-and-none playoff hopes with the blowout of Tennessee. Toss in a Dolphins loss and the start of the dozens of results they need to go their way started in the 1 p.m. window. Now, eyes will be set on the Colts-Broncos game with Denver close to wrapping up the final playoff spot if they can put away Indianapolis. The Bengals host the Broncos in two weeks at Paycor Stadium. — Paul Dehner Jr., Bengals senior writer
Levis may be done as a quarterback for the Titans
The answer on that won’t be known until Brian Callahan makes a decision on who’s playing for the final three games, but if that decision is backup Mason Rudolph, what other conclusion could be drawn? Levis has fallen off a cliff in the past two games. He didn’t turn it over against Jacksonville, but 168 passing yards and six points against that defense is bad. Three picks, a lost fumble, 89 passing yards and a 49.0 rating against the Bengals is an outright nightmare.
Reality for Callahan and Titans GM Ran Carthon is they may be under intense scrutiny from ownership for this season. If a good chunk of it can be pawned off on Levis, better cases can be made on their behalf. That’s the NFL. — Joe Rexrode, Titans senior writer
Burrow sets franchise record for passing TDs
The Bengals’ record-breaking offensive run continued Sunday. Burrow tossed three touchdown passes before halftime, which marked six consecutive games with at least three touchdown passes. He now has 36 on the season, which is a new franchise record. The Bengals crossed 27 points scored for the sixth consecutive game, that also set a franchise record. What unfolded Sunday is what a game is supposed to look like when you score 30-plus points, not the series of heartbreaking defeats the Bengals have experienced this season. — Dehner
Joe Burrow (@JoeyB) recorded 3 TD passes in today’s @Bengals win, becoming the 5th player ever with 3+ TD passes in 6 straight games.
He joins Tom Brady (10 straight in 2007), Andrew Luck (8 in 2018), Peyton Manning (8 in 2004) & Dan Marino (7 in 1986-87). pic.twitter.com/9mWq2ikB6R
— NFL345 (@NFL345) December 15, 2024
Cincy capitalized on Levis’ many mistakes
Too bad the Bengals can’t play Levis every week. His three interceptions were all ugly and led directly to 17 points on short fields. One was returned by Stone for a pick-six, but two others set Burrow up inside the Titans’ 40. You can’t do that against this offense and expect to have a chance to keep the score low. Callahan benched Levis and was given an unfortunate reminder how much harder life is without Burrow, watching their two games play out the way they did. — Dehner
Titans squarely in the race for the No. 1 pick
Only the Raiders and Giants entered Sunday with a worse record than Tennessee, at 2-11, though the Titans entered in a glut with five fellow 3-10 teams – the Jets, Patriots, Browns, Jaguars and Panthers. The Titans finish with an AFC South run, at the Colts, at the Jags and home against the Texans.
The last two Tennessee performances, following up an upset win at Houston, give Titans fans real hope that their team can take it all the way to 3-14. Even if that’s not good enough for the No. 1 overall pick, it may be good enough to grab one of the top quarterbacks in the draft. But is the organization ready to start that cycle again? Is owner Amy Adams Strunk willing to give Carthon an opportunity to draft a quarterback high for the second time in three years? Questions abound. — Rexrode
Required reading
(Photo: Andy Lyons / Getty Images)
