Three keys: What you should expect from Bengals against Tennessee Titans

If the Cincinnati Bengals are going to go on a run and make the final weeks of the 2024-25 season interesting, it’s going to require a strong showing in Nashville.

The Bengals (5-8) eked out a primetime win Monday against the Dallas Cowboys and have a quick turnaround for Sunday’s game against the struggling Tennessee Titans (3-10) at Nissan Stadium (1 p.m. ET, FOX).

It’s another high-stakes outing for Cincinnati, which is looking to run the table over the last five weeks of the regular season in hopes of making a push for the playoffs and avoiding the franchise’s first losing season since 2020.

Sunday’s matchup is also the Bengals’ first run-in with ex-offensive coordinator Brian Callahan, now the Titans head coach. Callahan’s bona fides are being challenged by media members and fans in Nashville after his club’s 3-10 start, but he’ll always be linked to one of the most successful eras in Bengals history.

Just don’t let Callahan sneak up and use his familiarity with Cincinnati to score an upset on Sunday.

That, along with these factors discussed below, are the three keys to the Bengals-Titans game:

Beat a Tennessee Titans team you’re supposed to beat

The Bengals (minus-5) are favored to beat Tennessee, according to BetMGM NFL Odds. But forget about what Las Vegas says about the game for a minute and consider the realities of the two teams.

The Titans on Sunday lost to the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars, sans injured quarterback Trevor Lawrence. Backup quarterback Mac Jones led a (kind of) stirring Jags’ comeback via 10 unanswered fourth quarter points. That was enough to win, 10-6, against a Titans team that managed just two field goals in the game.

Yes, the Titans have a highly-ranked defense. They’ve also had 30 points, 34 points, 52 points and 42 points dropped on them by the Green Bay Packers, Buffalo Bills, Detroit Lions and the Washington Commanders. The Bengals should be able to find their opportunities against this team, in other words.

The Bengals’ playoff chances are remote but they’re real, so Cincinnati is actually still playing for something. Cincinnati’s offense alone should be enough to outlast a Titans offense that’s eclipsed 30 points just once in 2024.

Winning is fun, for the team and the fans. Being even remotely relevant to the postseason discussion keeps things interesting, and no one wants to think about the possibility of four dead-rubber games to close out 2024.

This is simply a game the Bengals can and should find a way to win. Fail to do so, and they’ll be deserving recipients of all the criticism and apathy they’ll receive in the event of a loss.

Finally play complementary football for 60 minutes

Over the last two games, the Bengals have addressed special teams concerns with the kicking game − and notably with two different kickers − and improved their tackling week-over-week from the Dec. 1 defensive debacle against the Pittsburgh Steelers to the Monday Night Football win over the Dallas Cowboys.

The Cincinnati offense has been buzzing all season, so with some answers provided in other areas of recent games, can the Bengals finally put it all together and produce a complete, 60-minute performance? That needs to be the aim at Nissan Stadium on Sunday.

That’s not to say there isn’t room for improvement. The blocked punt late at Dallas by former Bengal Nick Vigil almost proved catastrophic for Cincinnati. But for the Cowboys fumbling the blocked punt back to the Bengals, we might have been looking at four truly meaningless games to close out the season. We’d all have been getting a jump on the conversation about draft position.

As thing stand, there’s plenty for Cincinnati to play for even as the playoffs remain the most remote of possibilities. Now, they just need to fix the punting side of the special teams unit for the game in Nashville. Let’s see the Bengals put together a clean, 60-minute outing with minimal miscues.

‘Cornerstone’ Bengals players need to continue to step forward

After the loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, Joe Burrow said he’d be watching intently to see which of his teammates fit into the plans for 2025 and beyond. And don’t kid yourself − we’re well past the time when the Bengals need to be thinking about who fits the future of the on-field product and who needs to pack up their locker room stall and move on.

Answers to a question put to Burrow about which players are the cornerstones of the franchise have started to emerge.

Obviously, we have Burrow himself and Ja’Marr Chase. Burrow’s also identified Tee Higgins as an apparent cornerstone who he simply does not want to part with. That’s notable because most expected Higgins would surely be gone after his 2024 season playing under the franchise tag, but Burrow seems to think there’s a path to keeping Higgins in Cincinnati.

Running back Chase Brown not only has Burrow’s public backing as a key player after a string of solid outings recently but has put up the statistics and explosive, game-breaking plays to back his own case.

Defensively, Joseph Ossai has strung together some interesting stats in recent weeks, posting a sack in three straight games. That’s noteworthy for a team where most of the pressure on opposing quarterbacks has been delivered by Trey Hendrickson.

This isn’t to say the Bengals should build around Ossai, but the point is that players who aren’t mailing it in, are stepping up and performing in the face of a disappointing season deserve major credit, and a hard look from the front office. These are the kind of character pieces you’d want in your locker room.

What would really be interesting would be a secondary player emerging from the rubble of what has consistently been a poor Bengals pass defense. The Bengals pass defense ranks 26th in yards (3,194), 27th in touchdowns allowed (24), and 20th in passing plays of 40-plus yards conceded (seven).

With so many holes to fill for 2025, it would be helpful to see one or two players step forward in the secondary to help alleviate the personnel needs going forward. The Titans game would be an opportune moment for someone − anyone − to throw their name into the mixer there.