Nashville spent Thursday digesting the Jeffery Simmons trade, and now the Tennessee Titans have to play without him. Sunday’s trip to Paycor Stadium puts a defense that ranks 26th in dropback success rate against Joe Burrow.
Tennessee is 1-4 in one-score games, and Robert Saleh knows how thin the margin has been. “We are good enough to put ourselves in position to win, but we have to find ways to win in the final minutes,” Saleh said Monday, per the team’s website. A win would send the Titans into their Week 9 bye on a better note, and these six players will decide it.
Titans who can make it happen
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
Tony Pollard is running like a lead back again
Tony Pollard is coming off his best game of the season. He ran 25 times for 129 yards and three touchdowns against Cleveland, earning an 84.3 grade from PFF. He’s up to 478 yards on 112 carries, and that loss made a case that the run game is real.
Cincinnati allows 116.3 rushing yards per game, 19th in the NFL, but ranks seventh in rush success rate allowed, per rbsdm.com, and linebacker Barrett Carter earned an 86.8 run-defense grade in Baltimore, according to PFF. With Tyjae Spears out, the carries are Pollard’s, and a big game helps his trade market value too.
Cor’Dale Flott keeps finding the football
Cor’Dale Flott has two interceptions, and his 67.0 coverage grade ranks 31st among 103 qualified cornerbacks, per PFF. Against the Browns he was targeted twice, allowed no catches and picked off a pass, making him a riser in Week 7.
Ja’Marr Chase has 32 catches for 351 yards and five touchdowns, and Tennessee allows 233.0 passing yards per game, 24th in the league. Flott has to avoid the explosive plays Cleveland hit on its way to 491 yards. Another takeaway would hand Cam Ward a short field, something this offense rarely earns.
Jermaine Johnson II inherits the pass rush
Simmons left with four sacks and 24 pressures, per PFF, and the trade to Chicago leaves Jermaine Johnson II as the rusher Tennessee needs most. Johnson has three sacks, and PFF credits him with 21 pressures. John Franklin-Myers is questionable with a groin injury.
Cincinnati’s tackles make it hard. Amarius Mims allowed no pressures on 34 pass-blocking snaps in Baltimore and Orlando Brown Jr. posted a 72.8 pass-blocking grade, according to PFF. Johnson is also a $13.4 million deadline rental, so this could be one of his last games in Tennessee.
Bengals who can break the Titans
Tee Higgins is winning deep
Tee Higgins has 33 catches for 571 yards and two touchdowns, and his 91.4 overall grade ranks third among 80 qualified wide receivers, per PFF. In Baltimore, he caught passes of 44 and 43 yards, and fans are now asking whether he’s the No. 1 receiver.
Tennessee missed 13 tackles against Cleveland, according to PFF, and safeties Kevin Winston Jr. and Amani Hooker had five of them. If Higgins gets behind them twice, Pollard’s afternoon won’t matter.
Dexter Lawrence II owns the middle
Dexter Lawrence II has the best pass-rush grade among 126 interior defenders at 89.6, per PFF, and his 87.6 overall grade ranks second. He has four sacks and 22 pressures, and he wrecked the Ravens’ line last week.
Center Austin Schlottmann graded at 53.0 against Cleveland and right guard Atonio Mafi posted a 49.4 pass-blocking grade, according to PFF. Ward averages 5.7 yards per attempt and can’t afford interior pressure. If Lawrence wins early, Tennessee’s plan narrows to Pollard.
Boye Mafe can end drives on his own
Boye Mafe leads the Bengals with 4.5 sacks, per ESPN, while PFF has him at five sacks and 30 pressures, eighth among 113 edge defenders. He had two sacks in Baltimore and landed among the winners against the Ravens.
Mafe rushes mostly from the left side, which puts him across from JC Latham, Tennessee’s best pass blocker in Week 7 with a 77.2 grade, according to PFF. Ward has been sacked 11 times, and with Carnell Tate ruled out with a shoulder injury, he’s without his top receiver and needs the ball out on time.
Kickoff is 1 p.m. ET on CBS. If Pollard controls the clock and Johnson gets home a few times, the Titans have the formula that has kept them close all season. If Higgins, Lawrence and Mafe take over, the bye arrives with more talk about 2027 draft position than this roster.
More on the Tennessee Titans
- NFL Insider Says Amy Adams Strunk Shut Down John Harbaugh and Backed Mike Borgonzi on Simmons
- Cincinnati Bengals’ Passing Game Gained Its Best Chance to Break Loose With Jeffery Simmons trade
- Joe Burrow Gets a Titans Pass Defense Ranked 26th by Success Rate, and No Jeffery Simmons
- Carnell Tate Injury Update Leaves Cam Ward Without His Top Receiver Against the Bengals
