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Week 12 Game Recap: Tennessee Titans 6, Cincinnati Bengals 35
What you need to know
| Tennessee Titans |
The Titans were playing their second road game in six days and appeared to be having trouble getting going. They were not able to get any type of a sustained drive going until the game was well out of hand. They moved the ball inside the red zone four times, but were only able to get two field goals. This was a result of the Bengals defense making it a point to stop the running game and putting the pressure on Vince Young. Young was not able to answer the challenge as most of his passes were inaccurate and the receivers were forced to make difficult catches.
The running game featured a rotation of Chris Brown and LenDale White in the first half as each player had two consecutive series before taking a break. Before halftime, White was called for a personal foul when he kneed a Bengal player in the head on a play in which he was forced out of bounds. After that, Brown would receive the majority of the carries the rest of the game as White only saw the field for one carry in a goal line situation.
The receivers were unable to make any type of contribution to the passing attack. Justin Gage had the offensive highlight when he was wide open on a deep ball in the first quarter, but he lost his balance on the way to the end zone and stepped out of bounds on seven yard line. This play seemed to summarize the Titan passing game, a few highlights mixed in with off target throws.
| Cincinnati Bengals |
Carson Palmer had one of his best games of the season. Bengal receivers were wide open against the Titans zone coverage, and Palmer generally had plenty of time to choose his receiver. The Bengals had little trouble moving the ball through the air.
The Bengals seemed content to rotate their backs until the game was out of reach in the fourth quarter. Rudi Johnson was the primary ball carrier, but he did receive an occasional breather which served to keep him fresh for the fourth quarter when the Bengals would run out the clock.
Bengals receivers were open on any given play. The offense looked to be hitting on all cylinders as they showed signs of the high powered offense they were last season. Chad Johnson set a career high with 12 receptions as he took advantage of the soft Titans coverage.
What you ought to know
| QB Vince Young, Pass: 19 - 31 - 246 - 0 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 2 - 6 - 0 |
Vince Young was inconsistent, to say the least. He started out well, completing four of his first six passes, including a great deep throw to a wide open Justin Gage. But, his two incompletions were on poor throws that were well off target, the second of which was an interception. From that point it went downhill. He fumbled the ball on a sack on third and goal from the three on one drive, ending the first scoring opportunity. He would string together two more stretches where he had five straight completions, but one of those stretches came in garbage time when the Bengals had a comfortable lead. The best drive of the game serves as a good summary of Young's day. He was able to move the ball by completing passes underneath the zone coverage until they got in the red zone. They were able to get down to the three yard line on a juggling catch by Ben Troupe, but they were not able to score when Young threw to high to Ben Hartsock in the end zone that would end the last scoring opportunity.
| RB LenDale White, Rush: 8 - 27 - 0, Rec: 2 - -1 - 0 (2 targets) |
White started the game and played the first two series before being replaced by Chris Brown. The Titan plan was to rotate their backs, and it appeared to benefit White more than Brown as he had the longest run of the game on an11 yard run to give Tennessee first and goal from the six for their second trip into the red zone. He would touch the ball on the next three plays, but was called for a personal foul on the last play when he kneed a Bengals defender in the head after being tacked out of bounds. He only returned to the game for one goal line carry in the fourth quarter.
| RB Chris Brown, Rush: 8 - 28 - 0, Rec: 1 - 7 - 0 (1 targets) |
Chris Brown rotated in on the third series on the game as the Titans rotated their back every third series in the first half. He played the entire second half, and had a touchdown that was overturned when the official determined that his knee was down before he crossed the goal line on a review. Yards were hard to come by as most of his rushing opportunities came in short yardage situations and the offensive line was not able to open any holes to run through.
| RB Chris Barclay, Rec: 1 - 6 - 0 (1 targets) |
Barclay's only action on offense was on a swing pass in the first quarter that was stopped just short of a first down.
| WR Justin Gage, Rec: 4 - 98 - 0 (7 targets) |
Gage was the man that Vince Young looked to when he wanted to go deep. On his first catch he got behind the defender and appeared to be on his way to a touchdown but he lost his balance and stepped out of bounds at the seven yard line. He was able to find holes in the zone defense and served as a reliable target when Young needed to get a first down. He was targeted one more time in the end zone on the last long drive.
| WR Eric Moulds, Rec: 2 - 54 - 0 (3 targets) |
Moulds made one good catch and run when he was in the area of a second Titan receiver. He was the closest man to Young and caught the ball before running downfield on a 46 yard gain in the third quarter. His other targets came in garbage time in the fourth quarter.
| WR Roydell Williams, Rec: 2 - 9 - 0 (6 targets) |
Williams was not a very reliable target for Vince Young. His only receptions would come in the first half, and was unable to capitalize on a great opportunity to score in the third quarter. He had his man beat in the end zone but had turned the wrong way on a catchable pass.
| TE Bo Scaife, Rec: 5 - 33 - 0 (8 targets) |
Bo Scaife seems to have a good rapport with Vince Young from their days together in Texas. He was the receiver that Young looked for when the protection broke down, but he was slow to make an impact. The first two passes thrown his way were off target and not catchable, the first one was an interception on pass thrown behind him. He was targeted on three of the first seven passes on the lone long drive of the game in the fourth quarter.
| TE Ben Hartsock, Rec: 1 - 27 - 0 (2 targets) |
Hartsock only saw action in relief of Bo Scaife.
| TE Ben Troupe, Rec: 1 - 13 - 0 (1 targets) |
Troupe's only reception came on a juggling catch to give the Titans excellent field position inside the Bengals ten yard line during the fourth quarter.
| PK Rob Bironas 2 - 2 FG, 0 - 0 XP, 6 points |
Bironas was relatively quiet, making both of his attempts from inside 30 yards.
| TEN Rush Defense |
It was clear that the Titans missed Albert Haynesworth's presence on the interior. The Bengals were able to run at will, even when the game was out of reach and they were trying to run out the clock.
| TEN Pass Defense |
Bengals receivers did not appear to have any problems getting open against the Titans defensive backs. The four down linemen were unable to get any consistent pressure on Carson Palmer, and on the few occasions that they did Palmer was usually able to roll away from the pressure and find an open receiver. By the fourth quarter the defensive backs appeared to be frustrated at the ability of the Bengals receivers to get open.
| QB Carson Palmer, Pass: 32 - 38 - 283 - 3 TD / 1 INT |
Carson Palmer had an amazing day passing. He rarely faced pressure from the Titans pass rush and he showed good pocket presence by moving around in the pocket to buy enough time to find the open receivers. Palmer was accurate on all types of passes, from the out patterns that gained first downs to the deep throws that stretched the defense. He showed good touch on his three touchdown passes, throwing the ball to the spot where his receiver was going to be. He clearly benefited from having all of his primary weapons available to spread the defense.
| RB Rudi Johnson, Rush: 25 - 88 - 1 |
Rudi Johnson was used sparingly in the first half as the Bengals built their lead. He had plenty of room to run, and showed good patience by selecting the proper hole to run through. The Bengals plan was to spell him in the first three quarters to keep him fresh for the end of the game. Johnson seemed to respond well to that plan as he seemed to get stronger as the game wore on and was in the game when they ran out the clock.
| RB Kenny Watson, Rush: 4 - 17 - 1, Rec: 5 - 32 - 0 (4 targets) |
Watson's contribution to the offense was by providing Carson Palmer with a reliable pass catching option out of the backfield and by providing Rudi Johnson with a breather in the second half. His versatility is an important asset to the offense.
| RB DeDe Dorsey, Rush: 5 - 42 - 0, Rec: 1 - 0 - 0 (1 targets) |
Dorsey's action was limited to providing Rudi Johnson with an occasional breather in the first half.
| WR Chad Johnson, Rec: 12 - 103 - 3 (14 targets) |
Chad Johnson had his best game of the season, catching a career high 12 passes and getting into the end zone three times. The Titans game him plenty of room to operate and he took advantage of the soft coverage to catch passes and get out of bounds without being hit.
| WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Rush: 1 - -4 - 0, Rec: 7 - 66 - 0 (8 targets) |
Houshmandzadeh had an effective game that was overshadowed by Chad Johnson as five of his receptions resulted in first downs, and he showed the ability to read the coverage and adjust his route to give Palmer a reliable target.
| WR Chris Henry, Rec: 3 - 41 - 0 (6 targets) |
Henry is beginning to reclaim his place as the third receiver in the Bengals offense. He was the target on numerous deep throws and made a couple of tough catches over the middle.
| WR Antonio Chatman, Rush: 1 - 5 - 0 |
Chatman's only action in the game was on an end around on the first play from scrimmage.
| TE Reggie Kelly, Rec: 3 - 35 - 0 (3 targets) |
Kelly was only used as a fourth option as the game plan focused on getting the ball to the playmaking receivers.
| TE Dan Coats, Rec: 1 - 6 - 0 (1 targets) |
Coats caught the only pass thrown his way in the third quarter.
| PK Shayne Graham 0 - 1 FG, 5 - 5 XP, 5 points |
Graham did not have a great day as he missed an easy 27 yard field goal in the first quarter.
| CIN Rush Defense |
The Bengals rush defense did a good job of containing the Titans runners. Three times the Titans had the ball inside the ten yard line four times and were unable to score any touchdowns.
| CIN Pass Defense |
Most of the 246 yards passing that were given up came after the game had already been decided and the Bengals were in their prevent defense. Young was sacked one time, and the sack produced a fumble that ended the first drive into the Bengals red zone.
