Tennessee Titans vs. Cincinnati Bengals: Complete Week 3 Preview for Tennessee
The Tennessee Titans will travel to Cincinnati to face the Cincinnati Bengals yet again. The last time the two teams met was in 2011, when the Bengals beat the Titans 24-17. Cincinnati went on to the playoffs, while the Titans just missed the cut.
The Bengals have been a playoff regular since then, although they've lost their first game every trip. They'll be favored on Sunday, as they've started their season off 2-0 and seem to be the strongest team in their division.
The Titans can win, but they'll have to look a lot more like the Week 1 squad rather than how they looked against the Dallas Cowboys.
Here's a preview of the game for the Titans.
Week 2 Recap
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The Titans' home opener against the Cowboys was a nightmare. There's very little to say that's positive about the game.
Jake Locker played perhaps the worst game of his career, only completing three passes in the first half and throwing an interception.
He looked pretty good in the second half, but at that point, the Titans had dug themselves so far into the hole that pretty-good quarterback play wasn't nearly enough.
Of course, Locker wasn't the only problem. The defense that almost completely shut down Jamaal Charles had no answer for DeMarco Murray.
By the end of the day, Murray had well over 100 rushing yards and a couple of touchdowns on the way to a 26-10 win over the Titans.
News and Notes
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The Titans have been two completely different teams so far this season. They led the league in time of possession in Week 1, only to come in dead last in Week 2.
They had what looked like one of the better run units in Week 1, only to have the worst in Week 2. The Tennessean's John Glennon has a good article on what the Titans have done consistently, both good and bad.
ESPN.com's Paul Kuharsky was not optimistic about the Titans' chances in a recent post. The Titans have listed Jason McCourty as questionable and have been working him in practice, but Kuharsky doesn't expect him to play.
He sees the Bengals as a potential Super Bowl contender and the Titans looking very much like they have for the last five seasons: mediocre.
Injury Report
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| Player | Position | Status |
| Dexter McCluster | RB | Probable |
| Jason McCourty | CB | Questionable |
| Wesley Woodyard | LB | Probable |
McCluster is an important part of the running back rotation, so it'd be a shame to lose him for a game. That said, with Shonn Greene, Bishop Sankey and designed runs by Locker, it wouldn't be a huge loss.
McCourty is another story. Next to Jurrell Casey, McCourty is probably the best player on the Titans defense. Losing him when the Titans will have to account for A.J. Green would make the game a lot harder to win.
Woodyard would be a crippling loss as well. With Zach Brown already out for the season, the Titans are thin at inside linebacker, and Woodyard is the best linebacker they have. He was great against Jamaal Charles, but he played badly Week 2.
All injury information taken from ESPN's injury-report page for the Titans.
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X-Factors and Matchups to Watch
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Giovani Bernard and Jeremy Hill vs. Titans Defense
The Titans have to be prepared for a run-heavy offense from the Bengals. They have two talented young backs and have no doubt watched the tape from Week 2, so they're certainly going to run.
The Titans have hopefully learned from the Dallas game and will be more prepared this time around. Week 1 showed that the Titans can stop the run, but we still don't know if they actually will.
A.J. Green vs. Blidi Wreh-Wilson and Coty Sensabaugh
Another problem the Titans had last week was limiting Dez Bryant. If anything, Green is a more dynamic receiver than Bryant, and the Titans may be facing him without McCourty.
If Sensabaugh and Wreh-Wilson can't cover Green long enough for the Titans' pass rush to get to Dalton, then the Bengals will be able to do to the Titans what the Cowboys did.
X-Factor: Jason McCourty
No disrespect to Wreh-Wilson or Sensabaugh; they're young guys and will be better later on, but right now, there's a big drop-off in talent from McCourty to the next best corner. If he isn't able to play on Sunday, it could be devastating.
Prediction
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As I said earlier, the Titans were two completely different teams Week 1 and Week 2, so it's tough to say what they'll do against the Bengals.
I expect Ken Whisenhunt to rely a lot more on the run early on, as it's been one of the few areas that the Titans looked consistently good.
They'll have to throw the ball some, but I don't think Whisenhunt will make the mistake of going pass-heavy early on again.
I'd also expect to see a lot of double-teams on Green if McCourty doesn't play. The pass rush looks like one of the best aspects of the defense, but if they can't make Andy Dalton hold onto the ball, it becomes worthless.
Other than Green, I would expect the Titans to put the majority of their focus on stopping the run, especially early on. If the Bengals think they can run on Tennessee all day, like the Cowboys, there'd be no reason for them to start throwing the ball.
Prediction: Bengals 24, Titans 13
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