Tennessee Titans vs. Cincinnati Bengals: Full Report Card Grades for Cincinnati
It was by no means pretty, but the Cincinnati Bengals enter a Week 4 bye undefeated thanks to Sunday's 33-7 win over the visiting Tennessee Titans.
Cincinnati was often bailed out by poor play from the Titans, prompting a box score that gives the Bengals too much credit for a dominant showing. The Bengals still struggled on third down with a 3-of-9 mark and were flagged seven times.
With that said, an ugly win is still a win.
The running game totaled 116 yards and three scores on the ground. Meanwhile, the defense picked up a pair of sacks and interceptions while allowing 149 total rushing yards.
As coach Marvin Lewis said after the game, per Paul Dehner Jr. of Cincinnati.com, the gritty win deserves praise:
"Marvin Lewis: “Great effort in all three phases. Probably out best effort of the season.”
— Paul Dehner Jr. (@pauldehnerjr) September 21, 2014"
Being down arguably its best defensive player had an obvious impact on Cincinnati, but the staff once again took charge and put its talented roster in positions to succeed all day long.
Let's take a look at how the win came together and assign grades to all involved.
Quarterback: B
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First things first: Andy Dalton caught a touchdown pass from wideout Mohamed Sanu in the first half of Sunday's win against the Tennessee Titans.
That was the highlight of the day for good reason, but Dalton was not without his faults. He threw an ill-advised interception near the end of the first half on a no-look screen pass for his first turnover of the season.
By the end of the game, Dalton tallied a 15-of-23 line for 169 yards and an interception to finish with a 68.9 passer rating.
Really, Dalton's performance was ugly in what was an ugly affair. He still seemed poised when the pocket broke down, but the occasional questionable decisions and misses were present. Nevertheless, Dalton did enough to lead his team to a win in a sloppy affair.
Sometimes that is all it takes.
Grade: B
Running Back: A
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Both Cincinnati Bengals running backs Giovani Bernard and Jeremy Hill saw little usage in the first half of Sunday's contest.
The staff seemed to favor the aerial attack despite facing a defense that had struggled against the run so far this year, but Bernard did get himself a touchdown from one yard away thanks to a penalty on the Titans.
In the second half, that changed in a big way.
Bernard scored a second touchdown from close range en route to finishing with 14 totes for 47 yards to lead the team in rushing. As part of the clock-killing process, Hill also got himself a score and finished with seven carries for 39 yards (5.6 yards per carry).
Others chipped in during garbage time, but the main takeaway has been consistent all year long: The Bengals are an elite running team when they choose to be.
Hill's progress is especially encouraging, and it is only a matter of time before he begins to see larger chunks of playing time. Based on his routinely high averages, that will wind up being nothing short of a good thing.
Grade: A
Wide Receiver and Tight End: A
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A.J. Green sure looked healthy Sunday, no?
In the week of buildup before the Cincinnati Bengals hosted the Tennessee Titans Sunday, the biggest offensive storyline was the health of Green.
He brought in a leaping 15-yard reception on the team's first offensive snap and was off.
By day's end, he brought in six receptions for 102 yards to lead the team in receiving and forced multiple penalties on opposing defensive backs.
With Marvin Jones still out of the picture, Mohamed Sanu once again picked up the slack as the No. 2 receiver. He brought in five passes for 44 yards, but the highlight was—of course—his touchdown pass to quarterback Andy Dalton.
Paul Dehner Jr. of Cincinnati.com puts it best:
"Sanu to Dalton. Just like you all had it written up. Sanu now 4 of 4 for 174 yards and 2 TDs in his career passing.
— Paul Dehner Jr. (@pauldehnerjr) September 21, 2014"
No other receiver recorded more than one reception on the day, including back Giovani Bernard. Tight end Jermaine Gresham was once again a non-factor. With Green being so dominant, though, it is hard to knock the unit for not producing more.
As seems to be the case each week so far, the main takeaway is that Dalton has a plethora of weapons that will only grow upon the return of names such as Jones and Tyler Eifert.
Grade: A
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Offensive Line: B
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For a team without its starting right guard (Kevin Zeitler), the Cincinnati Bengals did well in the offensive trenches Sunday against Tennessee.
Given the impressive rush the Titans are certainly capable of bringing on each down, left tackle Andrew Whitworth and his unit did a fine job most of the day—quarterback Andy Dalton was kept relatively safe and was once again not sacked.
As noted earlier, the ground game was able to rumble for 116 total yards and three scores, and the number would have surely been much higher if the staff had elected to run consistently in the first half.
As an alleged run-first team, the depth on display Sunday was nothing short of a good thing. Backup Mike Pollak looked sound at right guard as expected, while rookie center Russell Bodine had himself a nice day.
In a sloppy affair and down a starter, it is quite difficult to complain about this performance.
Grade: B
Defensive Line: B
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It was an up-and-down day for Geno Atkins and the defensive line of the Bengals.
On one hand Atkins, Margus Hunt and Carlos Dunlap seemed to generate pressure when the team needed it most. Case in point: In the first half, the line flushed Tennessee quarterback Jake Locker out of the pocket, which forced an errant throw that was picked off by safety Reggie Nelson.
On the other, the line was getting a poor push for most of the day against the rush.
In fact, Tennessee finished with 149 total rushing yards. Shonn Greene bruised his way to 10 carries for 33 yards and a touchdown, while rookie Bishop Sankey sliced his way through the line and beyond to the tune of 10 totes for 61 yards (6.1 YPC).
Dunlap was once again the main force behind the line's effectiveness in terms of pass-rushing and finished with one sack.
In a fun turn of events, veteran Robert Geathers was in the right place at the right time and got himself an interception off a deflection.
The leaky run defense is a concern, although a number of those yards seemed to come when Cincinnati was more concerned with the aerial attack while up by a large margin. There is not much reason for concern going into the bye.
Grade: B
Linebacker: C
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Vontaze Burfict is dearly missed, to say the least.
Arguably the Cincinnati Bengals' best defensive player, he missed Sunday's contest. In turn, the team was mostly miserable against the run, allowing those aforementioned 149 total rushing yards.
The linebackers also played a part in Tennessee tight end Delanie Walker finding some semblance of success with four receptions for 54 yards.
Most concerning, though, was the missed tackles. Some of the blame for the unit's overall performance can go on the up-and-down play of the line in front of it, but the missed tackles are downright inexcusable.
Rey Maualuga was quiet in the middle all day, ending up with all of two total tackles. Vincent Rey notched four during his opportunity as a starter, while Emmanuel Lamur got three and a tackle for a loss.
It was a ho-hum day in a ho-hum game, but there are things that need to be cleaned up—with or without Burfict.
Grade: C
Secondary: B
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Missed tackles were also a major issue for the Cincinnati Bengals secondary Sunday, although some key big plays helped to make up for the problems.
Adam Jones was once again a critical cog for the unit, at one point breaking up a key third-down pass in the first quarter. He also wound up with five total tackles.
Safety George Iloka had himself yet another major day and led the team with eight total tackles. He also happened to play a major factor in that aforementioned Robert Geathers interception, as Jay Morrison of Cox Media Group illustrates:
"George Iloka blows up the Tennessee receiver and the ball goes right to Robert Geathers for a pick. #Bengals
— Jay Morrison (@JayMorrisonCMG) September 21, 2014"
Fellow safety Reggie Nelson got in on the action as well with a rather easy interception in the first half. Even rookie corner Darqueze Dennard played a factor in the outcome with a sack of his own in the third quarter off an aggressive blitz.
Again, Tennessee did itself more harm than good—and there are issues to iron out in the secondary—but Cincinnati should get a ton of credit for mostly shutting down a criminally underrated wideout corps.
Grade: B
Special Teams: A
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Special teams has been a hot-button issue for the Cincinnati Bengals to start the season, especially after last week, when kicker Mike Nugent missed a number of field goals.
Well, Nugent was back to form on Sunday and knocked through his lone attempt. Punter Kevin Huber was his usual self with an average of 49.3 yards per punt on his four tries.
As far as kick coverage goes, Tennessee rarely had an impact return. In the trenches, Margus Hunt, among others, even forced a safety, as noted by ESPN.com's Coley Harvey:
"Penalty on the Titans (holding) on the punt. Since it happened in the end zone, it's a safety. Two points and the ball for #Bengals. Up 12-0
— Coley Harvey (@ColeyHarvey) September 21, 2014"
In a game with few returns for the opposition, arguably the most maligned unit in Cincinnati at the moment came through in a big way.
Grade: A
Coaching: B
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On the whole, the Cincinnati Bengals coaching staff had a sound—if not interesting—day against Tennessee Sunday.
Hue Jackson was creative in his approach to the offense once more, this time calling the aforementioned Mohamed Sanu-Andy Dalton touchdown connection.
But he also had a few hiccups, such as calling a screen pass in the team's own territory up 19-0 with about 50 seconds left in first half. Bleacher Report's Andrea Hangst describes the ill-fated decision:
"Titans expecting Dalton screen and Dalton is picked for first time this year. 44 seconds left in half.
— Andrea Hangst (@FBALL_Andrea) September 21, 2014"
Defensive coordinator Paul Guenther's unit got some help from a bumbling Tennessee team, but to his credit, the group played well enough without its leader, Vontaze Burfict.
As a whole, Marvin Lewis and his staff did a fine job throughout most of the contest, whether it was the game plan, in-game approach or adjustments.
The reward is a week off to prepare for a trip to New England.
Grade: B
Final Grades
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| Positional Unit | Overall Grade |
| QB | B |
| RB | A |
| WR/TE | A |
| OL | B |
| DL | B |
| LB | C |
| Secondary | B |
| Special Teams | A |
| Coaching | B |
| Cumulative Grade | B |
They say a win is a win no matter how ugly or close.
Sunday was ugly for the Cincinnati Bengals, but a triumph over an AFC squad early in the season is something that will certainly help down the line when the schedule gets more difficult—it will in a big way after the bye.
Andy Dalton's offense is still getting healthy in a large amount of areas, while the defense is missing one key component ahead of a slate that features New England, Carolina, Indianapolis and Baltimore.
Sunday, the team once again proved it is one of the league's deepest. Now it gets time off to recover for what—at least for now—has the look of a serious push in the division and beyond.
All stats and info courtesy of ESPN.com unless otherwise specified.
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