National Football League

Titans offense flashes potential in blowout victory over Bengals

Published Oct. 1, 2023 5:48 p.m. ET

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Titans have a defense that gives them a chance every week. It's a unit that has been great for long stretches, elite in spurts. But the big question mark has been the offense, which has struggled early in 2023 under new playcaller Tim Kelly.

The run game went nowhere through three weeks. The revamped offensive line underwhelmed — issues magnified by mishaps on early downs. Points scored have been low, pacing worse than last year's disappointment, which cost former offensive coordinator Todd Downing his job. The offensive issues have capped Tennessee's upside.

Could Sunday mark a shift in the tide?

The Titans offense got hot in Tennessee's 27-3 rout of Cincinnati (1-3) at Nissan Stadium. The point total tied a previous season-high for the Titans — they also scored 27 points in a Week 2 victory over the Chargers — but Sunday marked the first time this season they recorded three consecutive touchdown drives.

They had five scoring possessions overall.

"No doubt, we're growing," said quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who completed 72% of his passes (18-of-25) for 240 yards and a touchdown with an interception. "Fought through the noise and were able to come out and play well upfront. Our guys upfront did a great job in the run game and the pass game, creating some space for the running backs, and it gave me some time to get some balls off."

Explosive plays set up all three of the Titans' touchdowns in the second quarter.

How it started: After a sack, Tannehill connected with DeAndre Hopkins for 38 yards midway through the third quarter. The next play, Tannehill hit rookie tight end Josh Whyle up the seam for 24 yards. Wide receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine had an 11-yard touchdown catch to cap the series.

On the next possession, after a 26-yard run by rookie running back Tyjae Spears — a play in which the third-round pick initially bobbled the toss, only to secure it and reverse field — Tannehill found Westbrook-Ikhine up the middle for 22 yards. Then star running back Derrick Henry bounced to the left and eluded a handful of Bengals defenders en route to a 29-yard touchdown run.

In a two-minute drill to end the first half, Tannehill connected with veteran receiver Chris Moore down the sideline for 44 yards — the Titans' biggest play of the game — to set up Henry's touchdown pass out of the wildcat formation at the 2-yard line, giving Tennessee a massive 24-3 cushion heading into halftime.

Even in a drive where everything seemed to go wrong, the Titans still found a way to get points.

By its sixth play from scrimmage in the second half, Tennessee faced a second-and-22, thanks to holding against left guard Dillon Radunz and a sack. But the home team was bailed out of a punt situation by Bengals safety Dax Hill, who was called for unnecessary roughness.

Tennessee again faced second-and-22 on the same drive, when a high snap from center Aaron Brewer in Cincinnati territory forced Tannehill to fall on the ball 12 yards behind the line of scrimmage. But a Henry run (three yards), Bengals' neutral-zone infraction (five yards) and a 10-yard completion to tight end Chig Okonkwo got the Titans in the red zone. Place kicker Nick Folk drilled the 35-yard field goal to put Tennessee up 27-3 with 4:38 left in the third quarter.

The Titans offense posted season-highs across the board — in total yards (400), rushing yards (173), passing yards (227), first downs (23), third-down conversion rate (61.5%) and yards per play (6.5).

"It was a lot of fun," said Tannehill. "We were efficient. That was opening up some things down the field for us. Whenever you're able to hit on these plays that you've been working on in practice and thinking about that, open up the playbook a little bit. Timmy [Tim Kelly] did a great job of calling the game and having a good feel for when to dial [the shots]. It's a good thing for the Titans when we're able to dial those things up."

The Titans' defense did its thing, too. The Bengals were held to three points, tying a season-low. They converted just two third downs all game (2-of-9), both of which didn't come until the fourth quarter. Cincinnati has been a disappointment to start this season, but it's still a feat to slow down quarterback Joe Burrow and a talented Bengals offense.

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For Tennessee, it was a complete performance for the first time this season.

If the offense can find consistency, like we've seen the defense do, imagine how good it could get for the Titans?

"We have to build on it," Tannehill said. "Did some things well today. Want to build on those things. Keep expanding how we're attacking defenses and just keep improving on things we didn't do well.

"It's not a perfect game," he continued. "It never will be, but there are things we can get better from, that we'll learn from this tape and want to build on the good things and go on to next week with a full head of steam."

Ben Arthur is the AFC South reporter for FOX Sports. He previously worked for The Tennessean/USA TODAY Network, where he was the Titans beat writer for a year and a half. He covered the Seattle Seahawks for SeattlePI.com for three seasons (2018-20) prior to moving to Tennessee. You can follow Ben on Twitter at @benyarthur.