Cincinnati Bengals at Tennessee Titans Preview

By Chuck Bednar | Saturday, October 15, 2005 | ( 0 )

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Marvin Lewis and the Cincinnati Bengals suffered their first loss of the season last week. Now they travel to Nashville to try and right the ship during a 1:00pm game against the Tennessee Titans.

Despite the loss, the Cincinnati Bengals remain tied atop the AFC North standings at 4-1, but must now try to maintain their composure and regain the momentum that they had during the first month of the season. They had little success doing either in their 23-20 loss to Jacksonville, in which they committed 12 penalties and saw their star receiver go off in a sideline tirade worthy of, well, a star receiver. WR Chad Johnson, who has hauled in 31 passes for 426 yards and four touchdowns, also complained to the media that he didn't have enough balls thrown his way during the game. So the question is, which Bengals team will show up on Sunday -- the one that self-destructed during and after the Jaguars game, or the one that outscored their opponents 104-38 in the first quarter of the season?

If they can keep it together, Cincinnati should be able to handle the 2-3 Tennessee Titans, who have struggled this season, especially two weeks ago in a 31-10 loss to the Colts. They rebounded with a 34-20 win over Houston last week, but they have yet to beat a team with a winning record. In fact, the two teams over whom they have victories are currently a combined 1-7. QB Steve McNair has played well, connecting on 66% of his passing attempts for over 1,100 yards, seven touchdowns and four interceptions. However, the running game has struggled, as Tennessee has averaged less than 100 yards on the ground per game in their first five match-ups. As long Lewis can keep it together and keep the Bengals from imploding, they should be able to come away with the 'W' here.

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