The Tennessee Titans not only begin their road to the Super Bowl in the AFC Divisional Round but are out to prove they’re a worthy No. 1 seed when they host the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday.
The NFL betting odds have Tennessee as a 3.5-point favorite, with that spread bolstered by the expected return of Titans RB Derrick Henry. The Bengals, who topped the Las Vegas Raiders in the Wild Card Round, could be missing some key bodies on the defensive line – bad timing for this run-in with run-heavy Tennessee.
The Bengals and Titans currently sit in two of the bottom three spots in terms of odds to win Super Bowl 56. However, both teams head into the Divisional Round of the 2022 NFL playoffs with the opportunity to head to the AFC Championship Game.
For the Titans, it would be their second appearance in three years, with the opportunity to host the game if they win. Meanwhile, the Bengals broke a 31-year playoff winless streak last weekend and now have the chance to head to their first AFC Championship Game since their victory over the Buffalo Bills in 1988. Let’s preview three areas where this game between the Bengals and Titans could be won and lost before making a prediction for how we see the contest going.
One thing is certain about the Titans; they’re resilient. Tennessee went 6-3 without Derrick Henry. Ryan Tannehill won 12 games in one of his worst seasons as a passer. And then the defense grew tremendously mid-season – it went from allowing 384 yards and 26.8 points per game in the first six weeks to just 300.3 yards and 17.5 points over its final 11 games. The reward for those improvements is home-field advantage, where Tennessee was 7-2 this year and an extra bye week that might have Henry ready to return.
Cincinnati may be the lowest-seeded team remaining in the AFC, but underestimating Zac Taylor’s team would not be wise. The Bengals have won four of five games dating back to the regular season and just ended a 31-year drought between playoff wins. Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase have done a whole lot more than bring the LSU connection to Cincinnati. Those two have looked as good as most QB-WR combinations left in these playoffs, and they get to go up against Tennessee’s bottom-10 pass defense.
Both teams will execute their offensive gameplans well and move the chains consistently. That makes red zone defense a critical part of deciding the outcome of this game. Ultimately, being at home gives the Titans a slight edge over Burrow, who will look to return next year and take his team further.
Prediction: Titans -4.5