Bengals show some ‘championship mettle’
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – You can excuse Joe Burrow if it sounded like he was a bit ahead of himself in the aftermath of a statement victory on Sunday.
“It’s December now,” the Cincinnati Bengals quarterback declared.
Technically, it’s still November, Joe. December comes on Thursday.
But there was no need to stop him. He was on a roll. And we knew what he meant after the Bengals hung one on the Tennessee Titans 20-16 in what amounted to a measuring stick for both sides.
“This is when football counts,” Burrow said. “Now it’s the time to show what kind of championship mettle we have.”
The Bengals went all the way to the Super Bowl last season, with one of their playoff pit stops coming right here at Nissan Stadium. Yet without two of their best players – wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase and running back Joe Mixon – Burrow & Co. came back to the place as rock-solid underdogs.
On top of that, physicality was the theme that wouldn’t quit in the days leading up to the game. The Titans were supposed to push Cincinnati all over the place. Or so the narrative went.
Instead, the Bengals demonstrated some serious grit. Branded by the offensive firepower that flows with their phenomenal quarterback, they showed that they can win a slugfest, too. They can win ugly.
Never mind December. It looked a lot like a formula for winning in January.
“It’s the kind of game that great teams win,” Burrow said. “It’s not always going to be pretty. It’s the NFL. You’ve got to find ways to win.”
Sunday marked the first time this season that Cincinnati didn’t score at least 27 points in a victory – and in the Bengals’ previous four triumphs, they scored 37, 42, 35 and 30 points. Now the portfolio is expanded. “One thing this team took to heart was how physical they heard this game was going to be,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said. “That’s a credit to Tennessee. That’s how they play. But our guys answered the bell.”
That was evident in multiple ways. Derrick Henry, the Titans star running back, came into the game as the NFL’s rushing leader. He left with 38 yards on 17 carries, averaging just 2.2 yards per carry.
Henry, listed at 6-foot-3, 247 pounds, was twice dumped for no gain by the smallest player on the Bengals defense – nickel back Mike Hilton. This was an appropriate reflection of the larger picture as Hilton knifed into the backfield on run blitzes to mow down the powerful runner.
And we know how it is with the Titans. Contain Henry’s running and you’re playing with house money by putting it on quarterback Ryan Tannehill. Surely, it was a group effort as Cincinnati clogged the lanes and won the battle in the trenches to leave little daylight for Henry. Yet Hilton’s plays symbolized the underdog vibe.
“I don’t know what his height and weight is,” Taylor said of Hilton. “I’m not going to guess. He doesn’t care. He plays like he’s a 6-4, 240-pound linebacker.”
Hilton, like most pro athletes, weighs himself daily. On Sunday, he carried 185 pounds on his 5-foot-9 frame.
“I tell people, I just look like this,” Hilton told USA TODAY Sports. “Turn on my tape, watch me play. I show physicality. For a guy my size, there’s not too many around the league like me.”
Hilton took a glance at the scene in the visiting locker room for added perspective. It was a festive place. After Taylor’s postgame speech, players came strong with a round of “Who Dey?” chants. A few minutes later, several gathered around a TV in the center of the room and roared as they watched the final dramatic minutes of the Baltimore Ravens’ upset loss at Jacksonville.
Baltimore’s loss and Cincinnati’s victory leaves them both at 7-4, tied atop the AFC North Division. (The Ravens currently hold the tiebreaker.)
Asked about the emotion of their victory, which was also evident as the Bengals sideline erupted repeatedly after big plays, Hilton said, “Coming into a hostile environment against a playoff team, it’s big for us. We started 0-2. We’re hitting our stride at the right time.”
Hey, it’s December football. And there is so much to like about a team that has apparently shaken off its Super Bowl hangover to win seven of its last nine games, including three in a row.
In addition to thwarting Henry, the Bengals defense stiffened at its own end, yielding just one TD to the Titans on three red-zone trips (one field goal, one missed field goal). Meanwhile, with Mixon out while recovering from a concussion, backup Samaje Perine rushed for 58 hard yards and a touchdown on 17 carries. And remember how much of a liability that Bengals O-line was early in the season? Well, it has improved to the point that it is no longer drawing heat. Burrow was sacked just once on Sunday and praised the unit for its work in the run game in addition to the protection.
Then there was Tee Higgins. With Chase still perhaps a week away from returning from his hip injury, Higgins was more capable to play a starring role in returning to his native state. He finished with seven catches for 114 yards and a 27-yard TD that held up as the game-winner.
Higgins was a finalist for Mr. Basketball honors in Tennessee during his years at Oak Ridge High School, about a two-hour drive from Nashville. Sure enough, he looked like a basketball player in the low post as he boxed out Roger McCreary at the goal line and leaped to snag Burrow’s pretty pass.
Of course, there was no pressure. Higgins also made a huge, 29-yard grab along the sideline late in the fourth quarter that helped put the game away.
“I come into the game wanting those,” said Higgins, a third-year pro. “Just by them calling my number, I expect to make that play. And it’s my job to do it.”
Which is yet another piece of the puzzle that makes it very tempting for the Bengals to see the possibilities that lie ahead on the NFL calendar.