John Skelton has a point to be made.
And people are listening.
The Bengals elected to bring Skelton in the game over Josh Johnson early in the second quarter; which is a little surprising, but not unexpected based on his performance last week. On his first play, Skelton fakes the handoff and flips the football to Brandon Tate on a slant for a ten-yard gain. Following a powerful drive by Cedric Peerman for five yards, Skelton finds a wide-open Tyler Eifert in a seem from the slot for a 25-yard gain.
Now the Bengals have first down from the Titans 33-yard line with 4:34 remaining.
Peerman takes the handoff and nearly loses yards, but sheds the tackle and bounces outside for a two-yard gain near the right sidelines. Granted, only two yards, but a good run to gain yards. Skelton takes the second down snap and finds Cobi Hamilton on a short curl route for an eight-yard gain and the first down.
Eventually the Bengals have third and seven from the Titans 20-yard line when Skelton bounces out of the pocket in a mad-scramble to save his life. Skelton threw the football out bounds (a wise decision from the broken down pass protection).
Nugent converts the 38-yard field goal to give the Bengals a 17-3 lead.