Bengals Head Into Bye Revived With A Joe Burrow Swagger
Certainly they sent a memo with Sunday's 31-20 take-down of AFC South leaders Tennessee on an offense looking almost effortless despite the loss of running back Joe Mixon and a revamped offensive line. Rookie quarterback Joe Burrow coolly engineered 30 points for the fourth time in his eight NFL games with some make-believe scrambles behind a makeshift offensive line that paved the way for Zac Taylor's biggest victory in his season and a half as the Bengals head coach.
Inspired And Improvised O-Line Paves Way For Bengals' Take Out Of AFC South Leader
"I found out about 9:55 this morning on my way in," said Billy Price, a game ball in his possession about six hours later after he kept it all together for 31 points in his first start at center since his rookie year. "It was next guy's got to step up. I know there are a lot of people that are backups who were playing today and it came down to execution and it came down to be physical up front and that was the game plan for us."
Quick Hits: Price Of A Game Ball A Win; Burrow-Higgins On Pace For Rookie History; Huber Ends His Milestone Game In Style
Free safety Jessie Bates III for his end zone interception on the first series of the game and strong safety Vonn Bell for his end zone interception for what would have been the Titans' last drive of the game but was wiped out by defensive end Carl Lawson's neutral zone infraction. In between, Bates led them with 11 tackles while Bell had five, plus a big hit on Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill that set the tone for the second half, as well as a third-down pass defense that stopped Tennessee's first drive of the second half.
Postgame Celebration After Week 8 Win Over The Titans
Go inside the Bengals locker room after a convincing 31-20 victory over the Tennessee Titans in Week 8 of the 2020 NFL season.
Energy, Communication & Effort: What Zac Taylor And Joe Burrow Said After The Win Over The Titans
"It was. Joe did a great job getting it out, the receivers did a great job creating separation, and hats off to our offensive line. It was a little unexpected, but no one batted an eye. They stuck together and provided a ton of energy for this team today."
Joe Burrow's most impressive throws from 2-TD game | Week 8
Watch Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow's most impressive throws from his 2-TD game during his Week 8 matchup versus the Tennessee Titans.
Titans vs. Bengals highlights | Week 8
Watch the game highlights from the Week 8 matchup between the Tennessee Titans and the Cincinnati Bengals.
Cincinnati Bengals defeat the Tennessee Titans, 31-20, behind two touchdowns from Giovani Bernard
Safety Brandon Wilson's 49-yard kick return early in the fourth quarter set up a touchdown that put them over 30 points for the third time in five games. The drive featured one of the more stunning plays in recent memory on third-and-nine. With wide receiver Tyler Boyd mauled in coverage, Burrow drilled a strike and Boyd didn't see it until the last instant as he pirouetted away and caught it as he looked up at the same time.
Bengals' upset of Titans can provide foundation for rebuild under Joe Burrow
On an equally blustery day at Paul Brown Stadium, the Bengals picked up the type of win they can use for the foundation of their rebuild with rookie quarterback Joe Burrow.
Zac Taylor Praises Billy Price, Sends Message to Locker Room: 'He's About Everything We Want Our Players to be About'
The 26-year-old made the most of his opportunity, as the Bengals' offensive line didn't allow a sack for the first time this season. They consistently opened up running lanes for Giovani Bernard and gave rookie quarterback Joe Burrow plenty of time to throw.
NFL Week 8 grades: Joe Burrow and Bengals get an 'A+' for upsetting Titans, Cowboys get 'D' for ugly loss
In a game where the Bengals didn't have their starting left tackle (Jonah Williams), their starting center (Trey Hopkins), their starting right tackle (Bobby Hart) or their starting running back (Joe Mixon), Cincinnati was still somehow able to pull off a 31-20 upset and they were able to do that thanks to the magic of Joe Burrow.
Takeaways from Bengals’ first big win of Joe Burrow, Zac Taylor era
That’s the biggest takeaway — the Bengals were able to match that win total before the upcoming bye week. In the process, they took down a playoff contender while dealing with some serious adversity in the form of player absences.
NFL Week 8 scores: Backup offensive linemen come up big for Bengals
Left tackle Jonah Williams (neck), center Trey Hopkins (concussion) and right tackle Bobby Hart (knee) were ruled out earlier in the week. That meant Price started at center, Hakeem Adeniji started at left tackle, Fred Johnson started at right tackle and Shaq Calhoun started at left guard. "Those guys were on scout team two weeks ago," defensive back Jesse Bates III said. "They stepped up."
Recap: Titans fall flat in Cincinnati, lose to Bengals 31-20
Following a Ryan Tannehill interception in the redzone and a missed kick from Stephen Gostkowski, the Tennessee Titans found themselves in some early trouble. Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati passing attack were able to put ten early points on the board as the Titans started slowly.
Winners and Losers From the Bengals' 31-20 Win Over the Titans
The Bengals didn't allow a sack for the first time this season. They only gave up two quarterback hits, which was a refreshing surprise for rookie quarterback Joe Burrow. The performance from the line is a big reason why Cincinnati was able to upset Tennessee.
Around the league
NFL Week 8: What we learned from Sunday's games
Cincinnati's offensive line enjoyed what was probably its best performance of the season. Much maligned for its play this year, it usually gave Joe Burrow plenty of time to throw, and when it didn't, Burrow's mobility bought a lot more. The Titans (5-2) logged no sacks. Burrow kept his eyes downfield while escaping pressure, and has an instinct for when to step up and when to roll out. As usual for the pass-happy Bengals (2-5-1), there wasn't much of a ground game. But the Cincinnati front paved the way for an 11-play drive, mostly runs, that took 5:40 off the clock at the end of the game to put the win to bed.
Carson Wentz on 4-turnover win vs. Cowboys: 'I know I can play better'
The Philadelphia Eagles were fortunate to be playing a rookie seventh-round pick making his first career start. Any other situation and Philly probably loses instead of taking home a 23-9 victory over Ben DiNucci and the Dallas Cowboys.
Bears' Javon Wims facing possible suspension for punching Saints' Chauncey Gardner-Johnson
Midway through the third quarter of the Bears' 26-23 overtime loss, Wims, unprovoked, approached Gardner-Johnson from behind and proceeded to punch the DB in the helmet twice, the first time with a closed fist. Gardner-Johnson seemed stunned and just stood there as teammate Janoris Jenkins jumped on the WR's back to break up the fight.
Niners' Jimmy Garoppolo, George Kittle exit early in loss to Seahawks
With San Francisco trailing by 23 in the final frame, Jimmy G's day ended early. Nick Mullens', however, was just getting started. The backup QB promptly led the offense on three scoring drives, completing 18 of 25 passes for 238 yards and two touchdowns in less than a quarter of play.
Steelers beating Ravens without their 'A' game a scary proposition for rest of NFL
On Sunday, their defense surrendered 265 yards rushing and 457 overall, both of which far surpassed their season averages. The offense wasn't much better, converting on just three of nine third downs while gaining 48 yards on the ground, 70 below their season average.
Could the Packers add on offense? A look at potential moves as trade deadline looms
When the games end today, the trade deadline will be two days away. And while we've already seen some big names change teams -- Carlos Dunlap to the Seahawks, Everson Griffen to the Lions -- there may be a few more moves that take place before Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET. And we went over some of them last week. Click here for last week's news.