Joe Burrow leads imperfect Cincinnati Bengals past Tennessee Titans | Takeaways

NASHVILLE − Through Joe Burrow, all things are possible.

On one of the sloppiest days of the Cincinnati Bengals' 2024-25 season, Burrow on Sunday brushed aside a jarring amount of penalty flags, plus three of his own turnovers, to engineer a second straight win. The Bengals dispatched the Tennessee Titans, 37-27, at Nissan Stadium.

With the win, Cincinnati improved to 6-8. While the season has been an arduous one, the team's faint playoff hopes will flicker for at least another week.

"Too many self-inflicted wounds. Too many turnovers," Burrow said afterward. "We had too many penalties but the defense stepped up. We had some big turnovers and we got a good win... It was obviously a sloppy one."

After Cincinnati committed 14 penalties, some of them procedural, head coach Zac Taylor called that aspect of the performance "unacceptable."

The Titans fell to 3-11 under first-year head coach and former Bengals coordinator, Brian Callahan. Quarterback Will Levis was benched midway through the third quarter after coughing up his fourth turnover of the game via a pick-six interception by Geno Stone.

Tennessee undid itself via six total turnovers. The turnovers alone wouldn't have been enough to beat the Titans, and Burrow needed to grind out good drives.

On the Bengals' second possession, Burrow bobbed and weaved with the ball in his hands and evaded a sack for nine seconds, ultimately finding Chase Brown on a six-yard touchdown to tie the game at seven.

The play was the kind of spark Burrow can use to cancel out a day of frequent miscues, and those were plentiful on Sunday.

Brown later bookended the scoring for Cincinnati as he scored on a five-yard run with 1:09 to play. He ran for 97 yards on 25 carries.

In between the two Brown scores, Burrow connected on touchdown passes with defensive end Sam Hubbard and then Tee Higgins. Burrow finished the day 26-of-37 passing for 271 yards and three touchdowns. Burrow would later throw a second interception.

Those turnovers and other moments soured the victory for Burrow.

"Just frustrated in the day that we had. It was too sloppy," Burrow said. "We had too many penalties, too many procedural penalties. I had too many turnovers. It was just a frustrating day on offense."

Cincinnati Bengals winning streak

The Bengals have won two games in row for just the second time in 2024. And that, as actor James Gammon explained while playing Lou Brown in the classic baseball movie, "Major League II," means Cincinnati is on a winning streak.

Enjoy it, and do so for a few reasons.

The win came in spite of 26 combined penalties that amounted to 223 yards (that was the most combined penalties in any NFL game this year, by the way).

Enjoy it because Cincinnati's defense generally showed up and performed when it mattered for the second week in a row. The Bengals closed out Monday's win at Dallas with three straight defensive stops, and carried that momentum to Nashville where they forced Levis into four turnovers (three interceptions, one fumble). Stone picked Levis off and returned it 40 yards for a touchdown at the 7:24 mark in the third quarter.

That play extended the Bengals' lead to 31-14 and knocked Levis out of the game as he was replaced by backup Mason Rudolph, who managed a late but futile rally.

On Rudolph's first drive, Jordan Battle recovered a fumble near midfield and nearly ran it back for a touchdown. Instead of crossing the goal line without any fuss, though, Battle somehow lost control of the ball and spilled it out of the back of the end zone for a touchback. Not a good moment there, but that was one of few blights. It's also fair to argue the game was well in-hand at that point.

It's fair to point out that Cincinnati's defense showed some cracks in the second half but again, victory was virtually assured by the start of the fourth quarter. The Titans made the final score more respectable with touchdowns on its final two drives, including one on the final play of the game.

Fans can also enjoy this victory because it means they'll see the Bengals at Paycor Stadium again in 2024 with meaningful football still to be played as their faint playoff hopes intact, albeit barely. For what it's worth, the New York Times' NFL playoff simulation tool puts the Bengals' percentage chance of qualifying for the playoffs at 3% after the Tennesee win.

Still, meaningful football should be worth something for Bengals fans that haven't had nearly enough to cheer about at Paycor Stadium this year. Against a 3-11 Cleveland Browns team that was roughed up Sunday by the Kansas City Chiefs, Cincinnati will have an opportunity to win three in a row for the first time in 2024 and inch closer to a .500 record. Cincinnati is also trying to avoid its first losing record since the 2020 season.

"It's always in the back of your mind (the playoffs) until you're out of it," Burrow said. "We know the chances are very slim. What I'm focused on right now is playing as good as we can play, myself playing up to my standard. That's why I was so frustrated, because I didn't feel like I did that today."

Triple crown watch for Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase

If Callahan prepared his current team well for anything against his old team, it was to keep Ja'Marr Chase in front of them.

Chase never had the kind of game-breaking moment we're accustomed to seeing from him. He also didn't score, but he still went for nine receptions and 94 yards on 11 targets. That brought his triple-crown statistics to: 102 receptions, 1,413 yards and 15 touchdowns.

Chase entered the weekend leading in all three triple-crown categories. His nearest challengers in two of those areas − Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers and Minnesota Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson − play in separate games on Monday night.

The nine receptions Sunday should at least keep Chase competitive with Bowers as Chase entered the week with a six-catch lead over Bowers.

Chase's lead in touchdowns (15) will definitely remain intact. His closest pursuers there entered the weekend with nine scores.

The yardage race against the Vikings' Jefferson, the league's No. 2 receiver in terms of yards, is close, but Chase also had 149 yards of cushion there entering Sunday. After the Bengals's win, the gap was 243.

Basically, with three games to go, Chase is in a great spot for the wide-receivers' triple-crown.

Bengals defensive end Sam Hubbard can catch, too

We knew Hubbard could run. He had two career fumble returns for touchdowns entering Sunday. One was against the Miami Dolphins during his rookie season in 2018, and one was memorably against the Baltimore Ravens in the 2023 AFC Wild Card round of the playoffs. But the Titans game marked Hubbard's first score on the offensive side of the ball, and his first career catch.

On 3rd-and-2, Hubbard ran on a diagonal to the back-left pylon where he caught up with Burrow's lofted pass. His catch survived his crash into the ground, but ultimately resulted in an injury that ended his game.

The score was the fourth of Hubbard's career, including his two prior fumble returns and a safety against the Ravens on Oct. 2.

Hubbard practiced with the offense throughout the week for a situation like the one he scored on Sunday. Hubbard also had some limited tight-end experience prior to turning pro, and seized his chance.

After the catch, Burrow claimed the ball and presented it to Hubbard.

"Spent all Friday catching extra balls from Joe and (backup) Jake Browning," Hubbard said. "Joe gave me a great pass, so it was really fun. He went and got the ball. I'm gonna cherish it forever. Catching a touchdown from Joe Burrow − that's something not everyone can say.

"That touchdown right there was special... That was a really cool moment, something that Zac drew up for me and I'm thankful to him. He's done so much for me in my career, so just thankful."

Regarding the injury, Hubbard said he banged his knee when he hit the ground on the catch and would require an MRI for further evaluation.

Bengals remaining 2024 NFL schedule

Three games remain in the 2024-25 season for Cincinnati with the next two coming at Paycor Stadium.

Up next are the Browns (3-11), who hosted and lost to the Chiefs 21-7 on Sunday. The Bengals and Browns are scheduled for a 1 p.m. kickoff on Sunday.

Then, Cincinnati hosts the Denver Broncos. This could be the Bengals' last and best chance to have any say over the AFC playoff picture. The day and time for this showdown is yet to be announced by the NFL. The game could be Dec. 28 or Dec. 29.

The Bengals close out the regular-season at the Pittsburgh Steelers on Jan. 5. A kickoff time for that contest is yet to be announced.