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Titans vs Bengals: Keys to victory

The Titans (6-4) will attempt to remain in playoff contention on Sunday when they head to the Queen City to face the underachieving Bengals (3-7). Playing in a division that currently lacks a team with a losing record; the Titans will be looking to avoid a three game losing streak as they try to keep pace with the Jags and the division-leading Colts in the tough AFC South.

Tennessee will be playing a Cincinnati team that has failed to live up to the hype and expectations that surrounded them at the beginning of the year. Despite possessing blue-chip receiving talent such as the loquacious Chad Johnson, T.J. “Who’s your momma” Houshmandzadeh, the “other” Chris Henry, and a franchise caliber quarterback (Carson Palmer) delivering them the football, the Bengals have resembled the Bungles of a decade ago as they have descended to the bottom of the AFC North division.

If the Titans are to emerge victorious and claim their 7th victory of the season, the following objectives must be accomplished:

Stop Cincinnati’s passing game

Despite their poor record, the Bengals possess more than enough firepower on offense to remain competitive with most of the league’s teams. A team with a group of receivers as talented as the Bengals’ troika is capable of exploiting any defense. The Titans will need to put pressure on Palmer and receive a good performance from the defensive backfield if they are going to put the clamps on Cincy’s dangerous passing game.

Get a stellar performance from Vince Young 

This week, Vince Young will be facing one of the league’s worst pass defenses. Cincinnati’s 26th ranked pass defense has given up an average of 243.1 yards per game. Their porous pass defense is 2nd in the league in touchdowns allowed (22) while also allowing opposing quarterbacks to attain a cumulative 97.3 quarterback rating against them. If the Titans’ receivers can just hang onto the football (easier said than done, unfortunately), expect Vince Young to have a solid performance this Sunday.

Win games you are supposed to win

This is a game that a legitimate playoff contender is supposed to win. Teams with genuine aspirations of making the postseason are expected to defeat bad teams such as the Bengals. The Titans’ remaining schedule consists of five games against opponents who currently don’t have a winning record, so taking care of business against less than stellar teams is the path the Titans must take if they are to reach the playoffs.

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 24th, 2007 at 4:26 pm and is filed under Previews, Commentary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.