Titans vs Bengals Tale of the Tape: Who has the edge?
Titans vs Bengals Tale of the Tape: Quarterback
Cincinnati Bengals
No position on the football field holds greater importance than the quarterback. With the fate of their team’s offense landing squarely on their respective shoulders, if your signal-caller isn’t near elite status, said team could be in serious trouble.
Though Joe Burrow has only played two seasons in the NFL, we feel fairly comfortable calling him an elite QB. Burrow finished up his sophomore campaign for the sixth-most passing yards in the league with 4,611. He also registered the eighth-most touchdowns in the NFL with 34.
For the most part, putting together such lofty numbers come with a price. But for Burrow, he excelled everywhere. The second-year QB threw only 14 interceptions and led the league in completion percentage at 70.4%.
Burrow is often expected to lead his team to victory. The Tennessee Titans, on the other hand, simply hope that Ryan Tannehill doesn’t screw things up.
Tennessee Titans
On paper, Tannehill’s 3,734 passing yards aren’t horrific but let’s paint a better picture for you when it comes to the respect, or lack thereof, the Titans coaching staff have for their QB.
With running back Derrick Henry in the lineup, Tannehill threw for 250.2 yards per game and was used a ton in clutch situations. With him out of the lineup, Tennessee refused to put the ball more in his hands. Actually, they gave Tannehill even fewer responsibilities. In nine games without Henry, Tannehill threw for just 192.4 yards per game. Also, Tannehill wasn’t a prolific touchdown thrower, registering only 21 TDs on the year to 14 interceptions.
In our opinion, it doesn’t appear that the Titans coaching staff has much confidence in Tannehill.
Verdict: Bengals
Joe Burrow led the NFL in completion percentage, was amongst a handful of signal-callers that threw for over 4,500 passing yards and his team routinely looks for him to get them over the hurdle. Tannehill, however, is more or less a game manager. And while that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, the Bengals will clearly have the edge when it comes to quarterback play.