Titans vs Bengals Tale of the Tape: Who has the edge?
Titans vs Bengals Tale of the Tape: Wide receiver
Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans thought they found the missing piece to their wide receiver puzzle when they got their hands on Julio Jones during the offseason in 2021. But, due to his age and injuries, Jones hasn’t had the sort of impact in Tennessee that many were expecting. In ten games, Jones racked up only 434 yards, by far the lowest of his career. To make matters worse, Jones only registered one touchdown and one game of over 100 receiving yards.
A.J. Brown, ironically enough, also hasn’t taken the leap that the franchise was hoping. In 13 games, Brown recorded 869 receiving yards, the most on the team, to go along with five touchdown scores. As a whole, the Titans receiving core has been pretty disappointing. While Brown’s 869 yards is nothing to boast about, their next best receiver is a distant second on the team with 476 yards coming from Nick Westbrook-Ikhine. Considering that the Titans are a running squad, these numbers aren’t entirely surprising.
Cincinnati Bengals
The entire NFL has to be sweating as they look at the potential of the Cincinnati Bengals receiving core. Remember when it seemed as though Ja’Marr Chase could become a bust due to his issues with catching the ball in the preseason, turns out, he’s doing just fine.
In only his first season, Chase has already been named to the Pro Bowl and you would be hard-pressed finding a better receiver overall. He finished his first season in the league with 1,455 receiving yards, good for fourth in the NFL.
Although Chase has grabbed most of the headlines, Tee Higgins should get a ton of love as well. In only his second season, Higgins recorded 1,091 yards, more than enough to be considered a number one option on most teams. With neither player 23-years-old yet, the rest of the league is going to have a ton of issues dealing with them, including the Titans.
Verdict: Bengals
This one is a landslide. The Titans have very little in terms of vertical threats, despite having big-name players. The Bengals, on the other hand, have the best young wide receiver core in the entire NFL. If Julio Jones were a few years younger, he could push the Titans over the hump but since he’s well past his prime at this point, the Bengals have to be the choice here.