NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The road to Los Angeles ended for the Tennessee Titans Saturday night. The Titans fell to the Cincinnati Bengals at Nissan Stadium, 19-16, giving the Bengals their first AFC Divisional Round playoff win since 1988.
Things did not start off hot for the Titans. On the opening drive of the game, quarterback Ryan Tannehill threw an interception in the very first play of the game. This snapped seven touchdowns with no interceptions streak for Tannehill.
The Bengals got the ball past mid-field to start their opening drive of the game. Cincinnati got on the board first, finishing the drive with a 38-yard field goal. Evan McPherson made the kick with 12:06 left to play in the first quarter.
The Titans' second drive of the game did not start much better. Ryan Tannehill was sacked on third down and the Titans had a net -6 yards in their first two drives of the game.
Cincinnati would answer again in the first quarter, with McPherson hitting a 38-yard field goal with 2:11. This put the Bengals up, 6-0.
At the end of the first quarter, Cincinnati totaled 84 yards of offense to the Titans' 38 yards.
With 1:40 left to play in the first half, McPherson hit his third field goal of the game to give the Bengals a 9-6 lead at halftime.
The Titans applied the pressure to quarterback Joe Burrow all game. Burrow was sacked nine times. Tennessee tied the all-time NFL playoff record for sacks in a single game with 9 sacks.
Despite the pressure, Burrow finished with 348 passing yards.
To start the second half, Joe Mixon scored on a 16-yard rush to give the Bengals a 16-9 lead.
With 7:00 minutes left to play in the third quarter, Ryan Tannehill threw his second interception of the game, as the Titans were in the red zone. It was Tannehill’s fourth red-zone interception this season, the most in the NFL.
However, this is where things got exciting on both ends of the ball.
With 1:19 left to play in the third quarter, Amani Hooker picked off Joe Burrow’s pass, giving the Titans the ball in prime field position.
With 0:15 seconds left to play in the third, Ryan Tannehill connects with A.J. Brown on the second and 16. Brown catches a 33-yard pass from Tannehill to find the corner of the end zone.
Titans tied the game, 16-16 to end the third quarter.
With 2:43 left to play in the game, the Titans were driving on the Bengals. However, Tannehill threw his third interception of the game.
That gave the Bengals the ball with less than two minutes to play.
McPherson won the game for the Bengals on a 52-yard field goal.
The Titans end the 2021-22 season, 12-6.
