GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: NFL: TENNESSEE (6-4) at CINCINNATI (3-7)

NFL: TENNESSEE (6-4) at CINCINNATI (3-7)

<h3>Titans look to end two-game skid against Bengals</h3>



<div class="pre">Tennessee (6-4) at Cincinnati (3-7) 1:00 pm EST</div>

CINCINNATI (Ticker) -- Once thought to be a shoo-in for a playoffberth, the Tennessee Titans have fallen back in the postseasonchase.


Coming off two straight lopsided losses, the Titans visit theCincinnati Bengals on Sunday.


At one time, Tennessee was 6-2 and within a game of theIndianapolis Colts for the lead in the AFC South.


Two defeats later, the Titans are struggling for playoffsurvival in the tight AFC race.


An injury to behemoth defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth hascontributed to the recent slide for Tennessee, which gave up 344total yards in Monday night's 34-20 loss to the Denver Broncos.The Broncos punted only three times in the entire game,scoring on all but four possessions.


The Titans, who were allowing just 66 rushing yards througheight games this season, have surrendered an average of 157yards over the last two weeks without Haynesworth in the lineupin losses to the Jacksonville Jaguars and Broncos, who rushedfor 148 yards.


"Losing Albert is tough," Tennessee coach Jeff Fisher said. "Westill need to make plays but when you don't have a player ofhis ability, you can't easily replace him. We still needed tomake plays."


Conversely, the Titans' running game has slowed considerable.LenDale White, after registering three straight 100-yard games,has been limited to 42 and 12 yards in the last two contests.

The one plus for Tennessee was the play of second-yearquarterback Vince Young, who had his first 300-yard passing gameMonday night.


The lost season continued for the Bengals in a 35-27 loss to theArizona Cardinals last weekend.


Quarterback Carson Palmer threw for 329 yards but was alsopicked off four times, two of which were returned by cornerbackAntrel Rolle for touchdowns.


Rolle actually brought back a third interception for a TD, onlyto see it called back due to a penalty.


Cincinnati's defense, which has allowed more than 30 points fivetimes this season, actually played fairly well against theCardinals, limiting Edgerrin James to 52 yards rushing and KurtWarner to 211 yards passing.


The running game continues to struggle. Rudi Johnson, who satour three games due to injury, has just one 100-yard game thisseason and has managed just 82 yards in his last three gamescombined.


Wide receiver Chris Henry has provided a boost to the passinggame, hauling in 12 receptions for 180 yards and a TD in the twogames since returning from an eight-game suspension.

 

NFL: TENNESSEE at CINCINNATI

<div class="pre">NFL
TENNESSEE 0
CINCINNATI 0 14:54 LEFT, 1ST QTR

TEN BALL ON TEN 30 YD LINE
1ST AND 10</div>

 

NFL: TENNESSEE at CINCINNATI

<div class="pre">NFL
TENNESSEE 0
CINCINNATI 0 13:07 LEFT, 1ST QTR

CIN BALL ON CIN 24 YD LINE
1ST AND 10</div>

 

NFL: TENNESSEE at CINCINNATI

<div class="pre">NFL TD CIN
RUDI JOHNSON 5 YD RUN
(SHAYNE GRAHAM KICK)

TENNESSEE 0
CINCINNATI 7 7:50 LEFT, 1ST QTR</div>

 

NFL: TENNESSEE at CINCINNATI

<div class="pre">NFL
TENNESSEE 0
CINCINNATI 7 7:43 LEFT, 1ST QTR

TEN BALL ON TEN 36 YD LINE
1ST AND 10</div>

 

NFL: TENNESSEE at CINCINNATI

<div class="pre">NFL
TENNESSEE 0
CINCINNATI 7 5:01 LEFT, 1ST QTR

CIN BALL ON CIN 46 YD LINE
1ST AND 10</div>

 

NFL: TENNESSEE at CINCINNATI

<div class="pre">NFL END, 1ST QTR 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
TENNESSEE 0 0
CINCINNATI 7 7 END, 1ST QTR

SCORING SUMMARY

1ST QUARTER: CIN - TD, RUDI JOHNSON 5 YD RUN (SHAYNE
GRAHAM KICK), 7:10. Drive: 10
plays, 76 yards in 5:17. Key plays:
Palmer 7-yard pass to C Johnson on
3rd-and-1 to Cincinnati 40; Dorsey
10-yard run to Midfield; Palmer
15-yard pass to Houshmandzadeh to
Tennessee 35; Palmer 13-yard pass
to Houshmandzadeh to Tennessee 19.
CINCINNATI 7-0</div>

 

NFL: TENNESSEE at CINCINNATI

<div class="pre">NFL TENNESSEE 0
CINCINNATI 7 14:55 LEFT, 2ND QTR</div>

 

NFL: TENNESSEE at CINCINNATI

<div class="pre">NFL MISSED FG CIN
SHAYNE GRAHAM 27 YD ATTEMPT WIDE LEFT

TENNESSEE 0
CINCINNATI 7 14:26 LEFT, 2ND QTR</div>

 

NFL: TENNESSEE at CINCINNATI

<div class="pre">NFL
TENNESSEE 0
CINCINNATI 7 14:26 LEFT, 2ND QTR

TEN BALL ON TEN 20 YD LINE
1ST AND 10</div>

 

NFL: TENNESSEE at CINCINNATI

<div class="pre">NFL
TENNESSEE 0
CINCINNATI 7 13:20 LEFT, 2ND QTR

CIN BALL ON CIN 5 YD LINE
1ST AND 10</div>

 

NFL: TENNESSEE at CINCINNATI

<div class="pre">NFL
TENNESSEE 0
CINCINNATI 7 10:32 LEFT, 2ND QTR

TEN BALL ON CIN 18 YD LINE
1ST AND 10</div>

 

NFL: TENNESSEE at CINCINNATI

<div class="pre">NFL FG TEN
ROB BIRONAS 28 YD

TENNESSEE 3
CINCINNATI 7 9:40 LEFT, 2ND QTR</div>

 

NFL: TENNESSEE at CINCINNATI

<div class="pre">NFL
TENNESSEE 3
CINCINNATI 7 9:34 LEFT, 2ND QTR

CIN BALL ON CIN 31 YD LINE
1ST AND 10</div>

 

NFL: TENNESSEE at CINCINNATI

<div class="pre">NFL TD CIN
CHAD JOHNSON 10 YD PASS FROM CARSON PALMER
(SHAYNE GRAHAM KICK)

TENNESSEE 3
CINCINNATI 14 4:20 LEFT, 2ND QTR</div>

 

NFL: TENNESSEE at CINCINNATI

<div class="pre">NFL
TENNESSEE 3
CINCINNATI 14 4:14 LEFT, 2ND QTR

TEN BALL ON TEN 42 YD LINE
1ST AND 10</div>

 

NFL: TENNESSEE at CINCINNATI

<div class="pre">NFL TWO MINUTE WARNING, 1ST HALF

TENNESSEE 3
CINCINNATI 14

TEN BALL ON CIN 17 YD LINE
2ND AND 8</div>

 

NFL: TENNESSEE at CINCINNATI

<div class="pre">NFL FG TEN
ROB BIRONAS 23 YD

TENNESSEE 6
CINCINNATI 14 0:03 LEFT, 2ND QTR</div>

 

NFL: TENNESSEE at CINCINNATI

<div class="pre">NFL HALFTIME 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
TENNESSEE 0 6 6
CINCINNATI 7 7 14 HALFTIME

SCORING SUMMARY

1ST QUARTER: CIN - TD, RUDI JOHNSON 5 YD RUN (SHAYNE
GRAHAM KICK), 7:10. Drive: 10
plays, 76 yards in 5:17. Key plays:
Palmer 7-yard pass to C Johnson on
3rd-and-1 to Cincinnati 40; Dorsey
10-yard run to midfield; Palmer
15-yard pass to Houshmandzadeh to
Tennessee 35; Palmer 13-yard pass
to Houshmandzadeh to Tennessee 19.
CINCINNATI 7-0
2ND QUARTER: TEN - FG, ROB BIRONAS 28 YD, 5:20. Drive: 4
plays, 8 yards in 0:52. Key plays:
Lowry 17-yard interception return
to Cincinnati 18. CINCINNATI 7-3
CIN - TD, CHAD JOHNSON 10 YD PASS FROM CARSON
PALMER (SHAYNE GRAHAM KICK), 10:40.
Drive: 9 plays, 69 yards in 5:20.
Key plays: Palmer 26-yard pass to
Kelly to Tennessee 43; Palmer
16-yard pass to Houshmandzadeh to
Tennessee 20; Palmer 9-yard pass to
C Johnson on 3rd-and-7 to Tennessee
8. CINCINNATI 14-3
TEN - FG, ROB BIRONAS 23 YD, 14:57. Drive: 9
plays, 53 yards in 4:11. Key plays:
Young 27-yard pass to CINCINNATI
14-6</div>

 

NFL: TENNESSEE at CINCINNATI

<div class="pre">NFL HALFTIME 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
TENNESSEE 0 6 6
CINCINNATI 7 7 14 HALFTIME

SCORING SUMMARY

1ST QUARTER:

7:10 CIN - TD, R Johnson 5 Yd Run (S Graham Kick).
Drive: 10 plays, 76 yards in 5:17.
Key plays: Palmer 7-yard pass to C Johnson on 3rd-and-1 to
Cincinnati 40; Dorsey 10-yard run to midfield; Palmer 15-yard pass to
Houshmandzadeh to Tennessee 35; Palmer 13-yard pass to Houshmandzadeh to
Tennessee 19. Cincinnati 7-0.

2ND QUARTER:

5:20 TEN - FG, R Bironas 28 Yd.
Drive: 4 plays, 8 yards in 0:52.
Key plays: Lowry 17-yard interception return to Cincinnati 18.
Cincinnati 7-3.
10:40 CIN - TD, C Johnson 10 Yd Pass From C Palmer (S Graham Kick).
Drive: 9 plays, 69 yards in 5:20.
Key plays: Palmer 26-yard pass to Kelly to Tennessee 43; Palmer
16-yard pass to Houshmandzadeh to Tennessee 20; Palmer 9-yard pass to C
Johnson on 3rd-and-7 to Tennessee 8. Cincinnati 14-3.
14:57 TEN - FG, R Bironas 23 Yd.
Drive: 9 plays, 53 yards in 4:17.
Key plays: Young 10-yard pass to Gage to Cincinnati 45; Young
27-yard pass to Hartsock to Cincinnati 18; White 11-yard run to Cincinnati
6. Cincinnati 14-6.

Tennessee - Cincinnati End 2nd Qtr Statistics

TEAM STATISTICS Tennessee Cincinnati

FIRST DOWNS 5 14
Rushing 1 4
Passing 4 10
Penalty 0 0
THIRD DOWN EFFICIENCY 1-5-20% 6-8-75%
TOTAL NET YARDS 162 214
Total offensive plays 23 35
Average gain per play 7.0 6.1
NET YARDS RUSHING 40 55
Rushing attempts 10 13
Average gain per rush 4.0 4.2
NET YARDS PASSING 122 159
Times sacked: Number-Yards 1-2 1-5
Gross passing yards 124 164
PASS ATTEMPTS-COMPLETIONS-HAD INTERCEPTED 12-8-1 21-18-1
Avg gain per pass play 9.4 7.2
PUNTS: Number and Average 1-39.0 0-0.0
PENALTIES: Number-Yards 1-5 3-30
FUMBLES: Number-Lost 1-1 0-0
TOUCHDOWNS 0 2
Rushing 0 1
Passing 0 1
Interceptions 0 0
Other (blocked kicks, etc.) 0 0
EXTRA POINTS: Made-Attempts 0-0 2-2
Kicking: Made-Attempts 0-0 2-2
Passing: Made-Attempts 0-0 0-0
Rushing: Made-Attempts 0-0 0-0
FIELD GOALS: Made-Attempts 2-2 0-1
SAFETIES 0 0
TIME OF POSSESSION 10:58 19:02


INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Tennessee Cincinnati

RUSHING ATT YDS AVG LG TD RUSHING ATT YDS AVG LG TD
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
L WHITE 7 27 3.9 11 0 R JOHNSON 9 30 3.3 7 1
C BROWN 2 12 6.0 8 0 D DORSEY 3 20 6.7 10 0
V YOUNG 1 1 1.0 1 0 A CHATMAN 1 5 5.0 5 0

PASSING CM-AT-YDS IN TD LG PASSING CM-AT-YDS IN TD LG
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
V YOUNG 8-12-124 1 0 73 C PALMER 18-21-164 1 1 26

Sacked-Yards Lost: V YOUNG 1-2. Sacked-Yards Lost: C PALMER 1-5.

RECEIVING NO YDS AVG LG TD RECEIVING NO YDS AVG LG TD
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
J GAGE 3 87 29.0 73 0 C JOHNSON 7 50 7.1 10 1
L WHITE 2 -1 -0.5 0 0 T HOUSHMAN 4 47 11.8 16 0
B HARTSOCK 1 27 27.0 27 0 K WATSON 3 18 6.0 9 0
C BARCLAY 1 6 6.0 6 0 R KELLY 2 30 15.0 26 0
R WILLIAMS 1 5 5.0 5 0 C HENRY 1 19 19.0 19 0
D DORSEY 1 0 0.0 0 0

KICKING XP/XPA FG/FGA KICKING XP/XPA FG/FGA
---------------------------------- ----------------------------------
R BIRONAS 0/0 2/2 S GRAHAM 2/2 0/1
Dist.: 28 23 Dist.: (26)</div>