Bengals get some good news on the Auden Tate injury front

A small Auden Tate injury update is a good one.

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It sounds like Cincinnati Bengals wideout Auden Tate escaped the worst-case scenario after getting carted off with a neck injury over the weekend in Oakland.

Tate — who traveled back with the team and sent a message to Bengals fans — will enter concussion protocol, per head coach Zac Taylor:

“Auden is in concussion protocol. He has a cervical strain as well. He was on the plane last night. I was able to talk to him, and he can do all that stuff. He’ll be in the concussion protocol.”

That’s a big sigh of relief for Tate, who got hit and remained down during Sunday’s loss to the Raiders. A previous report from NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero had said all reports were negative.

Given the extent of the injuries, Tate figures to miss a large chunk of time. But given the scary circumstances, the outcome has to be seen as a positive.

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Titans favored over Jaguars ahead of Sunday

They’ll look to stay hot coming off the bye week as they face the visiting division rival Jacksonville Jaguars (4-6) on Sunday in Nashville, Tennessee.

The Tennessee Titans (5-5) have evened out their record following a 35-32 victory over the Kanasas City Chiefs.

They’ll look to stay hot coming off the bye week as they face the visiting division rival Jacksonville Jaguars (4-6) on Sunday in Nashville, Tennessee.

The Titans are favored to just that by a point spread of (-3.5), according to Bet MGM.

The most recent clash between the two teams ended in a 20-7 Jags victory in Jacksonville, Florida, but both teams have undergone some changes since that matchup.

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Nick Foles has made his return under center, but the Jaguars offense didn’t exactly ignite upon having him back. Jacksonville’s ground game particularly suffered in last week’s loss to the Colts, with just nine combined rushing attempts for a total of 29 yards.

Play-calling was incredibly questionable, given Leonard Fournette’s meager eight carries. The former LSU standout is one of the most established rushers in the league, so one would think the Jags would want to integrate him far more into their game plan.

The Titans have also made a quarterback switch, benching Marcus Mariota in favor of Ryan Tannehill in the third quarter of Week 6’s shutout loss to the Denver Broncos.

The team hasn’t looked back since, with Tannehill posting a 3-1 overall record as the starter.

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The signal-caller totals 1,161 passing yards with eight touchdowns and four interceptions since taking over.

The Titans and Jaguars are set to kick off at 3:05 p.m. CT on Sunday in Nissan Stadium.

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Bengals still slotted for first overall pick despite competition from Redskins

The Bengals remain ahead of the Redskins in 2020 NFL draft order.

The Cincinnati Bengals remain in the hunt for the 2020 NFL draft’s top overall pick, though the Washington Redskins continue to make it interesting.

Thanks to a loss in Oakland — matching Dave Shula’s franchise-worst start — the Bengals sit at 0-10 as the only winless team in the NFL. That keeps them in the first slot of the current draft order

But there is Washington right behind. Those Redskins are 1-9, the only win of the season coming against Miami. Otherwise, they have lost four in a row.

Washington perhaps out-tanking the Bengals might not be the end of the world. A lot can change between now and the draft obviously, but the Redskins drafted a first-round passer last year with Dwayne Haskins. If the Bengals are after a quarterback, the Redskins might not be a threat anyway.

With games against Miami, Cleveland and the Jets still on the schedule, the Bengals could easily win enough to move out of the first slot. But understandably, 0-16 is starting to become a question Zac Taylor hears often.

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Titans stand at middle of the pack in Week 12 NFL power rankings

The team has evened out its record, now at 5-5 ahead of this week’s matchup against the division rival Jacksonville Jaguars (4-6).

The Tennessee Titans didn’t see any action Sunday, enjoying a bye week after a 35-32 home win over the Kansas City Chiefs last Sunday.

The team has evened out its record, now at 5-5 ahead of this week’s matchup against the division rival Jacksonville Jaguars (4-6).

The Titans rose slightly in Touchdown Wire’s NFL power rankings for Week 12, standing at roughly the middle of the pack at No. 15. Tennessee was placed at No. 16 last week.

Here’s what analyst Doug Farrar had to say about his placement of the Titans on the list, directly ahead of the Carolina Panthers and behind the Philadelphia Eagles.

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“The Titans have an interesting decision to make at the quarterback position, and one assumes general manager Jon Robinson thought about it a bit during his team’s bye week,” he wrote.

It’s clear the writing is on the wall for former starting quarterback Marcus Mariota, but the future of Ryan Tannehill and the quarterback position in general remains uncertain.

“The Marcus Mariota era is clearly over, as Mariota was benched a few weeks back, and he becomes a free agent at the start of the 2020 league year. But what to do with Ryan Tannehill, who was maddeningly inconsistent through five years in Miami, but has played pretty well in four games as a starter for this team? From Weeks 7-10, Tannehill ranks fourth in the NFL in yards per attempt at 8.5, he’s tied for third with eight touchdown passes and he has just three interceptions. He ranks eighth in passing yards with 1,017, and he’s fifth in passer rating at 107.5. That’s not to say Tannehill is ready for a big-time contract and a multiyear commitment. But he clearly has become smarter and less frenetic in the pocket, and he’s helping his receivers make plays in ways Mariota generally struggled to. The Titans are 3-1 in Tannehill’s starts. At the very least, Tannehill has proven that he can be a valuable bridge quarterback, and with a 2019 cap hit of $1,875,000, that’s as good a situation as you can expect for a franchise that appeared to be in quarterback purgatory.”

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It will be interesting to see if Tannehill and the Titans can keep the momentum going as they take on the Jaguars at 3:05 p.m. CT on Sunday in Nissan Stadium.

Titans-Jaguars: Time, TV Schedule and how to watch

Here is the broadcast information, as well as other important details to know about the upcoming game

The Tennessee Titans spent last Sunday enjoying a bye week shortly after teh defeating the Kansas City Chiefs 35-32 during the previous week.

Now, the Titans (5-5) look to stay hot as they face the visiting Jacksonville Jaguars (4-6). The last meeting against Jacksonville didn’t end in Tennessee’s favor, as the team fell 20-7 in a dismal road loss.

If you won’t be around a TV or at the event to watch the action unfold, you can live stream the game on fuboTV.

Here is the broadcast information, as well as other important details to know about the upcoming game:

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Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Tennessee Titans: Sunday, Nov. 24 at 3:05 p.m. CT

TV channel: CBS

Live stream: fuboTV ( try it free)

Broadcast Team: Ian Eagle, Dan Fouts, Evan Washburn

Location: Nissan Stadium

Weather forecast: Sunny, 52 degrees

Point spread: Titans, (-3.5)

As 0-16 questions begin, Zac Taylor focuses on Steelers week

The Bengal coach isn’t worried about going winless.

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The Cincinnati Bengals are legitimate 0-16 contenders.

Which isn’t to say the team hasn’t shown any growth over the course of the season. And isn’t to say the schedule doesn’t get a little easier.

But the questions popping up now at 0-10 make plenty of sense.

With another date against the Pittsburgh Steelers looming, Taylor can only focus on the now when asked about 0-16, as he told the media:

“No. I don’t even have time to think about that. We don’t want to be 0-11. We want to go get this win. We got on that airplane thinking we were going to go to Oakland and win that game. In the fourth quarter, we thought we were going to win the game. It’s extremely frustrating when you don’t. You put in all that work and feel like, ‘All right, we’re going to go out and get this finally,’ and then you don’t. You need to regroup. You have no choice. You need to keep your head up. We need to get after these guys this week. It’s a tough opponent for us. Our guys are looking to rebound, but we can’t think that far down the road. We just need to focus on this Sunday.”

But this Sunday comes with its usual batch of questions as the Steelers come to town. Pittsburgh owns the series and a new head coach didn’t exactly change that in Week 4 when Cincinnati went down on the road, 27-3.

The recent returns haven’t exactly helped fend off 0-16 talk either. The Bengals came out of the bye and took a 49-13 beating at the hands of Baltimore. A 17-10 loss in Oakland followed in which the passing game could only generate 115 yards on a 3.7 average.

It is going to take some serious help from an opponent for the Bengals to win a game or two. Maybe Pittsburgh’s rash of injuries makes it happen. Two games against Cleveland, one against the Jets and one against Miami could provide an opening.

But slowly, the 0-16 noise continues to build.

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Zac Taylor dismisses idea of going back to Andy Dalton over Ryan Finley

Zac Taylor won’t go back to Andy Dalton.

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Zac Taylor is focused on this week, and according to the Cincinnati Bengals head coach himself, this week is still about Ryan Finley.

The fourth-round rookie playing in place of Andy Dalton has a two-game sample on his resume now and given the results, it has been fair to wonder if the Bengals might go back to the veteran.

Monday, Taylor shot the idea down while talking with the media: “Ryan is our starter this week against Pittsburgh, and I have a hard time looking beyond that. He’s going to give us an opportunity to win this week.”

Later, he noted the growing pains weren’t unexpected:

“…I see enough really encouraging things from him, whether it’s his preparation over the course of the week, how he’s practicing, the difference between week two to week one, in a lot of those areas. You can see his confidence starting to grow. Now he’s playing difference styles of defenses each week.”

From the beginning, it always sounded like Finley was going to get a full eight games to show what he can do.

But two games into the switch, it is only understandable that questions have come up. Finley completed 13 of 31 attempts in Oakland and now sits on a 47.5 completion percentage with one touchdown and two interceptions over two games.

For now, Taylor sounds like he’s taking this on a game-by-game basis. A Pittsburgh defense awaits next weekend.

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Titans QB Marcus Mariota offers support for Tua Tagovailoa

Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota is no stranger to injury.

He’s never play a full season because of it, although this year has been different for him since he was benched in favor of Ryan Tannehill.

He was watching when Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa went down with a serious injury against the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Saturday.

Mariota has connections to the signal-caller, and has known him since he was young.

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The two attended the Saint Louis High in Honolulu, Hawaii, and have stayed in contact since childhood.

“It was tough to watch,” Mariota said on Monday in a report by the team’s Jim Wyatt. “I am sitting there watching, and I was like, ‘C’mon, man, get up. Please get up.’ When I saw him get carted off, you just start praying and hoping he is OK. I felt for him.”

Tagovailoa underwent surgery on his dislocated right hip on Monday in Houston, Texas.

It will be interesting to see how the injury affects the star quarterback’s draft stock heading into next year. Before it, Tagovailoa was largely considered the top quarterback prospect available and one of the first five players overall projected to be taken in the first round.

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“I am praying for him and his family,” Mariota said. “and anything we can do to help and show him support we are more than willing to do. I hope this is just a stepping stone for him, and something he can grow from. He is a tough kid, and I really think he’ll bounce back from this.”

Tyler Boyd isn’t happy with his lack of targets vs. Raiders

The Bengals WR had some choice comments after the loss to Oakland.

Tyler Boyd isn’t thrilled coming out of Sunday’s loss.

The No. 1 wideout for the Cincinnati Bengals was oddly not part of the gameplan often. Zac Taylor’s attack in the seven-point loss doled out four or more targets to four different players.

Boyd wasn’t one of those.

“I feel like I’m a game-changer and I can use my talents any way that comes my way,” Boyd said, according to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. “They were playing a lot of zone coverage. I felt like I should have the opportunities in the red zone, especially that second-to-last-drive.”

Now, Boyd isn’t the type to cause a ruckus. He’s a quiet leader and like anyone else on the team, he’s had some down games this season.

But Sunday’s debacle was strange. The Raiders entered the game with one of the NFL’s worst pass defenses statistically. Ryan Finley attempted 31 passes and only three of those went to Boyd. He also completed just 13 overall for 115 yards.

Most notably, a key fourth-down target late in the game went to Damion Willis. Not Boyd, or even two of the tight ends or running backs, but Willis, who had just gotten called back up from the practice squad days earlier.

We’d be remiss not to mention Taylor’s play-calling has seemed spotty for most of the season. And while this isn’t Boyd railing against his coach, he can’t ignore what everybody else knows — he should’ve been more involved in a close game.

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It’s even more official: Bengals are drafting a QB

Ryan Finley isn’t going to stop the Bengals from taking a QB at the top of the 2020 NFL draft.

Can the obvious become even more obvious?

Sure seems like it for an 0-10 Cincinnati Bengals team. These Bengals have been circled in red ink as a team drafting a quarterback near the top of the 2020 draft.

The coaching staff yanking the rug out from under longtime starter Andy Dalton seemed to potentially muddy this idea. If fourth-round rookie Ryan Finley could show hints of being a long-term solution, the Bengals could be free to pursue any position, meaning a shot at Chase Young.

So much for that.

In Sunday’s 17-10 loss to Oakland, Finley completed 13 of his 31 attempts for 115 yards with a lost fumble and a game-ending interception.

So no, the guy this coaching staff traded up to get after he was one of two quarterbacks to take pre-draft visits with the team isn’t the answer.

And before anyone screams — yes, two games is a small sample to use. And yes, Finley’s surroundings are worst-in-league status.

But the problems are very apparent. Before the draft, perhaps the biggest complaint about Finley was arm strength. He was throwing ducks in Oakland and should’ve had an interception go back for a touchdown just like the week prior. His other massive problem — age — is worth considering too. He’ll be 25 in December, so there’s no upside.

Over two games, Finley has thrown fort just 282 yards with one score and two picks over 61 attempts, good for a 47.5 completion percentage and average of 4.6 yards. The Raiders, by the way, ranked among the six teams giving up the most passing yards per game.

In a season where all sorts of unknowns like Gardner Minshew and Kyle Allen have put up passable football, Finley doesn’t look like he’ll join those ranks.

The Bengals should ride it out with Finley instead of going back to Dalton, of course. But Sunday was merely another affirmation the move has to be quarterback at the top of the 2020 draft.

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