8/3/2019 Sports Titans Gameday

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By JOE KAYAP Sports Writer

CINCINNATI After a midweekpractice, the receiver formerly knownas Chad Johnson loosened one of thestraps on his protective shoulder har-ness with a disdainful tug.

I really wish theyd let me takethis thing off because its getting inthe way, he said, moving his leftshoulder freely once the brace was

loosened. Seriously, its getting inthe way. Its hampering my perfor-mance. Its just in the way. I dontwant it on me.

He may want to keep it for at leastone more week.

The Tennessee Titans are comingto town with a determination not to letthe Pro Bowl receiver embarrass themagain. When they played last seasonin Cincinnati, the Bengals receiverhad a career day featuring an over-the-top touchdown celebration.

The Titans remember how OchoCinco rubbed it in.

Definitely, were lookingforward to playing the Ben-gals and Oucho Cinco thisweek, Titans linebackerKeith Bulluck said. Were

aware of his shoulder. Hehas a little owie. We defi-nitely send that mes-sage to him.

Since hebriefly dislo-cated his leftshoulder inthe secondpr e s eas on

game, Ocho Cinco has worn the har-ness, designed to limit his movementwhile the shoulder heals. With orwithout it, hell be the target of a de-fense still smarting from the last timethey met.

He had a career-high 12 catches for103 yards and three touchdowns lastNov. 25 in a 35-6 win that representedthe Titans most one-sided loss of theseason. After his first touchdown, thereceiver commandeered a television

camera behind the end zone, drawinga penalty for his celebration.

The Titans dont want any replays.Im probably not going to get the

same looks I got last year, the receiv-er said. Im sure theyre going tomake it a lot more difficult, a lot morecomplicated for us as an offense, in-cluding myself.

For the Titans, its not only a goodtest of their pass coverage. Theyll seehow the offense looks without quar-terback Vince Young, who sprained

his left knee in a 17-10 winover Jacksonville

and is sidelined in-definitely. Young

was booed be-fore he gothurt, and ques-

tions abouthis emotionalwel l -beingand his

w h e r e -abouts

c o n -

sumed the early part of Tennesseesweek.

While Young dealt with the injury,quarterback Kerry Collins got readyfor the only team he has never facedduring his 14-year career. Collinsdoesnt run like Young, but expectsthe Titans to stay true to form in hisabsence.

We believe in running the ballhere, and I know thats part of everygame plan that Ive been part of here,

said Collins, who played in six gameslast season.

The 35-year-old quarterback islikely to let rookie running back ChrisJohnson do most of the work. Johnsonran for 93 yards in his debut last Sun-day, and will be facing a defense thatgave up 229 yards on the ground inBaltimore.

I dont think well be making aliving out of quarterback draws andthings like that, but Kerry can do dif-ferent things with the ball, coach JeffFisher said. Hes in great shape. Heworked hard in the offseason. He lostweight. Hes running around. He doesnot look or play to his age right now.He appears to be four or five yearsyounger.

The Bengals look like their old

selves. An offense that scored fivetouchdowns against the Titans lastNovember has managed only nine inthe six games since. A fumble returnaccounted for their only touchdown ina 17-10 loss in Baltimore last Sundaythat was a low point.

The Bengals had the ball 12 timesand managed only eight first downs.Carson Palmer threw for 99 yards,and Cincinnati was held to 154 yardsoverall, a stunningly bad performancefor an offense that ranked among theleagues best the last few years.

Weve all seen it on film, Palmersaid. Its one of those film sessionswhere you just feel sick. Yourehealthy, but you feel sick to yourstomach just watching it.

One of the keys on Sunday will be

whether the Titans have defensivetackle Albert Haynesworth, who wassidelined by a hamstring injury whenthe teams played in November.Haynesworth got a mild concussion inthe opener and sat out practices dur-ing the week. If he plays, the Bengalsexpect to see a much different defensethan the last time around.

The change is him, Palmersaid. I mean, hes virtually un-

blockable. He kind of does what-ever he wants. Its like a manplaying against boys.

C8 | Sunday, Sept. 14, 2008| THE DAILY NEWS JOURNAL | www.dnj.com

TITANSGAMEDAYTodays Game at Bengals: Noon at Paul Brown Stadium TV:WTVF-5 (CBS). Radio:WKDF-FM 103.3. Line: Bengals by 1

Titans 17

Jaguars 14

Today

at Cincinnati

Sept. 21

vs. Houston

Sept. 28

vs. Minnesota

Oct. 5

at Baltimore

Oct. 19

at Kansas City

Oct. 27

Indianapolis

Nov. 2

Green Bay

Nov. 9

at Chicago

Nov. 16

at Jacksonville

Nov. 23

N.Y. Jets

Nov. 27

at Detroit

Dec. 7

Cleveland

Dec. 14

at Houston

Dec. 21

Pittsburgh

Dec. 28

at Indianapolis

Individual Stats

Titans Two-deep

P as sin g A tt C om Yd s T D I nt R atV inc e Yo un g 22 12 1 10 1 2 4 5. 6Kerry Collins 2 2 65 0 0 118.8

Rushing Att Yds Avg Long TDChris Johnson 15 93 6.2 18 0LenDale White 15 40 2.7 10 1Vince Young 1 4 4.0 4 0Kerry Collins 1 0 0.0 0 0

Receiving Rec Yds Avg Long TDBo Scaife 6 105 17.5 44 0Chris Johnson 3 34 11.3 20 1Justin Gage 2 25 12.5 21 0Brandon Jones 1 5 5.0 5 0Alge Crumpler 1 4 4.0 4 0Ahmard Hall 1 2 2.0 2 0

Pun ti ng Pun ts A vg T B IN 20 Lg B lo ckCraig Hentrich 7 42.9 2 0 56 0

Punt Returns Returns FC Avg Long TDChris Carr 2 2 7.5 8 0

Kick Returns Returns Yds Avg Lg TDChris Carr 2 33 16.5 21 0

Titans offenseQB 5 Collins 8 SimmsRB 25 White 28 JohnsonFB 45 Hall 35 GantherWR 19 McCareins 87 HawkinsWR 12 Gage 81 JonesLT 71 Roos 70 LoperLG 54 Amano 64 HarrisC 68 Mawae 64 HarrisRG 73 Scott 64 HarrisRT 76 Stewart 70 LoperTE 83 Crumpler 80 Scaife

Titans defenseLDE 90 Kearse 78 Ford

DT 97 Brown 91 JonesDT 92 Haynesworth 96 VickersonRDE 93 Vanden Bosch 98 BallLLB 50 Thornton 57 StamerMLB 52 Fowler 55 TullochRLB 53 Bulluck 56 AllredRCB 20 Harper 21 HillLCB 31 Finnegan 30 KingSS 24 Hope 23 NickeyFS 33 Griffin 22 Fuller

Titans special teamsK 2 BironasP 15 HentrichKR 29 CarrPR 29 Carr

InjuriesQB Vince Young (knee) is out. DE Jacob Ford (chest) and RBQuinton Ganther (hamstring) are doubtful. LB David Thornton(shoulder) is probable. DT Albert Haynesworth (concussion) isquestionable.

Individual Stats

Whos Hot

Quick take

Bengals Two-deep

Pa ss in g A tt C om Y ds T D I nt R atCar son Palme r 25 10 99 0 1 35.3

Rushing Att Yds Avg Long TDChris Perry 18 3 7 2.1 9 0Carson Palmer 3 15 5.0 9 0Kenny Watson 2 13 6.5 7 0

Receiving Rec Yds Avg Long TDT.J. Houshmandzadeh 3 44 14.7 24 0B en U te ch t 2 1 0 5 .0 8 0Kenny Watson 2 3 1.5 3 0Chad Johnson 1 22 22.0 22 0Reggie Kel ly 1 15 15.0 15 0Chris Perry 1 5 5.0 5 0

Pun ti ng Pun ts Avg T B IN 20 Lg B lo ckKyle Larson 7 45.1 0 2 56 0

Punt Returns Returns FC Avg Long TDAntonio Chatman 4 0 2.8 11 0

Kick Returns Returns Yds Avg Lg TDGlenn Holt 4 118 29.5 44 0

Bengals offenseQB 9 Palmer 11 FitzpatrickRB 23 Perry 33 WatsonFB 86 Coats 36 MauiaWR 85 Ocho Cinco 89 SimpsonWR 84 Houshmandzadeh 83 ChatmanLT 76 Jones 73 CollinsLG 77 Whitworth 61 DavisC 53 Guiaciuc 64 CookRG 63 Williams 75 KooistraRT 79 Andrews 75 KooistraTE 82 Kelly 81 Utecht

Bengals defenseLDE 91 Geathers 68 FaneneDT 94 Peko 95 HarrisDT 97 Thornton 99 ShirleyRDE 98 Odom 92 RuckerLLB 93 Jeanty 56 Blackstone

MLB 57 Jones 51 MaysRLB 55 Rivers 59 JohnsonRCB 29 Hall 20 JonesLCB 22 Joseph 21 CastilleSS 41 Ndukwe 34 Hebert FS 26 White 47 Lynch

Bengals special teamsK 17 GrahamP 19 LarsonKO 16 Holt PR 83 Chatman

InjuriesS Dexter Jackson (thumb) is out. S Herana-Daze Jones (hamstring) isdoubtful. CB David Jones (head), DE Frostee Rucker (foot), WR Andre Cald-well (toe) and DT Pat Sims (toe) are questionable. LB Brandon Johnson(hamstring), CB Johnathan Joseph (hamstring), S Chinedum Ndukwe(knee), DT Jason Shirley (heel) and C Kyle Cook (illness) are probable.

WHO HAS THE EDGE?

Quarterback

Running

Back

Receiver

Offensive

line

Defensiveline

Linebacker

Secondary

Special

teams

Coaching

Intangibles

PREDICTION

Titans 27

Jaguars 20

Tit

a

n

s: Rook-ie RB C

hri

sJ

oh

ns

o

nhad 127all-purpose

yards inthe sea-sonopener.

Be

n-g

a

ls: Rookie LBKeith Rivers ledthe team with 10tackles in his NFLdebut last week.

Whos NotTit

a

ns: The special teams unitallowed two long kickoff returns inthe opener, including a 51-yarder.

Be

nga

ls: The offense managedjust eight first downs last weekagainst Baltimore, and 154 total

yards.

At StakeTit

a

ns:A chance to go 2-0 andstay ahead in the AFC South. TheTitans can also avenge an embar-rassing 35-6 loss at Cincinnati lastseason. Getting new starting QBKerry Collins off to a flying start

would be nice, too.

Be

nga

ls:Avoiding an 0-2 start.If they cant, theyre in trouble

with road trips to the Giants, Cow-boys and Jets in three of the nextfour weeks.

Key MatchupTit

a

ns CB Cort

la

nd Finne

ga

n vs.B

e

ng

a

l

s WR Cha

d Ocho Ci

n

c

oA year ago the wideout blis-

tered the Titans for 12 catches,103 yards and three touchdownsin a 35-6 Cincinnati win. Finneganis well equipped to keep Cinco incheck and is coming off a two-in-terception game and AFC Defen-sive Player of the Week honors.Finnegan will try to get physical

with Cinco to disrupt his routesand timing with QB CarsonPalmer.

Titans win if...The defense plays like it did last

week against Jacksonville and notlike it did last year at Cincinnati.

The Titans will need to protectCollins and give him time to throwdownfield.

Bengals win if...Palmer can get into a rhythm

like he did a year ago, when hewas 32-of-38 against the Titans.Cincinnati will also need to slowdown Tennessees running game.

Vince Young has a knee injuryand a troubled psyche. So KerryCollins is the QB, and the just-signed Chris Simms is behind him,leaving the Titans with two pocketpassers, instead of a scrambler.

Cincinnati lost to a Baltimoreteam with a rookie quarterback,

Joe Flacco, starting his first NFLgame, and got its only TD on afumble return. Carson Palmer wasjust 10-of-25 for 99 yards. AndChad Whatshisname caught justone pass for 22 yards.

Associated Press

FINNEGAN OCHO CINCO

Titans make OuchoCinco a marked man

Information compiled from Gannett Tennessee and The Associated Press

Gannett Tennessee/AP file photos

Cincinnati receiver Chad Ocho Cinco, formerly Chad Johnson, had a career-high 12 catches for 103yards and three touchdowns in a 35-6 win over Tennessee last season. After his first touchdown, the re-ceiver commandeered a television camera behind the end zone, drawing a penalty for his celebration.