WEEK 13 · FINAL
THE READ
Bengals win a 17-10 rockfight
Bengals won it 17-10 the hard way. Joe Burrow did the damage for Bengals — 27/43, 263 yards, 1 TD. Keldric Faulk lived in the backfield for Titans — 2 sacks — in a losing effort. That is 3 straight games over 250 for Joe Burrow. Through the air: Bengals 263, Titans 125.
The Wire · league beat
THE WIDER PICTURE
| Team | SRS | SOS | MARGIN | TO +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bengals | -2.2 | +1.7 | -3.9 | +2 |
| Titans | +2.6 | -1.3 | +3.9 | +12 |
SRS is how many points a side beats an
average team by once you account for who they played — beat a good
team by 3 and it counts for more than beating a bad one by 20.
SOS is how hard that schedule has been.
Full table.
Titans —
AFC #7
· 8-6
Playoff picture →
IN THE BOOTH
Ava Collins
Beat reporter
Tennessee couldn't generate anything through the air—125 passing yards against a Bengals defense that was there to be hit—and that's the ballgame. Cincinnati's 263 in the air made the difference in a 17-10 grind where Joe Burrow kept delivering and the Titans' ground game, even Jonathan Taylor grinding for 71 yards, couldn't compensate for what Tennessee couldn't do downfield.
Zoe Bell
The contrarian
· replying
Cincinnati won a game it had no business winning on the margins: 337 total yards to 233, yet somehow survived Keldric Faulk's 2 sacks and Tennessee keeping them bottled up on the ground. The Bengals threw it 43 times and got away with playing sloppy football because Burrow's 263 yards and a TD were just enough—but they needed a better defensive effort than this scoreline suggests they delivered.
They only ever read the box score and this league's own numbers —
none of them has a source, and none of them can report anything that
did not happen.
Joe Burrow
Bengals
27/43, 263 yards, 1 TD
Keldric Faulk
Titans
2 sacks
Jonathan Taylor
Titans
17 carries, 71 yards
THE STORY SO FAR
WHAT DECIDED IT
Through the air
Bengals 263, Titans 125
Bengals
Total yards
Bengals 337, Titans 233
Bengals
On the ground
Titans 108, Bengals 74
Titans
Pressure
Titans 3 sacks, Bengals 2
Titans
THE ROOM
Final. The recap is below.
THE MATCHUP SCOUT
every number below is counted from the export or read off the roster — nothing is inferred about playcalling
LEAGUE DATA
counted by Madden, and arithmetic on top of it
Pass-heavy
Pass 61% · Rush 39% · 24.5 scored, 28.4 allowed
7.9 yds/att
60.1% completions
4.2 yds/carry
353.2 yds/game
1.4 giveaways/game
3.9% sack rate
last 5: 2-3
SAPPHIRE METRICS
QB efficiency 60 · Efficient
Balance 89
Ball security 60
Back usage 32%
QB runs 4.0/game
PERSONNEL
off the roster — unit averages, best starters only
QB 97
WR 88
TE 82
RB 80
OL 78
DL 84
LB 78
DB 82
Best: Ja'Marr Chase WR 99
Fastest: Ja'Marr Chase WR 96 SPD
4 at star dev or better
YOUR NOTEBOOK
what you wrote about them — private, and never a Sapphire statistic
Sign in as a member of this league to keep private scouting notes on your opponents.
LEAGUE DATA
counted by Madden, and arithmetic on top of it
Pass-heavy
Pass 61% · Rush 39% · 25.3 scored, 21.4 allowed
7.8 yds/att
61.6% completions
4.8 yds/carry
333.4 yds/game
1.1 giveaways/game
8.3% sack rate
last 5: 1-4
SAPPHIRE METRICS
QB efficiency 58 · Efficient
Balance 89
Ball security 68
Back usage 35%
QB runs 2.3/game
Most exposed: pressure -- sacked on 8.3% of dropbacks
PERSONNEL
off the roster — unit averages, best starters only
QB 87
WR 87
TE 77
RB 90
OL 79
DL 90
LB 85
DB 86
Best: Jonathan Taylor HB 99
Fastest: Chimere Dike WR 94 SPD
5 at star dev or better
YOUR NOTEBOOK
what you wrote about them — private, and never a Sapphire statistic
Sign in as a member of this league to keep private scouting notes on your opponents.
HOW THEY PLAY
the man, not the franchise — only weeks the record attributes to him, this season
BlackManJenkins
Titans · his last 8 games
Balanced
One back
Takes sacks
Pass / run59% / 41%
Points for / against22.4 — 19.9
Margin+2.5
Giveaways a game1.0
Sacks taken9.1% of dropbacks
Lead backJonathan Taylor · 15.4/g
Top targetCarnell Tate · 27%
QB carries1.8 a game
KNOFLOCKINN$$
Bengals · his last 8 games
Balanced
Pass / run61% / 39%
Points for / against21.5 — 26.5
Margin-5.0
Giveaways a game1.0
Sacks taken3.1% of dropbacks
Lead backChase Brown · 14.8/g
Top targetJa'Marr Chase · 33%
QB carries2.6 a game
Counted from the weeks each man actually held his team — so a franchise that changed hands is not credited to whoever has it now. Nothing above is a playcall: the export does not carry those, and neither does this.
THE SERIES
KNOFLOCKINN$$ against BlackManJenkins — the men, not the teams
KNOFLOCKINN$$ leads it 1-0.
KNOFLOCKINN$$ won the last one.
1 meeting
avg 17.0 — 10.0
biggest: 7 pts to KNOFLOCKINN$$
S2 · week 13
KNOFLOCKINN$$ 17 — 10 BlackManJenkins
KNOFLOCKINN$$
Only meetings Sapphire can attribute to both men are counted — a Madden export never says who owned a team last season, so the series starts where the record does.
MATCHUP ADVANTAGES
unit averages against each other — inside three points is a push
Bengals receivers vs Titans secondary
88 v 86
EVEN
Titans receivers vs Bengals secondary
87 v 82
TITANS
Bengals line vs Titans front
78 v 90
TITANS
Titans line vs Bengals front
79 v 84
BENGALS
Bengals backs vs Titans run defence
80 v 89
TITANS
Titans backs vs Bengals run defence
90 v 82
TITANS
Bengals passer vs Titans secondary
97 v 86
BENGALS
Titans passer vs Bengals secondary
87 v 82
TITANS
TOP PERFORMERS
🎬
The Game Recapthis game as an episode -- the score, the stars, the numbers that decided it -- and a video you can post ›
BOX SCORE
BENGALS
TITANS
BENGALS
TITANS
BENGALS
TITANS
BENGALS
TITANS
BENGALS
TITANS
BENGALS
| PLAYER | C/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | SCK | LNG | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Burrow QB | 27/43 | 263 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 28 | 87.6 |
TITANS
| PLAYER | C/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | SCK | LNG | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cam Ward QB | 15/27 | 125 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 22 | 67.6 |
BENGALS
| PLAYER | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | BTK | YAC | LNG | FUM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chase Brown HB | 14 | 51 | 3.6 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 0 |
| Joe Burrow QB | 5 | 22 | 4.4 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 16 | 0 |
| Tahj Brooks HB | 2 | 1 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Jamari Johnson TE | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tee Higgins WR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Erick All Jr TE | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
TITANS
| PLAYER | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | BTK | YAC | LNG | FUM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jonathan Taylor HB | 17 | 71 | 4.2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 0 |
| Nick Singleton HB | 4 | 15 | 3.8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| Chimere Dike WR | 1 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 14 | 0 |
| Cam Ward QB | 3 | 8 | 2.7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Daniel Bellinger TE | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
BENGALS
| PLAYER | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | YAC | DRP | LNG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tee Higgins WR | 7 | 70 | 10 | 0 | 15 | 1 | 16 |
| Ja'Marr Chase WR | 7 | 55 | 7.9 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 18 |
| Colbie Young WR | 2 | 40 | 20 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 28 |
| Jamari Johnson TE | 3 | 34 | 11.3 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 17 |
| Erick All Jr TE | 5 | 34 | 6.8 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 20 |
| Chase Brown HB | 2 | 31 | 15.5 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 18 |
| Mike Gesicki TE | 1 | -1 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
TITANS
| PLAYER | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | YAC | DRP | LNG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chimere Dike WR | 5 | 41 | 8.2 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 13 |
| Daniel Bellinger TE | 4 | 31 | 7.8 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 11 |
| Eli Finley TE | 1 | 22 | 22 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 22 |
| Elic Ayomanor WR | 2 | 21 | 10.5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 12 |
| Wan'Dale Robinson WR | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Jonathan Taylor HB | 1 | -2 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
BENGALS
| PLAYER | TKL | SCK | INT | PD | FF | CMP ALW | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barrett Carter MIKE | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| DJ Turner II CB | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Bryan Cook FS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Demetrius Knight Jr WILL | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Dax Hill CB | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Boye Mafe REDG | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Shemar Stewart REDG | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kyle Dugger SS | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Cashius Howell LEDG | 2 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tacario Davis CB | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Jonathan Allen DT | 2 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jamel Johnson SS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kris Jenkins Jr DT | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
TITANS
| PLAYER | TKL | SCK | INT | PD | FF | CMP ALW | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ty Okada FS | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Joshua Williams CB | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Kevin Winston Jr FS | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Alontae Taylor CB | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Jeffery Simmons DT | 4 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Keldric Faulk LEDG | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Anthony Hill Jr. MIKE | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Cor'Dale Flott CB | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Kayvon Thibodeaux LEDG | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| DeForest Buckner DT | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| DJ McKinney CB | 1 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Cody Barton MIKE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cedric Gray WILL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
BENGALS
nothing recorded
TITANS
| PLAYER | FG | XP | LNG |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maddux Trujillo K | 1/2 | 1/1 | 40 |
RECENT FORM
Bengals
L
27–33 vs Cardinals
WK 11
W
31–29 vs Steelers
WK 10
W
30–27 vs Broncos
WK 9
Titans
L
31–34 vs Texans
WK 12
L
10–20 vs Raiders
WK 11
W
31–17 vs Bills
WK 10
TEAM STATS
| Bengals | Titans | |
|---|---|---|
| 337 | TOTAL YARDS | 233 |
| 263 | PASSING YARDS | 125 |
| 74 | RUSHING YARDS | 108 |
| 3 | SACKS ALLOWED | 2 |
| 2 | SACKS MADE | 3 |
| 0 | GIVEAWAYS | 0 |
| 0 | TAKEAWAYS | 0 |
Bold is the side that won that line. Giveaways come off a team's own offensive rows and takeaways off its own defensive rows — two separate payloads, so they need not tie out against each other.
ALL-TIME HEAD-TO-HEAD
1
BENGALS
—
0
TITANS