Cincinnati Bengals Preview: vs. Tennessee Titans

Aug 17, 2013; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bengals running back Giovani Bernard (25) celebrates after scoring a touchdown in the first quarter of a preseason game against the Tennessee Titans at Paul Brown Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

The Cincinnati Bengals go into week 3 a perfect 2-0 on the young season, but that is not something to take lightly seeing who they beat. Week 3 is no exception, because although the titans were handed a tough to swallow loss on Sunday, they are still 1-1 and beat a Kansas City team who made the playoffs last season.

The Bengals will be fighting the urge to look ahead for the bye week in week 4. The Bengals last faced the Titans last pre-season in a 27-19 win at Paul Brown Stadium. This season, unlike last year, it counts and with the threat of going to a losing record, the Titans will look to spoil a 10 game home win streak for the Bengals.

Bengals Keys to the Game: The offense will need to keep their turnovers to a minimum, as they have so far this season. Andy Dalton will need to pick apart the secondary that is led by 6 year veteran Jason McCourty on the outside. The defense must stop the passing game led by Nate Washington and Kendall Wright, who both can be dangerous.

Titans Keys to the Game: Get the Bengals offense out of balance early. In the Bengals first two games they established a balanced offense, they are dangerous when they can get it established early. The Titans offense must find a way to exploit the age of the Bengals corners, Adam Jones (30) and Terrance Newman (36).

Prediction: The Bengals must not get off their game. They have played a great balanced offense and the defense has kept the Ravens and Falcons offense to a minimum early. The Titans don’t like to play from behind and seem to get into a little panic when they get down by more than 7 points. Look for the Bengals to jump out early and put pressure on the Titans offense. Bengals win 31-17 and improve to 3-0 going into the week 4 bye.