5 winners (and 4 losers) for Bengals in ugly Week 8 overtime win over Titans

The Cincinnati Bengals had a letdown against the Tennessee Titans that could be seen coming from a mile away on Sunday. With three massive matchups looming and on the heels of last week's huge win in Baltimore, it's hardly a surprise the Bengals overlooked the undermanned Titans.

Tennessee came in very thin and injured, yet the road warriors took a 13-0 lead before the Bengals realized the ball had kicked off. Thankfully, the Bengals woke up and overcame four turnovers to prevail 43-36 in overtime at Paycor Stadium.

You'll take wins any which way you can get them in the NFL. Having said that, this was one where you start to wonder how legit Cincinnati is as a Super Bowl contender.

Is it a mere down game? Or is it a sign that the Bengals aren't really that good? Let's dive in deeper in this Week 8 edition of winners and losers...

Winners: Tee Higgins and Ja'Marr Chase

Ten catches, 155 yards and two TDs for Tee Higgins. Eleven catches, 141 yards and a score for Ja'Marr Chase. Yeah I think these guys were worth the money. Joe Burrow might've been on to something when he advocated to keep both of them so strongly.

Higgins seems to be the chief catalyst this season. Chase has taken a little longer to get going. This was his first 100-yard game of the year. Quite a shocker from the 2024 Triple Crown winner, no?

Oh well. As long as the elite triumvirate of Burrow, Chase and Higgins is healthy, the Bengals can beat anyone, anywhere. No matter how badly the defense is letting them down.

Loser Who Sort Of Redeemed Himself: Joe Burrow

Nice run by Joe Shiesty in OT to get the win. However, being responsible for four turnovers is losing football. Joe Burrow would tell you that. He was fortunate the Bengals were playing such a bad opponent. I mean, you can't say Burrow was bad on Sunday. He did throw five touchdowns after all.

But this sloppy play is all too common. It's a byproduct of how slim the margin for error is and how often the Bengals must pass the ball to be a high-level offense.

Like if there was some semblance of a running game worthy of respect, Burrow wouldn't be in so many obvious passing situations. That's why Amani Hooker could jump so many routes or be in position to make so many plays on the ball en route to those three INTs.

Still, Burrow can't put the ball in harm's way. I was afraid he'd hunt for too many big plays on Sunday. He made his fair share, but made a lot of critical errors, too.

Winner: Mike Gesicki

Five straight games with a TD reception for Mike Gesicki. The man comes up big in big moments, what can you say? Big ups to Gesicki for staying engaged while Chase and Higgins take on such a lion's share of the...well, target share.

Not much more to add here. Gesicki eliminates the real need for Cincinnati to figure out the WR3 spot because he is in fact a glorified slot receiver. And Burrow clearly turns to him often when the Bengals need a big play.

Loser: Al Golden

I mean come on dude. I'm about to be like the Bobs from Office Space and proclaim, "What would you say you do here?" to our guy Al. His name looks like AI as in artificial intelligence. Was he conferring with ChatGPT to decide what to dial up from his call sheet? Might as well have.

Sometimes I forget these coaches spend hours upon hours preparing for each game. Like not even just during the week. You get 17 chances in a calendar year or thereabouts if you want to get super technical and pedantic. But you get the point.

This is all Golden could manage? Getting shredded by a totally unproven quarterback in Cam Ward and gashed over and over by Tony Pollard, a potential Bengals trade target? Pretty fitting summary by Trags here...

Loser: Dax Hill

Weird stuff happened with Dax Hill in this one. He got sorta benched at one point? Like Josh Newton was playing in the slot, and he got cooked by Wan'Dale Robinson in the fourth quarter for a TD. Dax was also playing outside periodically.

Starting to get worried about this coaching staff's ability to evaluate talent. In what world is Dax ever riding the pine with this cornerback depth chart in play? So over Dax moving all over the place. Just stick him on the boundary. Find a sturdy long-term answer at nickel. Or put Bryan Cook there, I don't know. Figure it out.

Winners: The big-ticket fellas in the defensive trenches

Boye Mafe forced a fumble that Dexter Lawrence recovered and nearly scooped and scored. Burrow hit Higgins for a TD on an out-breaking route on the very next play from scrimmage.

Ward was driving the Titans toward a potential game-winning field goal at the end of regulation. Thank goodness Sexy Dexy had other plans, as he collapsed the pocket on third down, chased down Ward and sacked him to eliminate any chance of a kick.

Couldn't be more pleased with how Mafe and Lawrence are balling out so far. Yes, the defense as a whole needs serious work, but they have more than held up their end of the bargain.

Loser: Zac Taylor

Zac Taylor was going to make this list once the first quarter lapsed. How on Earth do you trail to this Titans team 13-0. I wasn't worried about the bottom-line outcome at the time, but it was just kind of baffling.

How is it that the coaching staff comes out so flat and unprepared for the first 15 minutes so often? Isn't Taylor game-planning all week? Doesn't he have a good first 15 plays on tap?

Then it's just nothing burger after nothing burger. And there's a certain sluggishness. No effort to push the pace or go uptempo to keep the defense off-balance. No imagination in the running game as usual. I'm sick of this, y'all. I'm starting to feel like Zac is limiting the ceiling on this team.

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