Bengals' matchup with the 1-6 Titans has the makings of a total ref show

The Cincinnati Bengals are looking to add to their two-game win streak in their Week 8 matchup with the 1-6 Tennessee Titans, but a win against one of the league's worst teams may not come so easily.

The 4-2 Bengals are coming off their biggest and most impressive win of the season, a 35-13 victory over the Baltimore Ravens. Such a decisive victory over a division rival should indicate a relatively easy win over the Titans, a team with a worse record than all but one NFL team: the winless Los Angeles Chargers.

Tennessee managed to take the AFC North-leading Cleveland Browns down to the wire in a 27-24 loss in a game that proved they might be better than their record shows. Even if they're a respectable team in their own right despite the six losses, the officiating crew is what could spark concern for the Bengals.

Official Brad Allen and his crew have not gotten along well with the Cincinnati Bengals and head coach Zac Taylor

Bengals head coach Zac Taylor, who notably burned a timeout while down 13-0 in the first half of the Ravens game to yell at officials, has not had a ton of success in games officiated by Brad Allen and his crew.

The last time the Bengals won a game officiated by Allen was in 2022, despite having him as a lead official five times in 39 games, which is more than any other referee in the NFL. While a few of those games would have been losses regardless of the officiating, there were some instances in which officiating may have tipped the scales.

Later in the 2024 season, when the Bengals played the Chargers, Allen and company botched three calls in under a minute. The first call came when former Bengals edge rusher Trey Hendrickson was called for a roughing-the-passer penalty, even though horse-collar tackles are allowed in the tackle box.

After that, Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert threw a ball to an area with no receiver from the tackle box, yet was not called for intentional grounding. Finally, an uncatchable ball thrown to Chargers wide receiver Josh Palmer was met with minimal contact from Bengals corner Josh Newton, yet a defensive pass interference penalty was called.

The Bengals are 4-7 in games where Allen is the head official, but it isn't just Cincinnati that he has affected. Allen was notably banned from the playoffs in 2023 after the famous botched reporting -eligible incident with the Detroit Lions.

Detroit offensive lineman Dan Skipper was announced as eligible, even though it was fellow offensive lineman Taylor Decker who reported as eligible. Decker was called for an ineligible man downfield penalty by Allen and his crew, effectively costing the Lions the game even though they did everything right. In an article from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Allen refused to take accountability despite being banned from the playoffs by the NFL.

"The issue is, number 70 did report, number 68 did not.”

Allen's side of the story did not match up with Skipper or Decker's. If the Bengals want to improve to 5-2 and continue to give themselves a chance to win the AFC North, they will likely need to remove all doubt and beat the Titans handily. If they leave it to the officiating crew, there is no telling how it will play out.

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