Cincinnati Bengals vs Tennessee Titans Match Player Stats (Dec 15, 2024)

The Bengals walked into Nissan Stadium on December 15, 2024, and walked out with a 37-27 win built on defensive chaos. Joe Burrow threw three touchdowns while setting a franchise record with his 36th scoring pass of the season. Chase Brown rushed for 97 yards and scored twice. Geno Stone took one to the house with a pick-six. Six forced turnovers made the difference for a Cincinnati team that improved to 6-8 despite committing four giveaways themselves.

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Game Leaders Statistical Breakdown

Full Team Statistics

Both teams moved the ball. Both teams coughed it up. Cincinnati scored 24 points off turnovers while Tennessee managed just 7. The 17-point turnover conversion gap decided the outcome.

What Decided This Game

Turnover Conversion Gap

• Bengals: 6 takeaways = 24 points
• Titans: 4 takeaways = 7 points
• Two picks in 90 seconds flipped a 14-14 tie into a 24-14 halftime deficit

Momentum Killers

• Back-to-back Levis interceptions in final 2:08 of first half (56 seconds apart)
• Both converted into Cincinnati scores (TD plus field goal)
• Stone’s pick-six made it 31-14 and ended Levis’s afternoon

Fourth Quarter Turning Point

• Rudolph drove 87 yards for touchdown, cut lead to 31-21
• Josh Newton’s first career interception killed comeback hopes
• Brown’s clock-draining touchdown drive finished it

Quarterback Performance Comparison

Joe Burrow Sets Franchise Record

The 38-yard touchdown Burrow threw to Tee Higgins late in the second quarter was his 36th scoring pass of 2024. The pass broke his own franchise record of 35 set in 2022.

Six straight games with three or more touchdown passes. Only four quarterbacks in history had longer streaks: Tom Brady (10 in 2007), Andrew Luck (8 in 2018), Peyton Manning (8 in 2004), and Dan Marino (7 from 1986-87).

Most impressive throw of the day? The six-yard touchdown to Chase Brown where Burrow held the ball for 9.01 seconds. NFL Next Gen Stats tracked him scrambling, resetting, waiting for Brown to get open, then delivering. Second-longest time to throw of his career.

Still, this wasn’t clean. Two interceptions and visible frustration on the sideline told another story. Despite the records and the win, Burrow knew his offense left points on the field.

Tennessee’s QB Crisis

Four turnovers in just over two quarters. Three picks, one fumble. The third interception went back for a touchdown. Levis headed to the bench at 31-14 in the third quarter.

Then Rudolph entered and looked like a different species of quarterback. Completed 21 of 26. Two touchdowns. Efficient, decisive, accurate.

The contrast was brutal.

Coach Brian Callahan refused to name a starter for Week 16, according to the official Titans recap. Callahan’s refusal to commit tells you everything about where Levis stands right now.

Running Back Production

Fourth straight 100-yard scrimmage game for Brown (113 total yards). First Bengals running back this season with both a rushing and receiving touchdown in the same game. His receiving score came on that 9.01-second scramble drill where Burrow refused to give up on the play.

Tennessee’s best weapon? Spears. Just 10 touches produced 92 total yards. Six catches for 87 yards averaging 14.5 per reception. The Titans should’ve fed him the ball more.

Receiving Statistics

Cincinnati Pass Catchers

Chase now belongs to exclusive company: Jerry Rice, Marvin Harrison, Randy Moss, and Cooper Kupp. The only receivers in NFL history with 100 or more catches, 1,400 or more yards, and 15 or more touchdowns in a season. Five guys ever.

Sam Hubbard caught his first career pass for a touchdown. A defensive end catching a touchdown in the red zone while making a leaping, contested grab.

First Cincinnati defensive player to catch a touchdown pass in franchise history, per Elias Sports Bureau. The last offensive score by any Bengals defender was a rushing touchdown by safety Bobby Hunt on October 6, 1968.

Hubbard injured his PCL on the play and didn’t return. He seemed to think it was worth it.

Tennessee Pass Catchers

Okonkwo caught 8 passes but was targeted twice on plays that got picked off. Boyd’s 40-yard catch-and-run set up the Titans’ second touchdown and briefly made this look competitive.

Defensive Impact Players

Cincinnati Defense

Six takeaways. Most by Cincinnati since Week 10 of 2007, based on official team records. Four interceptions matched their highest total since Week 8 of 2018 against Tampa Bay.

Pro Football Focus gave Stone a 92.9 grade, highest of any player in the game. His pick-six was his first career defensive touchdown.

Combined with Cam Taylor-Britt’s scoring interception against Pittsburgh in Week 13, the Bengals now have multiple defensive touchdowns in a season for the first time since 2018.

Tennessee Defense

T’Vondre Sweat earned a 92.7 grade from PFF after forcing and recovering a fumble, then rumbling 30 yards with a stiff arm that sent Bengals guard Alex Cappa flying. The 366-pound rookie defensive tackle looked like a fullback breaking tackles down the sideline.

Harold Landry’s sack set up that fumble on a second-quarter blitz. Gifford’s first-quarter interception gave Tennessee the ball at Cincinnati’s 29-yard line and set up the opening touchdown.

The Titans defense created opportunities. Their offense squandered them.

Complete Scoring Summary

How It Actually Went Down

The Titans scored on their first two possessions for the first time since Week 4 of 2022. Gifford’s interception gave them the ball at Cincinnati’s 29. Six plays later, Pollard scored from three yards out.

After Burrow answered with a touchdown pass to Brown, Tyler Boyd ripped off a 40-yard catch to set up Spears’ one-yard plunge. 14-7 Tennessee.

Then the fumbles started.

Harold Landry sacked Burrow at the nine-yard line. T’Vondre Sweat punched the ball out and recovered it, then rumbled 30 yards before being pushed out of bounds. The Titans had the ball at Cincinnati’s 39 with all the momentum.

One play later, Trey Hendrickson forced a fumble from Levis on a designed run. Rookie Maema Njongmeta recovered at the Cincinnati 38-yard line.

Nine plays later, Sam Hubbard caught his first career pass for a touchdown. Tied at 14.

Second Quarter Meltdown

With just over two minutes left in the half, Levis threw his second interception. Cam Taylor-Britt jumped the route and returned it 28 yards to the Tennessee 38-yard line. Three plays later, Burrow launched a perfect deep ball to Higgins for 38 yards and a touchdown. 21-14 Cincinnati.

On Tennessee’s next play from scrimmage, Levis threw another pick. Mike Hilton tracked down a tipped pass at the 38. Cincinnati settled for a field goal as time expired. 24-14 at halftime.

Those two picks flipped a 14-14 tie into a 10-point deficit in just over two minutes. The momentum never came back.

Third Quarter Knockout

Seven minutes into the third quarter, Levis dropped back and threw toward Chigoziem Okonkwo over the middle. Geno Stone jumped the route, picked it off, and sprinted 39 yards untouched for a touchdown!

31-14. Levis headed to the bench.

Mason Rudolph entered and immediately stabilized the offense. He completed 5 of 6 passes on the next drive before Tony Pollard fumbled at the Cincinnati 39.

Jordan Battle scooped up the fumble and raced 61 yards down the sideline toward what appeared to be a certain touchdown. At the one-yard line, Battle switched the ball to his other hand and dropped it. The ball bounced through the end zone for a touchback, giving possession back to Tennessee.

Bizarre doesn’t cover it.

Fourth Quarter Rally Dies

Rudolph drove 87 yards for a touchdown, completing all seven passes he attempted. The drive consumed nearly four minutes and ended with a 17-yard touchdown pass to Tyjae Spears. 31-21 with 6:50 left.

The Bengals went three-and-out for the only time all game. Tennessee got the ball back at their own 13-yard line with 10:29 remaining.

Rudolph drove to the Cincinnati 27. On second-and-4, he forced a throw into coverage. Josh Newton stepped in front of the receiver at the 17-yard line for his first career interception.

Cincinnati responded with a 14-play, 67-yard drive that ate 5:41 off the clock. Chase Brown punched it in from five yards out. 37-21 with 1:09 left, though Cade York’s extra point attempt failed.

Rudolph connected with Josh Whyle for a 13-yard touchdown on the final play of the game. With the outcome decided, no extra point was attempted.

Final score: 37-27.

Why This Game Matters for Both Teams

At 6-8, Cincinnati faces long playoff odds. The Bengals need to win out and get help from multiple AFC teams. That 0-4 start essentially killed them despite ranking among the league’s best offenses over the past month.

Tennessee dropped to 3-11 in Brian Callahan’s first season as head coach. The quarterback situation dominates everything else moving forward.

Levis has now thrown 12 interceptions and four pick-sixes in 11 starts this season. His four defensive touchdowns allowed lead the NFL and match the Titans’ single-season record.

The 60.8-point passer rating gap between Levis (49.0) and Rudolph (109.8) creates an impossible situation for the coaching staff. Callahan’s refusal to commit to a starter after the game spoke volumes about his confidence in Levis.

For fans tracking Cincinnati’s season progression, this offensive output mirrors the efficiency shown in the Patriots vs Bengals matchup earlier this year.

Record-Breaking Performances

Burrow’s 36 touchdown passes lead the NFL through Week 15. His six-game streak with three or more touchdown throws ranks fifth all-time.

Chase joined four Hall of Famers and Cooper Kupp in the 100-1400-15 club. Brown became just the third Bengals running back with four receiving touchdowns in a season.

The Bengals scored 27 or more points for the sixth straight game, a new franchise record. They surpassed the 1988 AFC Championship team.

This marked the 400th regular season victory in Bengals franchise history, with 240 at home and 160 on the road since 1968.

Trey Hendrickson’s forced fumble was his 14th career and 11th since joining Cincinnati in 2021. Only Pittsburgh’s T.J. Watt (15) has more in that span.

Discipline Remains a Problem

Fourteen penalties for 113 yards marked Cincinnati’s third consecutive game with 10 or more flags. That had never happened before in franchise history.

From 2019 through 2023, Zac Taylor’s teams led the NFL in fewest penalties. This three-game stretch represents a dramatic departure.

Five false starts killed drives or created long-yardage situations. A delay of game at the goal line late in the fourth quarter, caused partly by a malfunctioning headset, sparked a visible confrontation between Burrow and Taylor on the sideline.

The quarterback later explained his frustration was about the overall sloppiness, not one penalty.

Tennessee committed 12 penalties for 110 yards. Both teams flagged at nearly double their season averages.

The 10 combined turnovers matched the most in any NFL game since Week 2 of 2007, as documented by Pro Football Reference. Add 26 penalties, and you get the sloppiest game in modern NFL history.

What’s Next

Cincinnati hosts Cleveland in Week 16. The Browns are eliminated from playoff contention, though divisional games rarely follow the script. The Bengals need three straight wins just to reach 9-8 and hope for help from other teams.

Tennessee travels to Indianapolis to face the Colts. Both teams are playing for draft position more than playoff spots at this point. The quarterback audition continues for the final three weeks.

Burrow’s 36 touchdown passes lead the league. Chase’s 17 touchdown receptions lead all receivers. Both players are having career years. Yet Cincinnati sits at 6-8 because of that awful start and a defense that ranks in the bottom third of the NFL.

Tennessee’s defense forced four turnovers and held up reasonably well given the circumstances. When your offense commits six giveaways and your starting quarterback posts a 49.0 passer rating before getting benched, you’re not winning many games.

The quarterback split created the outcome here. Burrow made enough plays despite two interceptions. Levis imploded under pressure. Rudolph showed competence too late to matter.

Cincinnati capitalized when it mattered. Tennessee didn’t.

Final score: 37-27, though the gap was wider than 10 points suggest.