Instant Takeaways: Joe Burrow Leads Bengals to Wild OT Win Over Titans

The Bengals were supposed to dominate on Sunday against the Titans. Instead, they escaped with a win. Joe Burrow delivered in the clutch, leading the Bengals on 3-straight touchdown drives in the fourth quarter and overtime to secure the 43-36 win.

Burrow ran for a 9-yard touchdown in overtime to give Cincinnati the lead for good. The Bengals are 5-2 on the season. It was ugly, but they found a way to secure the victory. It's their third-straight win.

Here are our postgame observations:

Turnovers

Joe Burrow put up big numbers, but the turnovers will be a talking point this week. He completed 38-of-48 passes for 462 yards, five touchdowns and three interceptions.

Burrow did lead the Bengals on back-to-back touchdown drives in the fourth quarter to force overtime.

His third interception was brutal. He had Ja'Marr Chase wide open in what should've been the go-ahead touchdown. Instead, Amani Hooker snagged the late and underthrown ball for his third pick of the day.

Burrow threw three interceptions in total, including two in the second half. Hooker is the first NFL player to have three interceptions in a game since Jets safety Jordan Whitehead did it in 2023 against the Bills.

Defense Forces Turnovers

The Bengals' defense stepped up, forcing three turnovers of their own. First, DJ Turner knocked the ball away from Wan'Dale Robinson. Josh Newton recovered the fumble.

In the second half, Dexter Lawrence recovered a Cam Ward fumble after Boye Mafe knocked the ball away. Lawrence and Mafe have been game changing additions to the defensive line room. They also forced a safety following Burrow's third interception of the day that gave Cincinnati a 23-21 lead.

It wasn't all pretty for the defense. Ward completed 25-of-38 passes for a career-high 298 yards. He also ran for 33 yards.

Tony Pollard led the Titans with 117 rushing yards and two touchdowns. He also had three receptions for 20 yards.

The defense had a chance to end the game in the fourth quarter, but allowed the Titans to go on back-to-back toucdown drives, including an 8-play, 68-yard drive that ended with a Wan'Dale Robinson touchdown.

Lawrence came up big with a sack on Ward to force overtime.

Uneven Offense

Despite not being in a rhythm for most of the day, Burrow led Cincinnati on a go-ahead touchdown drive in the fourth quarter. Burrow found Mike Gesicki for a 25-yard score to give the Bengals a 29-28 lead with 7:08 left in the fourth quarter. He led a second touchdown drive, this time finding Tee Higgins for a score.

Tee Higgins led the way with 10 catches for 155 yards and two touchdowns. Ja'Marr Chase had 11 receptions for 141 yards and a score. Gesicki finished with four catches for 76 yards, including the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Chase Brown ran for 48 yards. He also had seven catches for 39 yards.

Cincinnati's offense never fully got into a rhythm on Sunday. Burrow was sacked three times. Despite that, they took the lead late in the game when Burrow found Gesicki for the go-ahead score.

Slow Start

The Bengals started slow for a second-straight week. The Titans scored on their first three possessions to take a 13-0 first quarter lead. Cincinnati rallied to take a 14-13 lead at halftime, but this is the second-straight 13-0 deficit they've faced in the past two games.

Up Next

The Bengals hit the road. They play the Falcons in Madrid, Spain on Sunday, Nov. 8 at 9:30 AM ET.

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