NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The chance to face off against a former assistant finally has arrived for Cincinnati's Zac Taylor in his sixth season with the Bengals.
On Sunday, his Bengals visit Tennessee where first-year coach Brian Callahan was Taylor's offensive coordinator the past five seasons in Cincinnati and is someone Taylor talks with as much as his brother, Press, who is the offensive coordinator in Jacksonville..
Business comes first, and Cincinnati (5-8) needs to win out to clinch a fourth straight winning season. One loss ends that and the Bengals' faint playoff hopes sitting last among the AFC's bubble teams.
“You’re able to remove all that emotion and just focus on the Tennessee Titans," Taylor said. "And, you know, we’ll obviously get together briefly before the game starts on the field, but once the game kicks off, that all goes out the window, and you’re just trying to find a way to win.”
The Bengals stayed alive Monday night, beating the Cowboys in Dallas 27-20 thanks to the NFL's top passing duo. Joe Burrow found Ja'Marr Chase for a 40-yard touchdown.
Callahan is leaning hard on lessons learned in Cincinnati.
Tennessee (3-10) was eliminated last week despite being one of the NFL's big spenders in free agency, and Callahan is busy building a foundation for a franchise in its third straight losing season after stringing together six consecutive winning records. Callahan knows what he wants to see.
“And that’s one of the things that I thought Zac did such a fantastic job of,” Callahan said. “It was in that first year at Cincinnati, is being able to maintain the composure and the drive to keep getting better in the midst of a challenging season.”
Taylor went 2-14 his debut season, then got to draft Burrow with the first pick in 2020. Then the Bengals added Chase at No. 5 overall in 2021. Callahan has Will Levis, the 33rd pick overall in 2023 busy learning his second offense since joining the Titans.
Taylor said the first year is always difficult, and the Titans will be ready for the Bengals.
“Rarely do you get an opportunity to walk in and take a team to the playoffs and all the pieces are there,” Taylor said. “You can see them working through that. But you watch the tape and there’s a lot to be concerned about on our end. He’s got a really good coaching staff in place.”
This game pits the NFL's best passing offense in the Bengals, averaging 271.6 yards against the league's stingiest defense against the pass, giving up just 175.5 yards a game.
It's a rare showdown this late in the season as the first such game in 15 years in Week 15 or later. The New York Jets with the top-ranked passing defense beat Peyton Manning and the Colts 29-15 in Indianapolis.
Thanks to Burrow leading the league with 3,706 yards passing and 33 touchdown passes. Chase sits atop the receiving charts with 93 catches for 1,319 yards and a career-high 15 TDs that should get him the massive contract extension he expects.
The Titans also are second in total defense. Cincinnati's weakness has been running the ball, which could allow them to go after Burrow who has a sore left knee. He limped off late against Dallas after being dragged down by his face mask. He didn’t miss a snap but finished wearing a compression sleeve.
Of course, Callahan has shown Levis video of Burrow to help the young quarterback learn from someone Callahan said would get his vote for NFL MVP this season. Burrow returned the compliment.
“Cally has played a huge role in my success throughout my career so far, and so I owe Cally a lot,” Burrow said. “He’s helped me improve my game and how I approach the game, how I think about football the whole time he was here, so I’m very grateful for him.”
Levis missed three games with a sprained AC joint in his right shoulder that has him back on this week's injury report. He has a 95.3 passer rating over his past five games, throwing for 1,128 yards with seven TDs and only two interceptions in that span. He hasn't been picked off in the past two games.
Now Levis will get to watch Burrow in person.
“It’s going to be interesting seeing both systems kind of go at it against each other,” Levis said.
Seven of Cincinnati’s eight losses have been by one score. The Bengals finally got over the hump at Dallas by scoring with 1:01 left. They needed a break for the winning score and got a botched blocked punt that put the ball back in the Bengals’ hands.
The Titans lost three of their first four by a touchdown or less with now seven games decided by at least 10. They are coming off a season low in both points scored and allowed in a 10-6 loss to the Jaguars.
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AP Sports Writer Mitch Stacy contributed to this report.
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