NASHVILLE, Tenn. _ Bengals rookie cornerback Josh Newton saw his first NFL interception looming in the gray sky of Nissan Stadium and his eyes got as big as the Bengals' 37-21 victory over the Titans Sunday.
"I was saying, 'Go get it, go get it, go get it,'" said Newton and that's exactly what the defense did in coming up with its first six-turnover game in 17 years and not allowing any second-half points until the last play of the game.
"Pretty much our best performance of the year. From top to bottom," said slot cornerback Mike Hilton, who had one of four interceptions that got Titans quarterback Will Levis benched. "We know when we go out there and execute, we're a hard defense to move the ball on."
Old friend Brian Callahan, the first-year Titans head coach and former Bengals offensive coordinator, made it clear what he wanted to do as he loaded up with extra offensive linemen and multiple tight ends in order to run the ball, control the clock, and keep Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow off the field.
The Bengals responded by giving running back Tony Pollard just 2.6 yards per his 17 carries on the way to allowing 83 yards on the ground for their second-best performance against the run this season.
"Our game plan was to make him sit back and read coverages and let our front four do what they do," Hilton said.
Hilton gave a shutout to Newton because before he got his own interception he had "great," man-to-man coverage on wide receiver Calvin Ridley and when he tipped it, Hilton was able to dive and catch it at the Titans 38 with 67 seconds left in the first half.
That was a back-breaker because it set it up what amounted to a last-snap field goal by Cade York for a 24-14 halftime lead.
Newton, the fifth-rounder from TCU, had a busy day with three passes defensed and four tackles. Hilton, whose red-zone interception here three years ago in the AFC Divisional win over the Titans was one of the centerpieces of the Super Bowl run, had another monster Nissan game with three tackles for loss, six altogether.
And, he enjoyed some give-and-take with the Tennessee sideline that included old teammate Chidobe Awuzie.
"Good, natural fun. It always seems like when I come to Nashville, I have some of my best games," said Hilton, who spoke with Callahan after it was over. "He told me he's had a lot of respect for me, and I told him I was excited for his opportunity."
BURROW FINDS A WAY: Burrow was happy to get the win, but he wasn't very pleased with his first multiple- interception game of the season, his fumble that stopped the Bengals' NFL-best red-zone streak of 42 straight with a score, and a season-high 14 penalties that is the most ever by a Bengals team coached by Zac Taylor.
But Burrow is always Burrow.
Those three brilliant, creative touchdown passes that all came in the first half broke his own club record for a season and jacked his NFL-leading total to 36.
On one he dropped his hands like a welterweight zooming in for a knock-out, scrambled around for about ten seconds while making three defenders miss, and found running back Chase Brown for a six-yard touchdown.
"A lot of fun playing with a guy like that. Especially in the red zone. You never know when you're going to get the ball," said Brown, who ran in the last Bengals' score for his 10th touchdown of the season. "I might have went up and down, from side to side. It was crazy."
On another scoring pass, Burrow got dropped by Titans sackmaster Arden Key just as he delivered a 38-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Tee Higgins to put the Bengals ahead for good, 21-14 with 1:12 left in the first half. While lying on his back, he gave the touchdown signal.
"I was just hoping it would get there," Burrow said.
But the masterpiece was his two-yard flip to, of all people, defensive end Sam Hubbard for the first offensive touchdown by a Bengals defender since the inaugural year of the franchise in 1968.
It looks to have been costly. Hubbard, who lined up as the fullback, hurt his knee making a great over-the-shoulder, fingertip grab. He didn't return and there's some fear he won't for the rest of the year. Fingers are crossed on an MRI back in Cincinnati.
"It means a lot," said the man they call 'The Cincinnati Kid," who hadn't done that since Moeller High School. "We worked on it all week. I think had one in a scrimmage freshman year (in high school)."
The play was called for Hubbard all the way. He even carried out a fake as they broke the huddle in asking one of the tackles if there was cut-off block. The after Hubbard's Gronk-like spike, Burrow made sure he got the ball for him.
"That's my guy. He went and got the ball; I'm going to cherish it forever," Hubbard said. "Catching a touchdown from Joe Burrow, that's something not everybody can say."
I did. That's my guy. He went and got the ball; I'm going to cherish it forever. Catching a touchdown from Joe Burrow, that's something not everybody can say.
BAPTISM BY FIRE: Bengals left tackle Devin Cochran found out he was making his first NFL start about 90 minutes before it happened Sunday. He had heard on Friday that the starter, Cody Ford, was sick, "but I didn't think I'd get my first NFL start out of it."
He found out for sure after Ford tried to go in pregame warmups and it wasn't happening. But even though Cochran had played one NFL scrimmage snap, Zac Taylor wasn't worried going in against the NFL's second-best defense.
"It wasn't a gut-punch," Taylor said. "Devin's a reliable guy."
Cochran, who has been with the Bengals as undrafted free agent since 2022 before he missed all of last year with an injury, helped the offensive line make sure the game didn't get out of hand. Burrow got sacked once and was hit only a handful of times against a tough Titans front that includes the monstrous Jeffrey Simmons as the Bengals also ran for 101 yards.
Cochran said Burrow settled him down after a tough first series saw Key get inside him and get pressure.
"Joe's so poised, so in control. That's what helped me to kind of adjust," Cochran said. "'Ok, he's not freaking out.' Some guys freak out on you, But he takes those hits.
"That first series was rough. I was trying to get my feet wet. It was myself beating myself. When it feels like that, it's usually footwork," said Cochran, who consulted with offensive line coach Frank Pollack after the series. "Pollack kept telling me to get my inside foot back, so I was trying to stay square and play with good hand carry. I feel like an inside move is kind of a bailout (for rushers), especially when you kick out fast. So I was trying to stay tight to my spot and stay square."
Cochran said he "freaked out," when the Titans ran a tackle-end stunt on third-and-ten, but he couldn't get there in time. But Burrow hung in, took the shot, and while giving the TD sign flat on his back, he noticed Higgins taking his own shot in the end zone and holding on.
"He's tough," said Cochran, who was talking about Burrow, but could have been talking about Higgins.
PICK-SIX
The genesis of safety Geno Stone's first career pick-six that gave the Bengals a 31-14 lead halfway through the third quarter came in the Tuesday off-day, players-only meeting of the secondary.
"(Tight end) Chig Okonkwo runs a bunch of overs to the boundary," said Stone, after cashing his third pick of the year from 39 yards out. "Playing a lot of single-high, and I knew I could jump it."
Stone, the defending AFC interceptions champion from his work in Baltimore last season, is starting to hit his stride as a Bengal with interceptions in his last two games.
"I'm starting to show who I really am. I feel like I've adjusted to the defense the past two weeks," Stone said. "I feel like it has made it simple for us to be able to play fast. I feel like the results are showing what we can do."
SLANTS AND SCREENS
Bengals safety Jordan Battle had his 24th birthday on Saturday, but he celebrated Sunday with his first double-digit tackling game of the season with ten. He also got the final block for Stone at the 5.
But nobody wanted to talk about that.
After Battle scooped up rookie defensive tackle Mckinnley Jackson's forced fumble at the Bengals 39, he appeared to race 61 yards for a touchdown to give the Bengals a 37-14 lead with three minutes left.
But he lost the ball before he crossed the goal line and the Titans got a touchback. Battle says he wasn't looking to celebrate too early.
"I felt somebody coming from the inside and I was switching it to my left hand," Battle said. "Self-inflicted wound. Need to finish through the end zone. Need to get across the line to celebrate …
Chase Brown rushed for 97 yards on 25 attempts, the second most carries of his career …
Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase had nine catches for 94 yards, giving him a career-high 102 grabs, 11 away from breaking T.J. Houshmandzadeh's club record set in 2007 …
