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The Titans opened as 3.5-point favorites and that line has held
steady at most sportsbooks. The action has been split at
DraftKings with Cincinnati backed by 53 percent of the bets and
Tennessee by 58 percent of the money, while the Titans have been
supported by 52 and 51 percent, respectively, at PointsBet.
The Titans officially activated Henry on Friday after increasing
his workload throughout the week.
"I'm happy to be back," Henry said. "You definitely appreciate
this game a lot more when you are away from it, being away from
teammates and just having that camaraderie and going to work
every day and playing on Sundays each and every week. I
definitely missed that."
Henry will play for the first time since sustaining a fractured
right foot on Oct. 31. Before the injury, the bruising back led
the NFL with 219 carries for 937 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Henry would love a repeat of his 2019 performance in the
playoffs, as he became the first player in NFL history to rush
for 175 or more yards in back-to-back games. He participated in
a padded practice Tuesday and said Wednesday he plans to
contribute, but to what degree remains uncertain.
"Whatever I can do to help, I am always for it," Henry said.
"... I am ready to go out there and play."
Whether it's Henry receiving the full workload or sharing it
with D'Onta Foreman, the Titans face a stern test against the
Bengals' fifth-ranked rush defense (102.5 yards per game).
Tennessee received a boost from Foreman (566 rushing yards,
three touchdowns in nine games) to finish the regular season
with the fifth-ranked rushing offense (141.4 yards).
"I think we kind of stuck to our guns, and I think the stats
will show that," quarterback Ryan Tannehill said. "We ran the
ball really well, even with Derrick out.
"If he is back (for Saturday), it'll be nice to have him back.
But I feel like we've stuck to our guns and our game plan and we
can insert him back in."
The threat of a viable play-action passing game should benefit
Tannehill (3,734 passing yards, 21 touchdowns, 14
interceptions), who endured a statistically mediocre season at
best.
A.J. Brown was Tannehill's most trusted target with team-leading
totals in catches (63), receiving yards (869) and receiving
touchdowns (five) despite playing in just 13 games. The Titans
have posted an 11-2 record in games in which Brown has played.
Tennessee rested last week with the No. 1 seed in the AFC, while
the Bengals outlasted the Raiders 26-19 in the wild-card matchup
in Cincinnati.
On the opposite sideline resides confident second-year
quarterback Joe Burrow, who set franchise records in passing
yards (4,611) and touchdown passes (34) this season while
completing an NFL-best 70.4 percent of his attempts. Burrow
fired two touchdown passes in his first career playoff start
last weekend, leading fourth-seeded Cincinnati past the Raiders.
Considering Burrow is no stranger when it comes to competing for
championships, a wild-card victory wasn't the end-all, be-all
for him.
"I tried to downplay it and all that because this is how it's
gonna be from here on out," Burrow said. "It was a great win for
us. But now this is the standard for the bare minimum every year
going forward."
Rookie Ja'Marr Chase had nine catches for 116 receiving yards in
his playoff debut to help the Bengals secure their first
postseason win since the 1990 season.
The Burrow-Chase connection has helped Cincinnati average a
league seventh-best 27.1 points per game. Tennessee, in turn,
finished sixth in scoring defense (20.8).
The 47.5-points Over/Under has seen the Over backed by 66
percent of the bets and 67 percent of the money at DraftKings,
and 66 and 65, respectively, at PointsBet.
Bengals standout defensive end Trey Hendrickson's availability
for this weekend had been a question mark after he sustained a
concussion in the second half against the Raiders. But he was a
full participant in Wednesday's practice and was cleared from
the concussion protocol on Thursday.
Hendrickson finished fifth in the NFL with 14 sacks en route to
earning his first Pro Bowl selection. His career-best total
topped the 13.5 he had in 2020 for the New Orleans Saints.
Bengalswide receiver Stanley Morgan (hamstring) was limited in
practice all week and is listed as questionable.
Tennessee defensive lineman Teair Tart (ankle) is questionable
after all taking part in limited practice this week. However,
cornerback Janoris Jenkins (ankle) returned to full practice
Thursday and is expected to play.
--Field Level Media
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