After enjoying a first-round bye, the Tennessee Titans will begin their 2021 playoffs on Saturday with a matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals at Nissan Stadium in Nashville.
According to Tipico Sportsbook, the Titans are 3.5-point favorites over the Bengals, with the over/under set at 47.5.
The Bengals finished the regular season at 10-7, won the AFC North and notched their first playoff victory since the 1990 playoffs after beating the Las Vegas Raiders, 26-19, on Saturday.
Tennessee won their second straight AFC South title and captured the No. 1 seed for the first time since 2008 after going 12-5. This is the Titans’ third consecutive trip to the playoffs.
These two teams last met in the regular season in 2020 when the Bengals won, 31-20. Their last playoff meeting was in the aforementioned 1990 playoffs when the Bengals topped the Houston Oilers, which was also Cincinnati’s last postseason victory prior to this year.
The Titans are set to get a huge boost for this game, as running back Derrick Henry is expected to make his return after suffering a serious foot injury in the Week 8 win over the Indianapolis Colts. As a whole, the Titans are as healthy as they’ve been all season after an injury-plagued campaign.
Meanwhile, the Bengals have some injury concerns upfront on defense, with the most significant being defensive end Trey Hendrickson (concussion) and defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi (foot). Both players left the Wild Card game against the Raiders early due to injury and their statuses are up in the air.
Tennessee and Cincinnati will meet on Saturday, with kickoff set for 3:30 p.m. CST. The game will be broadcast on CBS and Paramount+.
