Stars, studs and duds from Bengals’ playoff win over Titans

With the AFC title game on the schedule next, the Cincinnati Bengals are obviously one of the biggest outright winners of this season.

But there’s certainly a little wiggle room to go back and look at the biggest studs and duds from the team’s divisional round win over the Tennessee Titans before starting to analyze the how and why of that AFC title game.

Big defensive performances, some head-scratching showings by key players and more define the biggest stars, studs and duds coming out of the win in Tennessee.

Here’s a look at the most notable in each of those categories.

Star: DT D.J. Reader

Syndication: The Enquirer

Reader never gets a lot of attention nationally even though he’s probably the best outright player on the defense and one of the team’s highest-graded players consistently. He was a monster in the middle from the opening gun, singlehandedly ruining plays on his own and even getting some pressures. The Bengals didn’t totally stop Derrick Henry because Reader can’t do it all himself, but he was winning most of the night and having a major impact.

Then after the game? He had some great trash talk for Henry.

Stud: K Evan McPherson

Syndication: The Enquirer

How great is the rookie? By halftime, he had hit on all three of his attempts, lifting his team to a 9-6 lead. The longest came from 54 yards away. He then hit from 52 yards at the buzzer to win the game…

…after calling his shot, telling teammates he was going to make it.

Dud: The line

Syndication: The Enquirer

A week removed from overperforming in a playoff win, the entire offensive line managed to underperform. The interior was totally overmatched against Jeffery Simmons and Co. and the right side was a disaster. Some of the sacks were on Burrow’s inability to get the ball out faster, but it was a clear mismatch. Burrow took five sacks in the first half (and two hits on dead balls because the refs were a mess) and nine total. That’s a playoff record — though the Bengals are the first team to ever win in the playoffs despite giving up nine sacks.

Stud: DBs Jessie Bates, Mike Hilton

Syndication: The Enquirer

Bates was all over the place all night. It started with the flashy interception of course, but he was having a big game all over the field. And Hilton, one play after making a touchdown-saving tackle, made that third quarter pick on Tannehill that helped swing the game.

Dud: CB Chidobe Awuzie

Syndication: The Tennessean

After playing as one of the better corners in football all year and stepping into that No. 1 role with Trae Wayes out pretty seamlessly, Awuzie got repeatedly cooked on Saturday, including a big touchdown allowance in the third quarter to tie the game up. It shouldn’t diminish the great season by any means, but it was a big problem.

Stud: WR Ja'Marr Chase

Syndication: The Enquirer

Chase was the spark for the Bengals offense. Not a surprise, of course. But his turning five catches into 109 yards, averaging 21.8 yards per catch, was stunning. So too was the epic sideline snag that set the offense up for the game-winning field goal.

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