After suffering a last-second 27-24 defeat to the Cleveland Browns at home, the Tennessee Titans are essentially in football's dreaded no man's land. The Titans sit toward the bottom of the AFC standings with a 1-6 record. They are essentially eliminated from playoff contention, and it's not even November yet.

Nonetheless, this matchup could carry serious future playoff implications for the Bengals and draft positioning for Tennessee. While the Titans are on a two-game losing skid with a struggling young quarterback, Cincinnati is jockeying with the Browns, Steelers and Ravens in a competitive AFC North title race.

Here are three major storylines to keep an eye on as the Titans head into The Jungle on Sunday.

Expect more Tony Pollard touches as the trade deadline nears

Throughout the season, RB Tony Pollard has had a heavy workload despite being considered near the end of his prime for his position at age 29. Pollard has the 10th-most carries in the NFL this season, and I suspect that isn't unintentional.

Against Cleveland last week, Pollard had a monstrous three-touchdown performance with 155 yards from scrimmage. It was Pollard's first three-touchdown game since 2022 and his first time gaining 100-plus all-purpose yards all season.

The Titans have already declared themselves as a seller at the NFL's upcoming trade deadline by swapping the franchise's best player, DT Jeffery Simmons, to the Chicago Bears for three future picks, including two first-rounders.

My theory is the Titans will continue to feed Pollard as the primary back against Cincinnati to bolster his stats and drive up his trade value. Prior to playing Cleveland, Pollard had only one touchdown all season and was yet to rush for more than 80 yards in a single game. 

In the previous two games against the Browns and Colts, Pollard has been handed more carries than earlier in the year.

In my opinion, the value for a 29-year-old running back wouldn't be incredibly high; it would realistically be about a fifth-round pick exchanged for Pollard. However, if the Titans are truly looking to get younger and build more draft capital, expect Pollard to be moved before the November 10 deadline.

How will the Titans' pass rush perform without Jeffery Simmons?

As previously mentioned, Tennessee traded their perennial Pro Bowl defensive tackle to the Bears. Simmons was leading the Titans with four sacks prior to the trade. Simmons led Tennessee with 11 sacks last season, as he was named a First Team All-Pro for the first time in his career.

Needless to say, the Titans defense will not be the same without their all-world defensive anchor. According to PFF, Simmons has the third most pressures of any defensive tackle in the NFL. Next in line for Titans' sack leaders are DE Jacob Martin with 3.5 and DE Jermaine Johnson II with three, respectively.

However, Martin and Johnson II aren't defensive tackles. The Titans were already thin at defensive tackle prior to the trade with Chicago, which poses major concerns for filling an already massive loss without Simmons.

Two weeks ago, Tennessee cut DT Jordan Elliott after an incident outside of the training facility. Elliott was signed to a two-year contract worth up to $8.5 million this offseason. 

Fellow 2026 free agent signee DT John Franklin-Myers has been playing through injuries and only has one sack this season. To address the vacancies, Tennessee resigned DT Jimmy Horne from the practice squad. He has five tackles in two games played this season. 

In addition to signing former Raider DT Jonah Laulu, who recorded four sacks in 2025. Laulu only played five games for Las Vegas this season before getting cut and becoming a Titan. It will be interesting to see how effective Tennessee will be to attack the Bengals' QB Joe Burrow on Sunday. The Bengals have only given up 10 sacks this season, which is the third fewest in the league. 

Can Cam Ward do enough to guarantee his starting spot?

Despite Tennessee having their highest-scoring game of the season against the Browns, second-year QB Cam Ward threw for only 181 yards, zero touchdowns and an interception. He also took a critical sack near the goal line right after getting stuffed on a sneak... the Titans were unable to score on that trip. 

Ward has thrown an interception in each of the last five games while only tossing three touchdowns in that stretch. His sophomore season has been a disappointment, to say the least.

Currently Ward has fewer passing yards and as many interceptions and touchdowns through seven games as his rookie season. While his completion percentage is up from last year, Ward's average depth of target is only 7.3 yards, which is the eighth worst of eligible passers, according to PFF. 

The 24-year-old quaterback has a 73.8 passer rating, which is the third worst in the NFL. That number is worse than his 80.2 passer rating as a rookie. Ward's inability to move the ball down the field consistently is a major concern considering the Titans improved their offensive line from last year and are giving up fewer sacks.

Over the offseason, Tennessee added WR Carnell Tate with the fourth pick in the 2026 draft and WR Wan'Dale Robinson, who had 1,000-plus receiving yards last season with the New York Giants.

The Bengals' secondary is giving up an average of 230 pass years per game, which is the ninth most in the NFL. Ward's season-high is 222 pass yards against Baltimore, his only 200-plus passing yard performance of the year.

If Ward is held to under 200 yards passing and turns the ball over on Sunday against a medicore pass defense, I wouldn't be surprised if backup QB Mitchell Trubisky gets playing time soon. The former first overall pick has the opportunity to remind the league why he's a starting quarterback in the NFL with a major performance against Cincinnati.