The Bengals’ Week 8 trip to face the 1-6 Tennessee Titans comes with a catch: even a game against one of the league’s weakest records may not feel routine.
Cincinnati is riding a two-game win streak and just turned in its most convincing performance of the year, rolling past the Baltimore Ravens 35-13. On paper, that kind of result ought to set up a clean path against a Titans team that owns a worse record than every NFL club except the winless Los Angeles Chargers. But Tennessee has shown enough to raise at least one eyebrow, nearly pushing the AFC North-leading Cleveland Browns before falling 27-24.
The bigger concern for Cincinnati may be the officials.
Brad Allen and his crew have not been especially friendly to the Bengals, or to head coach Zac Taylor. Taylor, who burned a timeout while the Bengals trailed 13-0 in the first half against Baltimore to vent at the officials, has had a rough run in games worked by Allen.
The Bengals’ last win in a game officiated by Allen came in 2022. Allen has been the lead official in five Bengals games over their last 39, more than any other referee in the NFL. Some of those losses would have happened anyway, but there have also been stretches where the whistle clearly shaped the night.
One example came in a game against the Chargers later in the 2024 season, when Allen’s crew botched three calls in less than a minute. Trey Hendrickson was flagged for roughing the passer on a play the source material says involved no actual foul, while a potential intentional grounding on Justin Herbert went uncalled. Then came a defensive pass interference flag on Josh Newton even though the ball to Josh Palmer was uncatchable and the contact was minimal.
Allen’s history with Cincinnati shows up in the numbers too. The Bengals are 4-7 in games with Allen as the head official.
And this is not just a Cincinnati story. Allen was barred from the playoffs in 2023 after the notorious reporting-eligible mess involving the Detroit Lions.
Dan Skipper was announced as eligible when it was Taylor Decker who had reported, and Decker was then flagged for ineligible man downfield. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram later reported that Allen refused to accept blame, saying, "The issue is, number 70 did report, number 68 did not.”
That version of events did not line up with what Skipper or Decker said happened.
So if the Bengals want to get to 5-2 and keep building their AFC North chase, the safest route is probably the obvious one: handle the Titans convincingly and keep the decision out of the officials’ hands. If it turns into a tight one, the crew could end up being part of the story.
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