It’s looking like it will be Samaje Perine for the Bengals on Sunday. Joe Mixon is still in the concussion protocol, and he hasn’t practiced all week. But expectations should be modest.
Cincinnati is at Tennessee, and I think that’s the best run defense in the league right now. It’s tough doing much of anything against them on the ground.
The Titans were flat or not properly prepared back in Week 1 against the Giants, letting Saquon Barkley run for 164 yards. Since that time, only one running back has reached 60 rushing yards against this defense (Josh Jacobs carried 13 times for 66 yards in Week 3). And only one back in the last 10 weeks has scored a touchdown (Dameon Pierce, who caught a cheap one in the final seconds of a blowout loss).
Only four running backs all year have finished with at least 14 points in PPR scoring against the Titans, which is a nominal level of production. (I've got those guys tagged with black dots.)
Perine is a modest backup anyway. He carried 11 times for 30 yards against the Steelers last week. He’s had 10-plus carries six times in the last three years, and he’s averaged under 3.3 per attempt in half of those games.
Perine has some pass-catching ability, of course, with 3 TDs on pass plays last week. Mixon caught 7 balls when the Bengals came here in the playoffs last year. But with Perine having just been a factor coming out of the backfield, I think it’s something the Titans will have discussed in practice.
Definitely a lesser running back option in Week 12, I think. But at a position where serviceable options are hard to find, he’ll likely be starting for a lot of teams anyway.
| RUNNING BACKS AGAINST TITANS | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Tm | Rushing | Receiving | Yds | TD | PPR |
| • Saquon Barkley | NYG | 18-164-1 | 6-30-0 | 194 | 1 | 31.4 |
| Matt Breida | NYG | 5-24-0 | 0-0-0 | 24 | 0 | 2.4 |
| James Cook | Buff. | 11-53-0 | 0-0-0 | 53 | 0 | 5.3 |
| Devin Singletary | Buff. | 6-19-0 | 2-2-0 | 21 | 0 | 4.1 |
| Zack Moss | Buff. | 3-17-0 | 0-0-0 | 17 | 0 | 1.7 |
| • Josh Jacobs | L.V. | 13-66-0 | 5-31-0 | 97 | 0 | 14.7 |
| Brandon Bolden | L.V. | 3-17-0 | 2-4-0 | 21 | 0 | 4.1 |
| Jonathan Taylor | Ind. | 20-42-0 | 1-1-0 | 43 | 0 | 5.3 |
| Nyheim Hines | Ind. | 1-0-0 | 2-3-0 | 3 | 0 | 2.3 |
| Antonio Gibson | Was. | 3-6-0 | 3-33-0 | 39 | 0 | 6.9 |
| J.D. McKissic | Was. | 0-0-0 | 5-37-0 | 37 | 0 | 8.7 |
| Brian Robinson Jr. | Was. | 9-22-0 | 0-0-0 | 22 | 0 | 2.2 |
| • Jonathan Taylor | Ind. | 10-58-0 | 7-27-0 | 85 | 0 | 15.5 |
| Nyheim Hines | Ind. | 4-2-0 | 5-41-0 | 43 | 0 | 9.3 |
| • Dameon Pierce | Hou. | 15-35-0 | 3-16-1 | 51 | 1 | 14.1 |
| Rex Burkhead | Hou. | 0-0-0 | 1-2-0 | 2 | 0 | 1.2 |
| Jerick McKinnon | K.C. | 3-4-0 | 6-40-0 | 44 | 0 | 10.4 |
| Clyde Edwards-Helaire | K.C. | 4-5-0 | 1-14-0 | 19 | 0 | 2.9 |
| Isiah Pacheco | K.C. | 5-5-0 | 1-4-0 | 9 | 0 | 1.9 |
| Melvin Gordon | Den. | 7-24-0 | 4-46-0 | 70 | 0 | 11.0 |
| Latavius Murray | Den. | 9-24-0 | 3-23-0 | 47 | 0 | 7.7 |
| Chase Edmonds | Den. | 2-9-0 | 1-0-0 | 9 | 0 | 1.9 |
| Aaron Jones | G.B. | 12-40-0 | 6-20-0 | 60 | 0 | 12.0 |
| AJ Dillon | G.B. | 6-13-0 | 1-10-0 | 23 | 0 | 3.3 |
—Ian Allan