Jordan Battle had a long fumble recovery for a touchdown in the bag on Sunday afternoon.
At least he did until it was time to cross the goal line.
The Cincinnati Bengals safety picked up a Tennessee Titans fumble against Tony Pollard in the second half of their game on Sunday and ran it back 61 yards for what looked like a certain touchdown at Nissan Stadium. But when he was inches from the end zone, Battle somehow lost control of the ball and essentially let it fly out of the back of the end zone.
All Battle needed was one more step. Instead, he gave the ball right back to the Titans for the touchback.
That would also have been Battle’s first career touchdown. The second-year safety out of Alabama had 71 total tackles and one interception last season as a rookie. He came into Sunday’s game with 35 tackles this season. Instead, his very first score will have to wait.
Despite Battle’s blunder, the Bengals were still in complete control of the game. Titans quarterback Will Levis was intercepted for a touchdown on the drive before, putting the Titans ahead by 16 points late in the third quarter. The Bengals have lost four of their last six games before Sunday’s game in Nashville, though they pulled off a wild late 27-20 win over the Dallas Cowboys last week. That put them at 5-8 on the year and kept them alive in the playoff race.
This post will be updated soon with more information.
