Bengals-Titans player props: Who to target as King Henry returns?

Music City's crooning contingent can consider this a dare. We dropped some Kenny Chesney last week as we plundered the Eagles-Buccaneers game for treasure. If you want more country as the soundtrack for our player prop bets, then a Titans win will earn you that next week. However, with personal preference being the name of the game when scouring the ample prop menu, we'll turn to royalty in Derrick Henry's return to get the vibes right. He's Nashville's own King(s) of Leon.

"Use Somebody"

Last week's yardage props started slowly on Saturday but rallied back for a 3-3 split. This week, we're going to use Henry's return to frame a handicap for our favorite yardage prop.

Maybe it's "Because of the Times" we live in, but the excitement in the market for Henry might lead us to bet under his yardage total. While there isn't a number up as of this writing, anything near the century mark is worth a fade.

In our game preview, I pointed out that Tennessee is capable of running the football well with any of its armada of tailbacks. Also, the Bengals' defensive line injuries point to a high-volume rushing approach for the Titans, using a combination of backs with Henry amid his "Comeback Story." If that's the case, what reason do the Titans have to put the ball in Ryan Tannehill's hands?

Pick: Tannehill under 237.5 passing yards

A TD that's definitely going to happen

Normally we'd like to be "Closer" to even money with our tongue-in-cheek touchdown guarantee, but we'll go back to the well with Tee Higgins this week. Thankfully, Jerick McKinnon and Rob Gronkowski got us into the black by scoring on Super Wild Card Weekend after Higgins failed to reach the end zone.

Even though Higgins didn't score, that doesn't mean it was a bad bet. He almost hauled in one at the pylon, and his quiet day means we're getting a better payout this week. The Bengals' best chance at winning is using their strong receiving corps to take advantage of a Titans secondary that lacks depth.

As always, Ja'Marr Chase will be the center of attention for Tennessee's defense, making it likely the big-bodied Higgins will get at least one end zone target. Hopefully, he doesn't "Waste a Moment" to help us cash this bet.

Pick: Higgins anytime touchdown (+210)

A TD that probably won't happen ... but maybe it does

If you have a "Notion" for a long-shot touchdown scorer, this is where you thrive. Last week, the best we did was Boston Scott's late-game score in Tampa as our big payout attempts left us with "No Money."

This is usually the space to bet either the quarterback to run one in or a little-known tight end to find the end zone. With Tannehill priced a bit short, we'll look to a tight end that's consistently on the field. Since the bye week, Geoff Swaim has played between 63-90% of the Titans' offensive snaps. Fellow tight end Anthony Firkser finished the season with a touchdown in each of the last two games, but with Swaim playing more and the "Beautiful War" in the trenches causing all attention to go to Henry, I'll try Swaim at some generously long odds.

Pick: Swaim anytime touchdown (+650)

Matt Russell is a betting writer for theScore. If there's a bad beat to be had, Matt will find it. Find him on Twitter @mrussauthentic.

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