Jordan Battle had a long fumble recovery for a touchdown in the bag on Sunday afternoon against the Tennessee Titans.
At least, he did right up until it was time to cross the goal line.
The Cincinnati Bengals safety scooped up a fumble by running back Tony Pollard in the second half on Sunday and ran it back 61 yards for what looked like a sure touchdown. But, when he was inches away from the end zone, Battle lost control of the ball and actually sent it flying out of the back of the end zone.
All Battle needed was one more step. Instead, he handed the ball right back to the Titans for the touchback.
That would 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 entered Sundays’ game with 35 total tackles this season. Instead, his first score will have to wait.
Despite Battle’s blunder, the Bengals were still in full control of the game. Titans quarterback Will Levis was intercepted for a touchdown on the drive before, which put the Bengals up by 16 points late in the third quarter. The Bengals have lost four of their past six games before Sunday’s contest in Nashville, though they were coming off a wild late 27-20 win over the Dallas Cowboys on Monday night. That got them to 5-8 on the year, and kept them alive in the playoff race.
