Bengals’ Jordan Battle blows fumble return for touchdown vs. Titans, loses ball right before crossing into end zone

Jordan Battle had a long fumble recovery for a touchdown in the bag on Sunday afternoon.

At least, he did right up until it was time to cross the goal line.

The Cincinnati Bengals safety scooped up a fumble by Tennessee Titans running back Tony Pollard in the second half of their game on Sunday and ran it back 61 yards for what looked like a sure touchdown at Nissan Stadium. But, when he was inches away from the end zone, Battle somehow 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, too. 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 tackles this season. Instead, his first ever 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 Titans up by 16 points late in the third quarter. The Bengals have lost four of their last six games before Sunday’s contest in Nashville, though they were coming off a wild late 27-20 win over the Dallas Cowboys last week. That got them to 5-8 on the year, and kept them alive in the playoff race.

This post will be updated with more information shortly.