NASHVILLE, Tenn. — They’re just a big ole tease.

On the first drive of Sunday’s game against host Tennessee, the Bengals looked fantastic.

Joe Mixon ran tough and with authority.

He ran hard and was determined.

Playmaker and wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase had some big gains on some screen plays.

And fellow wide receiver Tee Higgins actually made some catches.

Wow!

Cincinnati jumped out to a 3-0 lead off a productive 11-play, 72-yard drive.

Many thought that this would be the breakout game the Bengals needed after a sluggish start to the season.

Then it all fell apart.

From that opening drive of 72 yards, the Bengals struggled to gain 48 yards midway through the third period.

With 4:38 to go in the third quarter, the Titans dominated and compiled 335 yards to Cincinnati’s mere 120.

That tells the story.

The Titans thumped Cincinnati 27-3.

The win puts Tennessee at 2-2 as the Bengals fell to 1-3.

“Nothing was good enough for us today,” Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said. “We got beat on everything and every phase.”

You know it’s bad when Tennessee running back Derrick Henry had more touchdown passes than Bengals QB Joe Burrow did on the day.

Henry connected with Josh Whyle on a two-yard TD pass with 10 seconds left in the second quarter for the 24-3 lead.

In Henry’s career, he’s completed seven of eight passes with four TDs.

Burrow finished the game with only 165 yards passing and completed 20 of 30 passes, but no touchdowns.

“We have the capability of being a playoff team,” Burrow said after the loss. “That’s so far in the future. We’ve got to just worry about tomorrow and get better tomorrow at this point. Whenever you’re 1-3, it’s frustrating.”

The best player for the Bengals on Sunday was punter Brad Robbins, who put the Titans deep in their own territory three times — only to watch the defense give up drives of 78, 80 and 65 yards to the Titans for scores.

Robbins had five punts for 257 yards and averaged 51.4 yards per punt — with his longest being 62 yards.

On the day, Tennessee outgained the Bengals 400 yards to 211.

“This is unacceptable today,” Taylor added. “But we have everything in this lockerroom to get back on track.”

To be generous, the Bengals defense was terrible.

One (of many) example was when the Titans had the ball on a third-down in their own territory.

Quarterback Ryan Tannehill fired an incomplete pass, but Bengals DB Nick Scott was called for a roughing the passer and gave Tennessee a first down.

Then, on another third down, Bengals defensive back Chidobe Awuzie was flagged for holding to give the Titans another first down.

The Titans eventually scored on a field goal to cap off a 15-play, 65-yard drive with 10:22 left in the third quarter.

“Tennessee controlled the game from start to finish,” Taylor said. “They beat us in every situation.”

What happened toward the end of the game was irrelevant.

It was only padding the stats.

In the end, 68,951 fans in Nissan Stadium witnessed how terrible the Bengals played.

Taylor must be flustered with all the questions asking why he does not play his starters in the preseason.

At this point, it’s irrelevant until next year.

But in five years, he is 1-9 in the first two games of the year.

Something must change.

His job is to get the team prepared for the season.

He has not done that.

They’re not ready to compete at the highest level — yet.

They are down 1-3 after the first quarter of the season.

Has the promise of a brilliant season ended abruptly in only the first week of October?

There has been nothing to imply or signify anything different.

Is the potential for another Super Bowl run over for 2023?

The Bengals defense was worn down and the secondary was Swiss cheese on Sunday.

The high-powered offense of Burrow, Chase, Tyler Boyd and Higgins did not show up — again.

And to add insult to injury, Higgins went out with a fractured rib.

That sums it up.

Everyone is frustrated.

“I would say whenever you’re 1-3, you’re going to be frustrated,” Burrow added. “You’re going to be angry. You’re going to be wanting to win games. And we haven’t been. We’re not going to let anything like that come between us. That’s how you end up having a bad season. We’ve had a bad start. We’ve had a bad first quarter, so we got three more quarters of the year to get through and go from there.”

The Bengals travel to Arizona to take on the Cardinals, which beat the Dallas Cowboys 28-16 two weeks ago.

Instead of saying Who Dey, the phrase at this point in the season is Who Knows?