Ward completed 26 of 40 passes for 304 yards and two touchdowns in Sunday's 43-36 overtime loss to the Bengals. He added seven rushing attempts for 41 yards, lost a fumble, ran in a two-point conversion and threw a successful two-point conversion.
Ward threw two go-ahead touchdown passes in the fourth quarter, connecting with Chimere Dike for an 11-yard score before finding Wan'Dale Robinson for a 15-yard TD. Those two touchdown passes came after a streak of five Tony Pollard rushing touchdowns without a Ward passing TD over the previous seven quarters. Pollard's second rushing touchdown Sunday was followed up by a two-point conversion from Ward on the ground, and Ward threw a two-point conversion to Gunnar Helm after the touchdown pass to Robinson to take a 36-29 lead. The Bengals answered with a game-tying touchdown, and Cincinnati scored to begin overtime. Tennessee's ensuing drive in OT resulted in a turnover on downs, but the bonus possession helped Ward reach 300 passing yards in a game for the first time in his career. Ward's first multi-touchdown passing performance of the season improves his TD:INT to 6:5 heading into a Week 10 home game against the Jaguars following Tennessee's Week 9 bye.