Bengals Coach Zac Taylor Talks Math, Decisions During Final Possession in OT That Left Time for Denver To Tie Game

Jay Morrison | Dec 28, 2024

Cincinnati Bengals running back Chase Brown (30) runs the ball in the second quarter of the NFL Week 17 game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Denver Broncos at Paycor Stadium in downtown Cincinnati on Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. / Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

CINCINNATI – The Cincinnati Bengals appeared to have won Saturday night’s game against the Denver Broncos four or five different times before actually doing so 30-24 in overtime.

That’s because when it was most in their control, the Bengals didn’t take the highest percentage route to victory.

It nearly cost them the game. And it might have cost them their starting running back.

The Bengals had first and goal at the Denver 6-yard line with 1:39 to go in a tie game.

The Broncos only had one timeout remaining, so Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow could have taken three knees and attempted a 30-yard field goal with about 10-15 seconds remaining.

Instead, head coach Zac Taylor called a running play for Chase Brown with instructions to slide down at the 1-yard line. Brown went down as Denver’s Jonathon Cooper was wrapping him up.

Brown suffered an ankle injury, which forced the Bengals to use a timeout by rule.

Instead of taking a couple of knees after that to run the clock down to about 45 seconds, Taylor had Burrow plow in from 1-yard out for a seven-point lead with 1:29 to go.

That was enough time for Denver to go down and score the game-tying touchdown to force overtime.

Taylor talked about the decision after the game:

“The injury changed everything because we were going to be able to kick the walkoff field goal with about 10 seconds left,” he said. “No one’s fault. We were telling Chase to slide at the 1, which he did.”

The forced timeout ended any chance the Bengals had of bleeding all but the final 10 seconds. But they still could have drained more time by taking a couple of knees.

“You are in a second and goal from the 1,” Taylor said. “Yeah, you can down it and make sure they use their timeout and then try to score a touchdown from there on third down and maybe try to kick if on fourth, but it’s just – you saw our low red zone against them – it’s tough all day. They are going to play goal line against every personnel you got.

“Nothing was easy for us, especially the runs down there because they got you so overmatched in personnel,” Taylor continued. “We just ran a quarterback sneak and told Joe to score. If you score, great. If you don’t, they will have to use their timeout, and we will try something else. Then just put it on the defense to get the stop.”

Brown suffered a right ankle injury on the play where he intentionally went down. He was quickly ruled out for the rest of the game by the Cincinnati medical staff, but he wasn't wearing any sort of boot or brace after the game and said he'll see how the injury responds this week to know whether he can play in the finale against Pittsburgh.

The score points or kill clock dilemma was reminiscent of another Week 17 game at Paycor Stadium. That was 2021 against the Kansas City Chiefs when the Bengals snapped the ball eight times from the 1-yard line before Evan McPherson kicked a game-winning 20-yard field goal as time expired.

Taylor said there wasn’t any discussion about just taking knees once they got to first and goal at the 6.

“We were just going to keep running the ball and try to get what we could and try to get down there,” he said. “There is going to be a lot we can talk about that we felt good about our decision there just to get down to the 1.

“You are never assuming there is going to be an injury. That’s not what you are factoring in,” he added. “You are trying to get as close as possible to keep all options on the table. Our math said there was going to be around 10 seconds to kick the walkoff, and then the injury immediately changed everything. You have to pivot and have a whole other conversation.”

After York missed a 33-yard field goal in overtime, clanging it off the left upright, and the Cincinnati defense came up with back-to-back three and outs deep in Denver’s end, Burrow and the offense drove for another first and goal at the 3.

WHO DEY!!!! @joeyb ➡️ @teehiggins5

Next up: #CINvsPIT pic.twitter.com/Pfb1Ohg3nh

— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) December 29, 2024

This time, there was no question about scoring or milking the clock. Burrow hit Tee Higgins for a 3-yard touchdown, the receiver’s third scoring catch of the night, and the Bengals poured onto the field to celebrate a win that kept their playoff hopes alive.

“There is going to be a lot we are going to review over the next several years, I’m sure, from this game that will teach us a lot about how to handle some of these situations,” Taylor said. “But I thought our communication was really good in some really challenging situations we were in.”

For more on the Bengals, subscribe to our YouTube Channel.

Make sure you bookmark BengalsTalk.com for the latest Bengals news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns and so much more!

-----

Join the 47,000+ Bengals fans that subscribe to us on YouTube.

Follow us on Twitter: @BengalsTalkSI

Like Our Facebook Page

Follow on TikTok