Cincinnati Bengals Players Question Lack of Aggression in OT Possession as Team Repeats Mistake From 2021 Loss

Jay Morrison | Oct 7, 2024

Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor looks to the video board after a play in the second quarter of the NFL Week 5 game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens at Paycor Stadium in downtown Cincinnati on Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. The Bengals led 17-14 at halftime. / Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

CINCINNATI – Three years ago Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor sat in the front of the media saying he was going to lose sleep over his decision to take the ball out of Joe Burrow’s hands in overtime following a loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

Taylor let Burrow cook from that moment on, and the Cincinnati starters reeled off six consecutive wins to reach Super LVI.

But 1,029 days later, history repeated itself Sunday after at Paycor Stadium when Taylor took the ball out of Burrow’s hands in overtime again and suffered what is sure to be another sleep-sapping loss because of it.

Only this one could be far more damaging, with a 41-38 defeat at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens dropping the Bengals to 1-4, their worst start since Taylor’s first season in 2019 when the team began 0-11.

Gifted a game-winning opportunity when Ravens quarterback dropped a snap with 6:28 left in overtime, the Bengals had the ball at the Baltimore 38-yard line.

Three running plays later, Taylor and the Bengals settled for a 53-yard field goal attempt that fell apart when rookie holder Ryan Rehkow dropped the ball as he placing it on the ground, causing kick Evan McPherson to hook it wildly left.

“Personally, I thought we should have gone a little more aggressive on the first and second down to get Evan in better field goal range,” said Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins, who had one of the best games of his career with nine catches for 83 yards and two touchdowns.

And it wasn’t just Higgins who had a big day.

The Ravens struggled to deal with quarterback Joe Burrow, who threw for 392 yards and a career-high five touchdowns, and wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase, who caught 10 passes for 193 yards and two scores.

But with the game on the line, the Bengals handed the ball to Chase Brown on three-straight plays, including a pair of runs that gained zero yards.

“I feel like we should have tried at least one play to give it to one our playmakers—me or Tee or Drei (Andrei Iosivas) to try to get a first down,” Chase said. “That was what we’d be doing the whole game.”

Burrow opted not to second guess Taylor when asked about the offense turtling up in overtime.

“As good as their rush is, you always take a chance at getting sacked in that situation,” Burrow said. “I’m not second guessing that. We were in field goal range. Yes, you want to get some yards to make it easier. But also, their defense is really good and makes negative plays happen all the time.

“I’m not gonna second guess that one,” he added. “We had a shot to win it, and we didn’t take advantage of it.”

Taylor explained his play-calling thought process on the series.

“We feel like we're in field goal range,” he said. “We've thrown the ball in that situation before. We called a pass. Joe actually did a great job of getting us out of it and back into a run because the look was not there to throw it. There was good management by him. Still got a couple yards out of it.

“And then we're in position to win (with) the field goal,” he continued. “And we thought we'd win it with that.”

The one big different between Sunday and the San Francisco loss in 2021 was the Bengals needed a touchdown to end the game against the 49ers.

They only needed a field goal against the Ravens.

But the conversative approach and defensive collapse were the same.

They settled for the field goal against San Francisco, then let the 49ers go down the field for a game-winning touchdown.

They settled for a field goal against Baltimore, then let Derrick Henry rip off a 51-yard run down to the 6-yard line for a game-winning chip shot off the foot of Justin Tucker.

Whether the sleep loss for Taylor is the same remains to be seen.

Whether the 2024 Bengals have the resolve to overcome a gut-punch loss in OT the way the 2021 team did also is in question.

“We’re not a championship-level team right now. “We’re not,” Burrow said. “I like to think that we'll come back and improve throughout the season to get to that point, but right now we are not. We have to get better.”

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