'We Called It, and It Happened' - Bengals WR Ja'Marr Chase Laments Game-Changing Fourth-and-1 Call

Jay Morrison | Oct 27, 2024

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase (1) catches a pass on fourth and short but is brought down short of a first down in the third quarter of the NFL Week 8 game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Philadelphia Eagles at Paycor Stadium in downtown Cincinnati on Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024. The Bengals fell to 3-5 on the season with a 37-17 loss to the Eagles at home. / Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

CINCINNATI – There usually isn’t a pivotal point to circle in a 20-point loss where the defense allows the opponent to score on seven of its eight possession.

But Sunday afternoon at Paycor Stadium, there was a clear and obvious inflection point in the Cincinnati Bengals’ 37-17 white flag, whiteout loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Trailing by seven after allowing Philadelphia to score touchdowns on three consecutive possessions, the Bengals had third and 1 with less than two minutes remaining in the third quarter.

But the play clock went under 10 seconds and the offense was still in the huddle, forcing head coach Zac Taylor to burn a timeout.

The Eagles defense stoned Zack Moss for no gain, and Taylor made a decision that seemed more like a no-confidence vote in his defense than a staunch belief in his offense, going for it on fourth and 1 from his own 39.

The Bengals put Ja’Marr Chase in motion from left to right, quarterback Joe Burrow threw him a screen behind the line of scrimmage and the Philadelphia defense swallowed Chase for a 2-yard loss.

Taylor expressed disappointment in the play call.

“The play didn’t work, and that’s 100 percent on me,” he said.

Burrow offered a short assessment of the play.

“Threw it to Ja'Marr and he got tackled," he said.

Chase wished the call never happened.

“Just one call I wish we could've took back and changed to something else," he said. “But we called it, and it happened.”

Chase caught the ball more than 3 yards behind the line of scrimmage, and there wasn’t a single Cincinnati player in front of him to block.

Philadelphia rookie slot corner Cooper DeJean dropped Chase for a 2-yard loss, and even if he had missed, safety C.J. Gardner was there.

“I don't mind being aggressive, just they was on it,” Chase said.

 The Bengals defense held the Eagles to a field goal, but the 10-point deficit put the Bengals in an even more aggressive, risk-taking mode.

And on the next possession, Burrow chucked a deep shot for Chase on first down near midfield, and backup cornerback Isaiah Rodgers, who was in the game for the injured Darius Slay, tipped the pass to Gardner-Johnson for just the Eagles’ third takeaway of the season and Burrow’s third interception.

Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia offense buried the Bengals from there with another touchdown drive to make it 34-17.

And it was just a matter of killing the clock after that.

"It felt like we needed to be aggressive there," Taylor said. "It didn't work out. So that's frustrating. I put that on myself. It's a situation where I felt like we needed to be aggressive and get a score on that possession, given that we were down seven. And any time it doesn't go well, obviously you're gonna think long and hard about that decision."

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