CINCINNATI — I am a firm believer that there are two sides to every story. Anything in life can be interpreted in multiple ways, it’s just a matter of how you look at it. And that belief is especially true with the Bengals 25-22 overtime loss to the Green Bay Packers Sunday.
There is a lot to be hopeful about the Bengals even after Sunday’s loss. They went toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in the NFL, only giving up two touchdowns and 22 points across 68 minutes of play before Mason Crosby nailed a 49-yard field goal to give Green Bay 25 points and the win. Joe Burrow was every bit as good as Aaron Rodgers, a future first-ballot hall of famer, in putting the Bengals in multiple positions to win the game at the end of the fourth quarter and overtime. Burrow was 5/6 for 41 yards on the 13-play, 75-yard drive that culminated with Joe Mixon’s eight-yard touchdown run and Tee Higgins’s subsequent game-tying two-point conversion. And he looked like a 10-year savvy veteran leading that drive. And his back-shoulder throw to Ja’Marr Chase in overtime? That might be the best throw of his career so far.
There was the Bengals defense forcing Green Bay to settle for field goals three times when it looked like the Packers offense was going to just drive straight down the Bengals defense’s throats for a touchdown. Cincinnati’s defense was gashed all game by Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams, but they stiffened in critical situations and gave the offense a chance to stay in, and win, the game. Green Bay didn’t score a touchdown after halftime, and that’s with opportunities in the second half after a 59-yard bomb from Rodgers to Adams and a 57-yard run by Aaron Jones. In the last two seasons, those big plays would have been backbreaking for the Bengals defense. But not this season.
Ja’Marr Chase is an absolute stud. Boy is he fun to watch. The Bengals haven’t had someone like that at wide receiver since Chad Johnson, a receiver who makes it so effortless taking the top off of defenses. That 70-yard touchdown reception by Chase at the end of the first half was awesome. It was like watching Mahomes chuck the ball to Tyreek Hill. Big plays like that are fun and really get the Paul Brown Stadium crowd rocking. Chase has to be the front-runner for offensive rookie of the year. In fact, he’s on pace for 72 receptions, 1,550 yards and 17 touchdowns this season… as a rookie.
But with all of those positives, I can’t help but think this is a game the Bengals could have won. They were opportunities to do so… plenty of them, in fact. Those missed opportunities include rookie kicker Evan McPherson missing two game-winning field goal attempts, once in regulation and once in overtime. I feel so bad for McPherson watching the highlight of him celebrating on the kick in overtime, thinking he had nailed the kick for the win. I can’t blame the kid, though. He’s a rookie, and he has already delivered twice this season on game-winning field goals.
Who I can blame, though, is Zac Taylor on when he called upon McPherson, and when he didn’t. Twice prior to the end of the fourth quarter, the Bengals had drives stall on the Green Bay and 41- and 40-yard lines, and Taylor opted to punt both times. Why not try for points in those situations? Taylor knows that McPherson has a big leg, I think, so why not run him out there to try and bang through some points on the board? And when he was called upon, I get why, but I don’t agree with when Taylor called upon him. And in doing so, he took the ball out of Joe Burrow’s hands.
How much does Zac Taylor trust Joe Burrow? I think he does to a degree, but not completely. We saw Taylor give Burrow the freedom at the line of scrimmage on the 4th&1 play against Minnesota and let Burrow audible against Jacksonville’s cover zero on the game winning drive in week four. But when the Bengals offense was right on the fringe or just barely into field goal range Sunday, Taylor got conservative and took the ball out of Burrow’s hands. But why? Burrow got them into field goal range twice, including in overtime on a spectacular back-shoulder throw to Ja’Marr Chase. So why not let Burrow keep throwing? There has to be a play you can run where Burrow hits Chase on a route across the middle, an out route or even a go route. There has to be a play where Burrow can hit Boyd across the middle or on a stop or hitch route to move the chains. Or throw to Higgins, Uzomah, a running back, whomever! But LET. JOE. COOK. I get McPehrson has a big leg, but don’t take advantage of that and be conservative. Get in prime position and leave no doubt with the fans he’s going to make the kick. You saw how barely he missed that 49-yard field goal. I guarantee you if Burrow had thrown one more completion, he would have made it from 35 yards out or closer. Burrow is a very good quarterback with the ability to lead the Bengals on game-winning drives. And if you’re going to go for it on fourth down from inside your own 30-yard line, don’t you think you would go for it on fourth down inside the opponent’s 40-yard line? Taylor didn’t do that at the end of regulation, but what if he had? That’s all we can ask is “what if?”
Zac Taylor has done a lot of good things in his first two-plus seasons as Bengals head coach. One thing he has done a remarkable job of is getting the players to buy in completely. Through the roster and culture overhaul that took place over his first two seasons, that saw the Bengals win just six of 32 games, he now has a team that is bought in and a culture that is healthy and likeable.
But despite a 3-2 record and a chance to still accomplish a lot this season, Taylor still lacks a key ingredient that every good and great head coach has: consistency. His aggressiveness has been on display at various times through the first five games of the season. But yesterday, when aggressiveness could have swung the game in the Bengals favor, Taylor got conservative and took the ball out of his best player’s hands, the hands of the franchise’s quarterback and lord and savior. And that conservativeness shows Taylor’s inconsistency and is a major the reason why he still only owns a 9-27-1 head coaching record.
Again, a lot of positives from yesterday and through the first five games of the season. But a game Sunday that could have been won against one of the NFL’s elite teams and really announce the Bengals as a force to be reckoned with as far as playoff contention is concerned. Opportunity knocked, but Taylor and the Bengals didn’t answer the door. There are two sides to the story of Sunday’s game. It just depends on how you interpret it.
Let me be Frank and Cut to the Chase 