The Zach Taylor disasterclass is almost solely to blame for the Bengals’ stunning TNF loss

The Cincinnati Bengals lost Baltimore Ravens35-34, on Thursday Night Football. It was a devastating loss, especially saddened by the presence of it all. A few better calls here and there and we’re probably talking about a Bengals win.

It’s hard to blame individual players here. Ja’Marr Chase had a career-high for Cincinnati with 11 catches for 264 yards and three touchdowns. Not a typo. Meanwhile, Joe Burrow completed 34 of 56 passes for 428 yards and four touchdowns. It was a brave performance from Burrow, who battled discomfort down the stretch, but it wasn’t enough.

The game ended with a Cincinnati touchdown on the final drive. The extra point would have tied the score and sent the game into overtime, but instead of taking a chance against Lamar Jackson in the extra period, Zach Taylor decided to go for the win. The Bengals attempted a two-point conversion and watched as Burrow threw his pass through the outstretched arms of Tanner Hudson.

It was a brave call. There are plenty of football pundits advocating a two-point conversion in that spot, and the conversation will obviously be different if Burrow completes that pass. It was a risk, and if Cincy had won the game, we would have praised Taylor for his gutsy call. Instead, however, he’s being rightly roasted for tying the Bengals’ success on one goal-line pass attempt. Such is the life of an NFL coach.

That pretty much sums up the Zach Taylor experience, today more than ever.

The two-point conversion wasn’t Taylor’s only, um, questionable statement. With less than 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter, Cincinnati faced third-and-2 at the Ravens’ 34-yard line. Burrow threw it into the end zone incomplete instead of targeting a route closer to the line for the gain. On fourth-and-2, instead of going for a field goal to extend their lead to 21-20, the Bengals went for it — and threw another bomb down the sideline that completely fell flat.

At least it’s clear to go for it on third-and-two with plans to play more conservatively on fourth-and-two. Just hitting back-to-back 30-yard bombs with the game hanging in the balance with a short line to win is downright confusing. Some of that blame goes back to Burrow for his decision-making in the pocket, but Taylor is the coach. He makes plays. Why not feed a red-hot Ja’Marr Chase on a short route instead of over the middle, or just feed Chase Brown twice. All it takes is a yard per run.

It was a stunning coaching performance by Taylor. It’s hard to say the Bengals should have won this game, but it definitely should have ended differently, ideally with Burrow making a full drive in overtime. The inherent unpredictability of the binocular conversion makes it too risky a pick at this point, especially with so much to lose in the postseason race. Cincinnati falls to 4-6 with the loss, adding another game between them and Baltimore atop the division. It stings. many. If Cincy doesn’t make the playoffs by a game, we’ll all be back to that controversial call by Taylor at the end of the game.

So…a hot spot to watch in Cincinnati?