Even after another tough loss in a season filled with heartbreaking defeats, Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor remains hopeful his team can still make the playoffs.
Taylor’s Bengals (4-7) and their fans may be finding it harder to stay positive after a 34-27 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday night. Despite a strong second-half comeback from a 21-point deficit, Cincinnati allowed an 84-yard touchdown drive in the final minute of the game.
This marks the sixth time this season the Bengals have lost by seven points or fewer, including two losses in a row.
Taylor continued to express confidence in his team, even after the disappointing performance at SoFi Stadium.
“This is sick, the way that these games are ending, and the way that we feel coming off the field every week,” Taylor said. “What I just keep telling the team is, ‘At some point, this has got to help us.’
At some point, we’ve got to find some momentum, and we’ve got to get on a run, and we’ve got to find ourselves in a good position where we reflect back. We don’t ever want to use a loss for good, but it’s got to help us in some way.”
The Bengals are now 4 1/2 games behind the AFC North-leading Pittsburgh Steelers (8-2). Nine other AFC teams have better records than the Bengals as they head into their bye week.
Despite the tough losses, Taylor repeatedly insisted that he believes his team can still make the playoffs, highlighting that they’ve “played good football” this season.
“We believe in our guys,” he said. “We’ve got good systems in place, and we’re going to hang in there and support each other and find a way to get this thing done. And if we can get it done, it’s going to be a dang good season.
It’s not so far what we would have written for ourselves, but I tell you, I stand here today with the utmost belief that we can still get this done on the back half of our schedule.”
When asked if he shared his coach’s optimism, quarterback Joe Burrow responded quietly, “Hope so.” Later, Burrow added, “Yeah,” when asked if this season was the most frustrating of his career. “Pretty self-explanatory,” he added.
The Bengals showed both passion and frustration during the game in Inglewood, and it’s becoming clear that tensions may be rising. Wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase, who had seven catches for 75 yards and two touchdowns, surpassed 1,000 yards for the fourth straight season.
However, he gave an unusual response when asked how the Bengals can improve their execution in late-game situations.
“I don’t know,” Chase said. “Ask Zac. Ask the coaches. Don’t ask me. That’s not my job. I play football on the field. I don’t call plays for us, so I can’t really do nothing.”
During the first half, three-time Pro Bowler Trey Hendrickson was visibly frustrated and shouted at Taylor on the sideline. Hendrickson, upset by a no-call, swatted away Taylor’s outstretched arm.
He later explained that it was part of playing with an edge, but admitted that the defense had reasons to be frustrated after allowing 272 yards in the first half.
“Everybody tries to calm me down, but it’s the (NFL),” Hendrickson said. “You play with an edge. Everybody does. Everybody should, and flicking that switch off … I love Zac. He’s a great head coach. He’s done a lot for me as a person. I love him.”
But Hendrickson also acknowledged that the defense isn’t performing as expected. “I wish I knew all the answers,” Hendrickson said. “Right now I don’t. It’s humbling, the (NFL). We have a very talented roster, I think, individually, these pieces. It’s not coming together as a defense like we planned.”
Cincinnati’s season got off to a rough start with a 1-4 record, including four losses by a combined total of just 15 points. After a 3-1 stretch, the Bengals suffered a painful 35-34 loss to Baltimore last week after blowing a 14-point lead and then failing a two-point conversion attempt with 38 seconds left.
The loss to the Chargers wiped out another comeback led by Burrow, who threw for 214 yards in just a five-drive stretch during the second half. The Bengals scored three touchdowns on those drives, but kicker Evan McPherson missed field goals on two others, leaving him just 6-for-10 on kicks beyond 39 yards this season.
Taylor stood by his kicker and insisted the Bengals don’t need to make drastic changes to save their season.
“We can see it’s just coming down to one play in every single game, so why would you make a big, wholesale change when it’s just coming down to one?” Taylor said. “To me, that’s just panic.
That’s not what we’re about. We believe in what we’re doing, and so we’re not going to be those people that just panic because the record is 4-7 and we start making all these significant changes. That’s not what the answer is.”
