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BALTIMORE \u2013\u00a0Cincinnati Bengals\u00a0tight end Tanner Hudson banged his head \u2013 not violently, but despondently, in the frustrated way \u2013 twice against the metal cage that served as his locker in the visiting team\u2019s changing room at M&T Bank Stadium.<\/p>\n
No better image could capture how he and his teammates felt after another one-possession loss, one that makes the team\u2019s quest to reach the postseason that much more of an \u201cuphill climb,\u201d as Joe Burrow put it.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah,\u201d the Cincinnati quarterback said of the 2024 season, \u201cthis one has been frustrating.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Bengals were 2 yards from a clean slate, a 5-5 record and another step up what will be the crowded ladder that is the AFC playoff picture \u2013 with the real chance of defeating one of the best teams in the league, a division rival, on the road.<\/p>\n
Instead, Burrow threw high to Hudson on what would have been\u00a0the go-ahead two-point conversion\u00a0with 42 seconds remaining. A night that started with aggression and ended with more of the same resulted in\u00a0a Baltimore Ravens 35-34 win\u00a0on \u201cThursday Night Football\u201d. In the process, the Bengals wasted a historic game from wideout Ja\u2019Marr Chase, who torched the depleted Ravens secondary \u2013 playing\u00a0without safety Kyle Hamilton for the second half\u00a0\u2013 for 11 catches, 264 receiving yards and three touchdowns. Burrow completed 34 of 56 passes for 428 yards and four scores.<\/p>\n
The defense, however, could not carry over momentum from the first half and allowed Lamar Jackson and the Ravens to score four consecutive touchdowns to close out a game Cincinnati once led 21-7. Running back Chase Brown\u2019s fumble that set up a short field for Baltimore to make it 21-14 was an example of the Bengals outside of Burrow and Chase doing their teammates little favor.<\/p>\n
Coach Zak Taylor had been aggressive all night, as the Bengals started the game by going for a fourth-and-goal attempt from the Baltimore two-yard line. The referees whistled Ravens cornerback Brandon Stephens \u2013 one of 11 against Baltimore for 81 yards \u2013 for a defensive holding penalty, and Brown scored on the next play. Cincinnati finished 2-for-4 on fourth down, and the two misses came on Burrow deep shots to Jermaine Burton in single coverage; neither were particularly close to being completed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got to find a way to close out these games,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cWe had our opportunity. We got down there, went for two, and it just didn\u2019t work out for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Battling back from 1-4 to 5-5 would indicate the erasure of the dismal start to the Bengals’ campaign. Instead, being 4-6 makes them unable to forget it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got a good football team. Our record doesn\u2019t yet show that. There\u2019s still time. This team is going to hang in there. We are going to be there at the end,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cThis is a tough one because you are right there, and it felt like (you) kind of let that one slip away.\u201d<\/p>\n
In three of their losses, the Bengals have demonstrated they can hang with the class of the conference \u2013 the Kansas City Chiefs and the Ravens \u2013 and lost those matchups by a combined five points.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt sucks losing to those guys,\u201d Chase said.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cI think we just got to find a way to finish. Every loss we had, we didn\u2019t finish.\u201d<\/p>\n
A 37-17 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Oct. 27 is the lone Bengals loss of the season that has been by more than six points.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook at our losses, it\u2019s pretty much one-possession losses outside of that Philly game,\u201d cornerback Mike Hilton said. \u201cIt\u2019s definitely frustrating.\u201d<\/p>\n
None of the Bengals were interested in using\u00a0the absence of a penalty\u00a0when tight end Mike Gesicki was mauled or contact was made to Burrow\u2019s helmet on the two-point attempt as an excuse. Starting left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. was out again, as was wide receiver Tee Higgins. With Burrow and Chase, the Bengals have one of the most explosive offenses in the league \u2013 twice they scored on the first play of the drive, and Chase\u2019s four touchdowns against Baltimore this year came from 41, 67, 70 and 70 yards away.<\/p>\n
\u201cElite. The best. There\u2019s no other explanation,\u201d Gesicki said. \u201cThey were incredible. It\u2019s funny how No. 1 (Chase) gets that wide open all the time. It\u2019s crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Burrow took 13 hits \u2013 bound to happen with that number of dropbacks \u2013 and was sacked three times by Nnamdi Madubuike.<\/p>\n
The Bengals finished 8-for-16 on third down and entered the contest converting at the third-best rate in the NFL (46.9%). Every time the Bengals and Ravens entered the red zone, they scored a touchdown.<\/p>\n
The Bengals\u2019 defense contained Derrick Henry and the Ravens\u2019 rushing attack but couldn\u2019t make Jackson uncomfortable after forcing five punts in Baltimore\u2019s first six drives of the game. Cam Taylor-Britt appeared to pick off Jackson with about five minutes remaining immediately after the Bengals tied the game at 28, but he couldn\u2019t control the ball before it hit the ground. Cincinnati lost the turnover battle 1-0.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a chance to close it out. We just didn\u2019t. Came back to bite us,\u201d Hilton said. \u201cOne of those tough losses.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn those critical moments, we got to find a way to get a turnover or get off the field.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since Burrow\u2019s arrival in 2020, the Bengals have been a team that typically wins the close games during their contending years (essentially, when Burrow is healthy). Now Burrow is left wondering if those past teams had an intangible quality that doesn\u2019t exist in this group.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn past years, we\u2019ve hit the opportunities,\u201d he said. \u201cThis year, we haven\u2019t. Guys just got to make plays down the stretch to close these games out. And we haven\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
The next time the Bengals play is once again in prime time,\u00a0next Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers. They have a bye Week 12 and finish the season with the Pittsburgh Steelers (twice), Dallas Cowboys, Tennessee Titans, Cleveland Browns and Denver Broncos on the schedule.<\/p>\n
Taylor was adamant his team was better than 4-6 and every player agreed with him. They also know their record means something at this point in the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think your record is what your record is and you are what your record is,\u201d Burrow said. \u201cSo, we\u2019re a 4-6 football team right now. Certainly going to be an uphill battle to get back into this thing. I like the guys we have in the locker room. I like the coaches we have.\u201d<\/p>\n
What is particularly troublesome for the Bengals is to have Chase and Burrow playing at that level and still own a sub-.500 winning percentage.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, it\u2019s crazy to say that,\u201d Chase said. \u201cI would never in a million years expect me to play this well and (Burrow) to play this well and still have a record like this.\u201d<\/p>\n
That’s the type of one-in-a-million season the Bengals were hoping to avoid in 2024. But it’s the reality they will deal with for the next 10 days.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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