Hindsight is always 20-20, as they say, and it's easy to play Monday-morning quarterback, but that doesn't make the reactions wrong. In Cincinnati's demoralizing 37-17 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 8, there was one particular play call that has received some serious scrutiny -- both from fans and players on the team alike.
Ja'Marr Chase laments Bengals' fourth-down decision
Trailing by seven and on their own 39-yard line late in the third quarter, Bengals coach Zac Taylor decided to go for it on 4th-and-1. Instead of trying to run the ball, Joe Burrow threw a screen pass to Ja'Marr Chase, who was quickly dropped for a loss on the play. The Eagles then converted a field goal off of the turnover and they never looked back. Philadelphia scored 13 straight points to close out the game after the failed conversion. It was a big-time positive momentum play for Philly, and the exact opposite for Cincinnati.
THAT'S A BAD (DE)JAWN 😤@cdejean23 | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/ZlMCooglqv
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) October 27, 2024
After the game, Chase (and thousands of Bengals fans on social media) lamented the play call.
“Just one call I wish we could've took back and changed to something else, Chase said. “But we called it, and it happened.”
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The call was questionable from the jump, and it almost seemed desperate, which was noted by the national broadcast. You can't win the game on one play, and it seemed like the Bengals, and head coach Zac Taylor, tried to do exactly that.
While explaining his thought process after the game, Taylor explained that he thought he needed to be aggressive in that situation.
"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."
Obviously, if the play had worked, people would be talking about it in a much different manner. But, it didn't, and it certainly contributed to the ultimate outcome of the contest. Just like that play was a momentum-killer for the Bengals in the moment, the loss to Philadelphia is a momentum-killer for Cincinnati's season. While it's possible for the Bengals to get the momentum to swing back in their favor doing so will be exceedingly difficult.