Bengals fumble chance to upset Chiefs with unacceptable pass interference by rookie

The Cincinnati Bengals played much better in Week 2 against the Kansas City Chiefs than they did in Week 1 against the New England Patriots. Unfortunately, they came up a little short in the end and lost the game, 26-25. As a result of the loss, Cincinnati starts the season 0-2 for a third straight year.

The loss to the Chiefs will be tough for fans in Cincinnati to swallow, especially since the Bengals came so close to pulling off an upset. How close? Well, one pass interference call away. In the closing minutes of the game, the Bengals had the Chiefs in a very tough situation -- down by two and facing a fourth-and-16.

Patrick Mahomes dropped back and delivered a pass to receiver Raheem Rice, which fell to the ground as incomplete. For a second, it looked like the ball would be going back to the Bengals, who would be able to run out the clock to secure the win. But then, some streaks of yellow flew through the sky, and the entire projected outcome of the game flipped.

Bengals rookie safety Daijahn Anthony was called for pass interference on the play after jumping into Rice's back in order to attempt to deflect the pass. The Chiefs were able to get a fresh set of downs and advance the ball as a result of the penalty, and kicker Harrison Butker went on to covert a game-winning field goal.

Why was Daijahn Anthony even in the game?

It' was a debatable call. Some are going to agree with it, some aren't, but at the end of the day it was made, so everyone has to live with it. At least it will be a good learning experience for Anthony, who is going to receive a lot of blame for the loss, and understandably so.

But, as a seventh-round rookie, it's fair to wonder why Anthony was even in the game at that point in time. He's listed as a third-string safety on Cincinnati's official depth chart, and the team wasn't dealing with any major injury issues at the position. Why was he in position to make a rookie-level error in the guts of an important game against a major rival?

Plus, that wasn't even Anthony's first penalty of the game. He was also called for illegal contact on Travis Kelce earlier in the game. Perhaps at that point the coaching staff should have realized that the moment might be a little too big for him at this early stage of his career.

After all, these are rookie mistakes, especially for a late-round pick. So, while it's fair to say that Anthony simply needs to be better (which he does), the real issue is the fact that he was even in that position in the first place. That's some questionable coaching.

Games aren't won or lost on a single play, but having an inexperienced rookie out on the field on that fourth-down situation certainly cost the Bengals. 1-1 with a win over the defending champions would sure feel a lot better than 0-2.