The first half went about as well as anyone could have expected or hoped for. The second half…well, the second half was the usual: Pain. Bitter disappointment. Angst and frustration. A pervasive feeling of total helplessness.
The Bengals lost another game they should have won. Despite the disparity in their records, the Baltimore Ravens aren’t a wildly better team than the Cincinnati Bengals – they just know how to win. The Bengals meanwhile, have spent the better part of this season learning new ways to lose.
Let’s get it out of the way: the Bengals got screwed in their 35 - 34 loss to the Ravens on Thursday Night Football. Kinda. There definitely should have been one – maybe even two – penalties called on the Ravens on the Bengals’ game-ending two-point try. But that guaranteed them nothing except for another shot. Given the Bengals’ maddening struggles in short-yardage situations this season, the Bengals having a yard to go to win the game still feels like a coin-flip at best.
Ironically, the referees decided to stow those flags for the final play. And considering how flag-happy they’d been, that they were suddenly flag-shy on the most decisive play of the game was more than a bit surprising. The Bengals final drive included no less than three penalties on the Ravens, including two personal foul penalties. It was like a reverse of the Bengals infamous loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2015 playoffs, only the Bengals still came out on the wrong side.
The first half was a game no one could have anticipated. After the two teams combined for a NFL-season-high 79 points back in early October, the Bengals defense rose (at least halfway) to the occasion. There were four three-and-outs in the first half alone – and three of them were courtesy of Baltimore, the number one offense in the league. Baltimore was also limited to a season-low seven points heading into halftime. The Bengals defense was playing out of their collective minds. And then, the dam broke.
After punting twice out of the gates in the second half, the Ravens scored touchdowns on four consecutive drives. The Bengals offense, for the most part, kept pace, but it wasn’t enough. Joe Burrow’s 428 passing yards and four touchdowns to no interceptions wasn’t enough. Ja’Marr Chase’s 264 receiving yards and three touchdowns weren’t enough. It was the most complete performance by the Bengals best two players of their entire careers – and still, it wasn’t enough.
Some credit has to go to the Ravens, of course. Lamar Jackson, per usual, was brilliant. Watching him evade Bengals pass rushers would be hilariously entertaining if I weren’t a distraught Bengals fan. He was every bit as good as Burrow last night, and once the Ravens’ offense got rolling, there was no stopping it.
But this loss, as has become painfully redundant, was about the Bengals inability to capitalize on opportunities, and their disturbing propensity for shooting themselves in the foot. The two-point try was unfair, sure, but what about Chase Brown’s fumble? Can’t blame the refs for that. And besides, the refs were flagging the Ravens all night – that the game came down to a last-second hurrah was already a bad sign. The Bengals should have been in control. They weren’t.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: the Bengals have lost their mojo. They used to have steely resolve and an unbreakable will – now, that’s nothing but a melancholy memory. For all of the success the Bengals have had in the Zac Taylor/Joe Burrow Era, it’s gone now. It’s not coming back.
But, as we all know, Taylor’s not going anywhere – not anytime soon, at least. And because Taylor is competent enough, and the Bengals roster is talented enough, they’ll keep winning a few games here and there. It’ll be enough to keep fans engaged. A few may even still have playoffs on the brain. But the truth is as unmistakable as the missed holding call on the Ravens: this Bengals team doesn’t have it.
The defense is abominable. How else does a two-bit role player like Tylan Wallace catch three passes for an exasperating 115 yards? Despite being a very potent offense, they can’t sustain drives. How else could they finish with 34 points while adding three punts, a lost fumble, and a turnover on downs? There’s no balance, no rhythm, no enthusiasm. There’s nothing – nothing but confusion and blank stares.
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