Joe Burrow and Zac TaylorPatrick Smith/Getty Images
After the Bengals waxed the Las Vegas Raiders last week, Joe Burrow was rather morose in the post-game presser, telling reporters the win really didn’t mean anything.
“Just how this season has gone, knowing what’s ahead of us, knowing what we’re going to have to do to get back into this, one win isn’t going to make or break our season,” Burrow said. “I’m going to keep striving for perfection every day, every game. Until that happens, what’s there to be happy about?”
As it turns out, Burrow’s attitude was foretelling.
The fifth-year quarterback certainly can’t be blamed for Thursday’s devastating loss in Baltimore. Burrow threw for a whopping 428 yards and four scores. Wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase went completely ballistic, catching 11 passes for 264 yards and three touchdowns.
Those are actual numbers—but they weren’t enough.
It will be head coach Zac Taylor who bears the brunt for the loss. And to be fair, there are valid reasons to criticize a couple of his decisions. Taylor eschewed two long field goals for fourth-down attempts that both failed—including a relatively modest 51-yarder.
Those are questionable calls. Going for two and the win at the end of the game wasn’t.
The 389 yards of offense the Ravens amassed Thursday isn’t a ridiculous number. But it could have been much higher. Baltimore spent much of the game marching up and down the field at will on Cincy’s 25th-ranked scoring defense. The Bengals got no pressure on Lamar Jackson—and he carved them up as a result.
Taylor went for two because he had no reason to believe that the Bengals could get a stop in overtime.
And unless that defense magically improves, Burrow and the Bengals won’t have to worry about two losses to the Ravens by a combined four points that have erased any chance of winning the division.
Because they won’t be in the playoffs at all.
