Quarterback Joe Burrow still thinks his team can win seven of the next nine games and make the playoffs. Burrow completed 26-of-37 passes for 234 yards and a touchdown against the Philadelphia Eagles. Photo Credit: Ryan Meyer/Bengals.com
By Dr. John Huang
(CINCINNATI, Oh.) – It was a picture-perfect late October day in Cincinnati. The Jungle, with a sea of 67,239 roaring fans decked in white, felt alive and electric—a “Whiteout” at Paycor Stadium in full, ferocious form. The crowd, loud and proud, seemed to have taken Coach Zac Taylor’s instructions to heart, unleashing a crescendo of noise every time the play clock reset. The sign towering over the stadium read, “We gotta go 1-0 today!” But with the scoreboard shining a merciless 37 – 17 final, it was yet another harsh reminder that sometimes, even the best-laid plans turn to rubble.
For a while, the Bengals looked like they were ready to play spoiler. Cincinnati came out focused, starting with a meticulous 17-play, 70-yard drive that shaved 10 minutes off the clock. It was capped by Joe Burrow finding Ja’Marr Chase in the end zone for a two-yard strike. The Bengals’ faithful roared, and for a moment, it felt like today might be the day they’d break the home curse.
The defense stepped up, too, limiting Philly to only three first-half possessions and keeping them within reach. At the half, it was a respectable 10 – 10 tie, with Burrow connecting beautifully on a 3rd-and-22 with Mike Gesicki, setting up Evan McPherson for a smooth 27-yarder. Coach Taylor, pacing the sidelines, seemed hopeful. So did the fans. They could sense that first win at home was within their grasp.
But whatever halftime adjustments were made in the Bengals’ locker room might as well have stayed there—because the second half was where it all came crashing down.
“The second half wasn’t good enough,” Taylor admitted after the game. “We didn’t make enough plays, enough calls, lost the turnover battle. They scored on every possession in the second half. And offensively, we essentially walked away with three turnovers.”
The unraveling began with a swift eight-play Eagles’ scoring drive to open the third quarter. Philly stormed down 70 yards in just over four minutes, finishing with Jalen Hurts pushing his way into the end zone for a 17 – 10 lead. Burrow, ever resilient, answered back by diving for first downs, lunging as if drawn by a magnet to the chains, eventually setting up Chase Brown’s four-yard touchdown run. A glimmer of hope flickered as the scoreboard lit up at 17-17 with 4:16 left in the third quarter.
But then, like a cruel twist of fate, the dam broke.
On the next drive, Hurts let loose a 45-yard bomb to DeVonta Smith, and the Eagles regained the lead at 24-17. The Bengals, in desperation on their next series, gambled on fourth down—and lost—handing the ball over in their own territory. Philadelphia’s Jake Elliott drilled a 49-yard field goal, and suddenly, it was a two-score game. With Bengals’ fans’ hopes hanging by a thread, a tipped Burrow pass found its way into the hands of Philly’s C.J. Gardner-Johnson. One more Eagles’ touchdown later, Paycor Stadium emptied out faster than the Bengals’ playoff hopes.
The scoreboard may have read 37 – 17, but the message was clear: 0 – 6 at home (including preseason) doesn’t feel like the Jungle advantage the Bengals had envisioned.
Coach Taylor, in his usual robotic postgame address, acknowledged the pain. “It’s frustrating,” he said. “Everybody deserves better. We’ve got great fans, great support… we haven’t done enough to reward them. We haven’t done enough to reward our players… We need to feel more wins. We haven’t done enough to do that for ourselves.”
But Taylor didn’t stop there. “That’s on us,” he added. “There’s no finger pointing anywhere else. We’ve got to take accountability for that—players and coaches. We’re better than what our record indicates. But your record is what your record is. We’ve earned that. We put ourselves in a bad spot, but it’s not a spot that we can’t get ourselves out of.”
The season may still hold a spark of possibility, but as Taylor’s comments suggest, the Bengals’ margin for error is about as thin as Burrow’s cleats. The star quarterback, shoulders visibly weighted, grasped for optimism when he addressed the media. “I think ten wins usually gets you in,” he said, calculating playoff odds with the air of a man pacing himself for a marathon. “So, we gotta win seven out of nine. That’s doable.”
Yes, it’s doable. But with every missed opportunity, the Bengals’ dreams of the postseason get fuzzier. Going 1 – 0, like the sign urged, would have made this climb a lot less daunting. Instead, here they are—3 – 5, standing knee-deep in a season littered with missed chances and banal excuses, hoping they can still claw their way back to relevance.
Dr. John Huang is a retired orthodontist, military veteran, and award-winning author. He covers the Bengals for Sports View America. Follow him on social media @KYHuangs and check out his debut novel, “Name, Image, and Murder,” and all his books at Amazon.
