-
Ben Baby, ESPN Staff WriterOct 27, 2024, 06:38 PM ET
- Ben Baby covers the Cincinnati Bengals for ESPN. He joined the company in July 2019. Prior to ESPN, he worked for various newspapers in Texas, most recently at The Dallas Morning News where he covered college sports. He provides daily coverage of the Bengals for ESPN.com, while making appearances on SportsCenter, ESPN’s NFL shows and ESPN Radio programs. A native of Grapevine, Texas, he graduated from the University of North Texas with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. He is an adjunct journalism professor at Southern Methodist University and a member of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA).
CINCINNATI — Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow has already done the math: The Bengals need 10 wins to make the playoffs.
“We got to win seven out of nine,” Burrow said after Sunday’s 37-17 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. “That’s doable. It’s doable, so we’ll go from there.”
That task became a bit tougher after Cincinnati’s fifth loss of the season.
Since 2021, when the NFL expanded the regular season to 17 games, there have been 33 teams that have won 10 or more games, and all of them made the postseason. Had the Bengals (3-5) won Sunday, Cincinnati would have gotten back to .500 with nine games remaining.
“Teams are just finding ways to win games and we’re not,” cornerback Mike Hilton said. “I don’t know what it’s going to take or what we have to do. But we have to find a way, or the season will be over real quick.”
Editor’s Picks
2 Related
The Eagles (5-2) turned a game that was tied 10-10 at halftime into a blowout. Philadelphia took control in the second half, scoring on all five of its drives, including touchdowns on both of its possessions in the third quarter.
The Bengals, meanwhile, didn’t make it past the 50-yard line during any of their final four drives.
“I don’t think anybody’s been good enough so far to win the games that we needed to,” said Burrow, who was 26-of-37 passing for 234 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
Bengals coach Zac Taylor lamented two turnovers in the second half: an interception by Burrow on a ball intended for Ja’Marr Chase in double coverage and a fumble by tight end Mike Gesicki, who was the team’s leading receiver Sunday with seven catches for 73 yards.
But the most critical play of the game happened on the penultimate play of the third quarter. With the Bengals facing fourth-and-1 at their own 39-yard line, Taylor called for a swing pass to Chase, who was stopped for a 2-yard loss.
The team’s head coach and offensive playcaller said that, given the deficit, he felt the need to be aggressive and score on that possession. He also took blame for the selected play that did not pan out.
“The play didn’t work and that’s a hundred percent on me,” Taylor said.
Cincinnati has lost all four of its home games this season, and Taylor said it’s up to the players and coaches to take accountability for the wins that haven’t materialized this season.
The 20-point loss to the Eagles was the team’s most lopsided defeat of the season; Cincinnati’s previous four losses were by six or fewer points. The last time the Bengals were beaten so handily with Burrow on the field was a 27-3 loss to the Tennessee Titans in Week 4 of last season.
