After a gut wrenching loss to the Ravens on Thursday Night Football last week, the Bengals were in the primetime spotlight again, taking on the Chargers on Sunday Night Football. Though the Bengals would be making it into week 12 still mathematically alive in the playoff race, regardless of week 11’s outcome, this one unofficially had the season on the line. A loss would sink the odds low enough to crush most hope of a playoff appearance.
It was a slow 1st half for the Bengals, despite some instances where they moved the ball well. They were actually able to get inside the 10 yard line twice, but had to settle for a field goal in each of those. McPherson connected from 26 and 27 yards out, respectively.
In between those two field goals, the Chargers went down the field and scored a TD. A 20 yard run by Justin Herbert, followed by a 20 yard completion to McConkey, were big plays on the drive. Then, Herbert found his TE, Dissly, for a 29 yard TD.
The Chargers would go on to add another 2 TD in the 1st half. A 26 yarder to Johnston was followed by a 1 yard run by JK Dobbins. LA then added a field goal before the end of the half, and went into the break with a 24-6 lead.
LA opened the scoring in the 2nd half with a 53 yard field goal to go up 27-6, but the Bengals came roaring back. An 11 play, 70 yard drive seemed to spark things. Burrow found Tee Higgins for 23 yards on 3rd & 6 to move the chains. Later, on 4th & goal, he hit Ja’Marr Chase on the slant for a TD. The Chargers lead was now 27-13.
After the defence forced a stop, the offence only needed 4 plays to find the end zone again. It was another 4th down conversion. On 4th & 2, they dialled up a deep shot. But unlike last week, this one worked. It was a 42 yarder dropped in the bucket to Tee Higgins. Suddenly, it was 27-20.
On the next Chargers drive, Logan Wilson forced a fumble, which was recovered by Geno Stone. Immediate, the offence got going, with Chase Brown adding a 34 yard reception. A 14 yarder, again to Brown, later moved the chains on 3rd down, as the Bengals continued advancing further into Los Angeles territory. A couple of plays later, a scrambling Joe Burrow was directing traffic, and eventually found Ja’Marr Chase in the end zone for a 17 yard TD. Chase’s 2nd TD of the game tied the score at 27.
The Bengals defence would force punts on the next two drives, and the Bengals got into field goal range on both, as they looked to take the lead. However, Evan McPherson missed from 48 yards, and then from 51. The ball seemed to go directly over top of the goalpost on both kicks. As well, on one of the drives, a blatant pass interference call was missed on Tee Higgins. Poor officiating has been extremely costly for the Bengals in recent weeks.
Herbert led the Chargers into field goal range, as they melted the clock. But as they were running it one last time to set up a short field goal attempt, Dobbins broke loose and actually got in for a 29 yard TD, taking back the lead. 34-27.
This actually helped the Bengals, as it gave them the opportunity to set up a Hail Mary attempt. With 18 seconds and 1 timeout, they were able to get their attempt, as Burrow found Iosivas for 27 yards. On the final play, from the LA 43 yard line, Burrow let one go for the end zone. Tee Higgins got his hands on the ball near the goal line, but a jarring hit quickly knocked the ball to the ground, ending the game. 34-27 final.
It was another crushing defeat for the Bengals, in what has become the theme of the season. They drop to 4-7 and see their playoff hopes take a massive hit. This one may have just sealed their fate for the season, and they have 2 weeks to think about it, as they’ll be on their bye next week.
Modified Thumbnail Image Via: All-Pro Reels (CC)