Zac Taylor insists his Bengals can still be a playoff team after loss to Chargers drops them to 4-7

AP Sports Writer

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Even after yet another painful loss in a season full of heartbreakers for Cincinnati, head coach Zac Taylor insisted his beleaguered Bengals can still make the playoffs.

Taylor’s Bengals (4-7) and their fans might be finding it increasingly hard to keep the faith after the Los Angeles Chargers delivered their latest gut punch.

Cincinnati lost 34-27 Sunday night after rallying back from a 21-point deficit in the second half, only to give up a dramatic 84-yard touchdown drive in the final minute. The Bengals have six losses by seven points or fewer this season, including two in a row.

Taylor remained passionately optimistic about his team even after its flaw-filled performance at SoFi Stadium.

“This is sick, the way that these games are ending, and the way that we feel coming off the field every week, the feeling I’ve got when I’ve got to talk to the team in the locker room after all these endings,” Taylor said. “What I just keep telling the team is, ‘At some point, this has got to help us.’ At some point, we’ve got to find some momentum, and we’ve got to get on a run, and we’ve got to find ourselves in a good position where we reflect back. We don’t ever want to use a loss for good, but it’s got to help us in some way.”

Cincinnati is 4 1/2 games behind AFC North leader Pittsburgh (8-2). Nine AFC teams have better records than the Bengals as they head into their bye week.

Taylor repeatedly insisted he thinks his Bengals can still be a playoff team, saying they’ve “played good football” this season.

“We believe in our guys,” he said. “We’ve got good systems in place, and we’re going to hang in there and support each other and find a way to get this thing done. And if we can get it done, it’s going to be a dang good season. It’s not so far what we would have written for ourselves, but I tell you, I stand here today with the utmost belief that we can still get this done on the back half of our schedule.”

When Joe Burrow was asked if he shared his coach’s beliefs, the quarterback quietly said: “Hope so.”

Moments later, Burrow responded, “Yeah,” when asked if this was the most frustrating season of his football life.

“Pretty self-explanatory,” he added.

Indeed, the Bengals’ passion and frustration boiled over occasionally in Inglewood, and it’s logical to wonder whether cracks are forming.

Ja’Marr Chase had seven catches for 75 yards and two TDs to top 1,000 yards already for the fourth consecutive season, but the NFL’s receptions leader gave an odd answer when asked how the Bengals can start executing late in games.

“I don’t know,” Chase said. “Ask Zac. Ask the coaches. Don’t ask me. That’s not my job. I play football on the field. I don’t call plays for us, so I can’t really do nothing.”

Three-time Pro Bowler Trey Hendrickson came off the field screaming in Taylor’s direction during the first half, and he swatted away Taylor’s outstretched arm. Hendrickson said he was frustrated with a no-call.

“Everybody tries to calm me down, but it’s the (NFL),” Hendrickson said. “You play with an edge. Everybody does. Everybody should, and flicking that switch off … I love Zac. He’s a great head coach. He’s done a lot for me as a person. I love him.”

But Hendrickson acknowledged the defense deserved to feel low after surrendering 272 yards in the first half.

“I wish I knew all the answers,” Hendrickson said. “Right now I don’t. It’s humbling, the (NFL). We have a very talented roster, I think, individually, these pieces. It’s not coming together as a defense like we planned.”

Cincinnati started the season 1-4, with its four losses coming by a combined 15 points. After a 3-1 surge, the Bengals blew a 14-point lead over Baltimore last week and then rallied to catch up, only to lose 35-34 when their two-point conversion attempt failed with 38 seconds left.

The loss to Los Angeles negated another comeback led by Burrow, who passed for 214 yards in an electric five-drive stretch of the second half alone. Cincinnati scored three touchdowns on those drives — but Evan McPherson missed field goals to end the other two drives, leaving him 6 for 10 beyond 39 yards this season.

Taylor defended his kicker, and he insisted the Bengals don’t need any major changes in an attempt to save their season.

“We can see it’s just coming down to one play in every single game, so why would you make a big, wholesale change when it’s just coming down to one?” Taylor said. “To me, that’s just panic. That’s not what we’re about. We believe in what we’re doing, and so we’re not going to be those people that just panic because the record is 4-7 and we start making all these significant changes. That’s not what the answer is.”

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