The Cincinnati Bengals lost a close game on the road on “Thursday Night Football” to the rival Baltimore Ravens.
They fell short when they were unable to score a go-ahead two-point conversion near the end of the fourth quarter.
However, down the stretch, there were a couple of missed roughing the passer calls against Burrow, including on the conversion attempt, that greatly affected the game.
The day after, Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said he feels like he has to do more to help out his quarterback.
“I’ve got to fight harder for Joe for some of that … because he won’t say anything,” Taylor said, via Mike Petraglia of CLNS Media.
"I've got to fight harder for Joe for some of that… because he won't say anything." Zac Taylor on working officials for more roughing passer calls on Burrow.
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) November 8, 2024
Those missed calls might very well be the difference in the Bengals being 4-6 instead of 5-5.
Burrow, star wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase and the rest of the offense played fantastic football for almost the entire game.
Burrow threw for 428 yards and four touchdowns, and Chase caught 11 passes for 264 yards and three touchdowns.
Yet, it still wasn’t enough as they lost 35-34 to fall three games behind the Ravens in the AFC North.
In an AFC logjam, the Bengals likely have to finish at least 9-8 to make the postseason.
That means they can only lose two more games the rest of the way.
With Burrow under center, anything is possible, but it just got a whole lot tougher for the Bengals after they came so close to winning on the road.
If Taylor can get his team to pull a rabbit out of its hat and earn a playoff berth, it would be a great coaching job.
NEXT: Stats Show How Ja'Marr Chase Has Dominated Against Ravens
