If only Zac Taylor and Sean McDermott could have swapped end-of-game strategies, the teetering Cincinnati Bengals and Buffalo Bills might have avoided their big bellyflops in the NFL's topsy-turvy Week 5.
Taylor called three straight runs that ultimately doomed Cincy (1-4 ) and McDermott dialed up three straight passes that basically did in Buffalo (3-2).
Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson put on an electric quarterback duel in Cincinnati, combining for 740 yards passing and nine touchdown throws.
The Ravens were driving for a potential winning touchdown in overtime when Jackson fumbled the snap and Cincinnati's Germaine Pratt recovered all the way back at the Ravens' 38.
That was already safely in kicker Evan McPherson's range. He'd nailed his last three field goal attempts from 50 or more yards and had made his last 14 tries in the fourth quarter or overtime.
So, Taylor played it safe and had Joe Burrow hand off three times to Chase Brown rather than have Burrow keep throwing. He'd already thrown for 392 yards and a career-high five touchdowns, including two each to Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.
Chase led the Bengals with 10 catches for 193 yards, and Higgins had nine grabs for 83 yards and both faced single coverage on the Bengals' final series.
Even though 50-yarders have become routine in the NFL, a lot can go wrong on a long field-goal attempt, and after the Bengals ran three times into Baltimore's wall of defenders for 3 yards, McPherson, known as “Money Mac” for his accuracy, lined up for a 53-yard try that sailed wide left after holder Ryan Rehkow mishandled the snap.
Baltimore took over on its own 43. On the next play, Derrick Henry, who had been bottled up all afternoon with just 41 yards on 14 carries, rumbled 51 yards down to the Bengals 6 and Justin Tucker chipped in the 24-yarder for the 41-38 win.
Burrow defended Taylor's conservative approach.
“I’m not going to second-guess that,” Burrow said. “We’re in field-goal range. Yes, you want to get yards to make it easier on him. As good as their rush is, you always take a chance at getting sacked in that situation.”
Which, coincidentally, is one reason Bills fans were miffed when McDermott called for three passes when they got the ball at their own 3 with 32 seconds left rather than handing off three times and draining the Texans of their three timeouts.
Unlike Burrow, Josh Allen was having an awful day — he completed just 9 of 30 passes for 131 yards and misfired on his final eight throws.
As the broadcast crew noted, the Bills were risking a safety for a hold by throwing out of their end zone three times and again on fourth down when Sam Martin booted a 56-yard punt just inches from the back of the end zone.
It was returned 13 yards to the Bills' 46, and Houston had seven seconds and all of their timeouts left. While Allen and the Bills prepared for overtime on the sideline, C.J. Stroud hit a quick 5-yard pass to running back Dare Ogunbowale and called timeout with 2 seconds remaining.
Ka’imi Fairbairn trotted out and nailed the 59-yarder as time expired for a 23-20 win.
McDermott readily accepted the blame afterward by noting the Bills should have at least attempted a run on first down — “And that’s on me,” he said.
Unless they bounce back in a big way, both the Bills and Bengals may find themselves looking back and lamenting their lost opportunities and their coach's conservative calls that backfired so spectacularly.
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