The Cincinnati Bengals were unable to make enough plays down the stretch to beat the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday night, and Ja’Marr Chase came very close to pointing the finger at his coaching staff after the game.
The Bengals trailed 27-6 early in the third quarter before mounting an impressive comeback at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif. Cincinnati tied the game at 27-27 after Chase caught his second touchdown from Joe Burrow with 12:21 remaining. Bengals kicker Evan McPherson then missed field goals of 48 and 51 yards that would have given Cincinnati the lead.
After the Bengals were unable to capitalize on numerous chances, the Chargers put together a touchdown drive that took just 27 seconds. JK Dobbins scored the game-winning touchdown on a 29-yard run with 18 seconds remaining.
Chase was asked during a postgame interview if there is anything the Bengals can do differently to close out games. The star wide receiver had no answers and told reporters they should ask head coach Zac Taylor.
“I don’t know, man. I don’t know why we not finishing,” Chase said. “I don’t know what we doing to give ourselves an advantage to finish. … I don’t know. 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, you know? So I can’t really do nothing.”
Frustrations boil over postgame – here's a snippet of Ja'Marr Chase in the locker room.
"He knows to make those kicks. That's why we pay him those bucks, to make those kicks."
"I don't know. Ask Zac, ask the coaches. Don't ask me. That's not my job…I play football on the… pic.twitter.com/lKgwI16ttP
— Olivia Ray (@OliviaRayTV) November 18, 2024
Chase was also asked about McPherson’s two missed kicks. He said McPherson “knows to make those kicks” and “that’s why we pay him those big bucks.”
You can understand the frustration from Chase, who finished with 7 catches for 75 yards and 2 touchdowns. He is having a career year with 73 catches, 1,056 yards and 12 touchdowns through just 11 games. His postgame comments definitely had a “what else can I do?” feel to them.
The Bengals fell to 4-7 with the loss, which has made their path to the playoffs extremely difficult. Between Chase’s comments and Burrow’s gutted reaction to the result, morale seems quite low in Cincinnati. Fortunately, the Bengals now have a Week 12 bye to sort through some issues.
