The New York Jets finally have a win, in part due to some shoddy decision-making by Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor.
The Jets picked up their first win of the season with a comeback 39-38 victory over the Bengals on Sunday. New York rallied from a 38-24 deficit in the fourth quarter, scoring two late touchdowns and a two-point conversion to stun Cincinnati in front of their home crowd at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio.
After the Jets took the lead with a trick play touchdown pass from Breece Hall to Mason Taylor, the Bengals got the ball back with 1:54 left in the fourth quarter. They made it to their own 44-yard line by the 0:48 mark, but that is where Taylor lost the plot.
Facing a 2nd-and-10, Taylor decided to call for [checks notes] a run. Running back Samaje Perine ended up getting just one yard on a run up the middle, and the Bengals were forced to burn a timeout. Cincinnati QB Joe Flacco then proceeded to throw two straight incompletions for a turnover on downs, sealing the Bengals’ fate.
Taylor was immediately cooked online for his conservative 2nd-and-10 run call in such a crucial situation.
Congrats Zac Taylor, your 2nd and 10 run play call just lost us the game!
— #17 Barstool Cincinnati (@UCBarstool) October 26, 2025
zac taylor 2nd and 10 run up the middle on a game winning drive with under a minute pic.twitter.com/9sMPuy99RU
— (@swagarland) October 26, 2025
Zac Taylor running the ball on 2nd and 10 pic.twitter.com/yJRHoTxGUI
— JAYSONOFTATUM (@JtToJb_) October 26, 2025
Worst loss in the Zac Taylor era
— Tony Pike (@tony_pike15) October 26, 2025
Zac Taylor worst playcaller in football https://t.co/Vp9ZQeWHRP
— Kofie (@Kofie) October 26, 2025
The Bengals only needed a field goal to win there … but they still had to get into field goal range in the first place. While Taylor did have all three timeouts at his disposal at the time, he definitely didn’t have a single down to waste in that situation.
Cincinnati was finding their footing a bit after acquiring Flacco in a trade with Cleveland Browns and just won last week against the Pittsburgh Steelers to put themselves back in the playoff race. But on Sunday, the Bengals scored 38 points and still managed to lose to a winless team. Taylor had already been losing the faith of the Cincinnati fanbase lately, and his subpar game management against the Jets certainly won’t be helping his case any.
