Ja’Marr Chase, Bengals lack answers after latest close loss

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  • Ben Baby, ESPN staff writerNovember 18, 2024, 2:10 a.m. ET

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      Ben Baby covers the Cincinnati Bengals for ESPN. He joined the company in July 2019. Prior to ESPN, he worked for various newspapers in Texas, most recently at The Dallas Morning News, covering college sports. He provides daily coverage of the Bengals for ESPN.com while appearing on SportsCenter, ESPN’s NFL Shows and ESPN Radio programs. A native of Grapevine, Texas, he graduated from the University of North Texas with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. He is an adjunct professor of journalism at Southern Methodist University and a member of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA).

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Standing at his locker with his arms folded, Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase didn’t have an answer for why the team can’t close out games.

For once again this season, Cincinnati saw a potential win slip away in a 34-27 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday night. Six of Cincinnati’s seven losses have been one-possession defeats. While Chase lacked solutions, he had a potential starting point — just ask trainer Zac Taylor.

“I play football on the field,” Chase said. “I don’t call plays for us, you know? So I can’t really do anything.”

The Bengals have a .143 winning percentage in one-score games. According to ESPN Research, it matches the Jacksonville Jaguars for the worst mark in the league in such contests.

Cincinnati (4-7) was on the verge of being blown out after the Chargers (7-3) got off to a roaring start. Los Angeles led 27-6 with 10:29 left in the third quarter.

That’s when the Bengals came to a rally. Cincinnati scored touchdowns on three straight drives to tie the game. Two of those were on fourth-down throws by quarterback Joe Burrow.

But two missed field goals by kicker Evan McPherson paved the way for Chargers running back JK Dobbins’ game-winning touchdown run with 18 seconds left. Had the Bengals won, it would have matched the greatest comeback in franchise history.

Chase, who entered the game leading the NFL in receiving yards, had seven catches for 75 yards and two touchdowns.

But those statistics seemed hollow in what is becoming a familiar scenario. Chase is averaging 114.4 yards per carry. game and has 10 total touchdowns in Bengals losses this season.

“It doesn’t matter how well I perform at the end of the day,” Chase said. “To put up all those numbers and lose is not good.”

Burrow was 28-of-50 passing for 356 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. He lamented two missed throws in the fourth quarter to Chase in what he confirmed is shaping up to be the most frustrating season of his career.

“I just have to make plays,” Burrow said. “And we’re not down. We’re not a good enough team to … our margin of error is small. So we’ve got to make those plays. I’ve got to make those plays. We’ve all got to make those plays.”

In the past, Cincinnati’s ability to close out games resulted in two of the most successful seasons in franchise history. In 2021, the Bengals made the Super Bowl but lost to the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium, the site of Sunday’s loss to the Chargers. The following season, Cincinnati lost to Kansas City in the AFC Championship Game in a rematch from the previous year.

Taylor said no wholesale changes need to be made as Cincinnati heads into its bye week because of all the narrow margins of defeat. But it has been difficult for Taylor to reconcile.

“It’s the bad way these games end and the way we feel coming off the field every week,” Taylor said. “The feeling I got when I got to talk to the team in the locker room after all those finishes this year.”

And late in the locker room, Chase was among those grasping for a solution to a Bengals season that is about to miss a second straight playoff appearance.

“I don’t know why we’re not done,” Chase said. “I don’t know what we don’t do to give ourselves an advantage to finish.”