Joe Flacco’s efforts, after dislocating his finger on a touchdown drive a few minutes earlier, were commendable, but the Bengals suffered their fourth straight loss, falling to the New England Patriots, 26-20, on Sunday at Paycor Stadium.
Here are three takeaways from the loss:
1. Flacco might have made his last start
After Joe Burrow was a full participant in practice Wednesday and Thursday, the Bengals made the decision to hold off on him playing and told Flacco on Friday that he would remain the starter. That could have been his last start, though.
Taylor said he wasn’t ready to declare a starter for Thursday’s game against the Ravens, but Burrow wants to play and a Thanksgiving night matchup at AFC North foe Baltimore seemed like his target for a return. The idea of Burrow playing twice in five days was of concern for Taylor.
Flacco has given the Bengals chances to win games, but he’s 1-5 despite two losses in which they scored at least 38 points and couldn’t get help from the defense. There’s no guarantee it looks any better with Burrow, but Taylor said winning is still important and he could be their best shot.
Flacco wasn’t his best these last two games. He got off to a slow start Sunday before throwing his only touchdown with less than five minutes left – two plays after Jake Browning replaced him for a snap, while he got his dislocated finger popped back into place. The 17-yard touchdown pass to Mitch Tinsley came the next play after Tee Higgins went down with a concussion. Chase was out due to suspension.
Cincinnati was coming off another poor outing for the offense last week at Pittsburgh, and Flacco threw a pick-six in his second straight game Sunday. He said he wasn’t worried about whether this was his last start, but he wanted to make the most of the opportunity and was disappointed to come up short.
“I feel myself fortunate to be in this situation,” Flacco said. “As much as I would have loved to have seen us win games, I still have had a lot of fun here with these guys in the locker room. Going out, lacing them up with these guys has been a lot of fun. I’ve felt right at home and had a blast doing it. I don’t think I’m looking at anything past that.”
2. More defensive improvement
The Bengals showed some progress in the first half of the Week 11 loss at Pittsburgh before turnovers became an issue, but they truly kept Cincinnati in the game Sunday against one of the best teams in the league.
New England quarterback Drake Maye got off to a slow start, and Cincinnati had stops on each of the Patriots’ first three drives, including when Geno Stone picked off Maye and returned it 32 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter. It was the team’s first takeaway since a Week 7 win over Pittsburgh.
Stone was solid overall in a game he needed after outside calls for changes at his position, just as Daijahn Anthony has begun practicing for the first time since suffering a hamstring injury in training camp.
“I felt like I needed it (given) the past few weeks I had,” said Stone, who also finished with a career-high 13 tackles. “I felt like I wasn’t playing up to what I should be playing at, and today I feel I showed what I’m capable of, and who I really am.”
Cincinnati limited the Patriots to field goals on four of five scoring drives and also forced a turnover on downs at the 1-yard line. That goal-line stand actually happened twice on nine snaps inside the 5-yard line. The Bengals initially stopped New England on fourth down at the 1 but Dax Hill was called for defensive pass interference, so the Patriots got a fresh set of downs and still couldn’t punch it in.
Maye found success throwing to his tight ends, exploiting the middle of the Bengals defense featuring two rookie linebackers, but Cincinnati came up with enough stops to keep the game close. Jalen Davis was starting at nickel corner, with Hill playing outside corner now that Cam Taylor-Britt is on injured reserve.
“We’re showing what our real identity is,” Stone said. “It took a while — it took a lot — but we’re finding guys in the right spots, and we’re all just playing with heart right now. Guys are flying around, we’re owning up to all the mistakes we had early in the season, and we’re all just playing together right now.”
3. A record day for McPherson
Evan McPherson started the scoring with a 54-yard field goal and then gave the Bengals a chance to double-up on points going into and out of halftime when he nailed a 63-yard field goal as time expired to cut New England’s lead to 17-13. Cincinnati received the ball to start the second half but ended up going three-and-out.
Still, it was another strong performance for McPherson, who is having a nice bounce-back season after struggling in 2024 before injury eventually sidelined him.
McPherson broke his own franchise record by four yards with that 63-yarder, and he thought he could have gotten at least five more yards on that kick.
“I felt like we had a good chance to get a shot there at the end of the half, and you’re never out of it,” McPherson said. “That’s kind of what I learned throughout the years — never take time off and let your mind wander, because in the blink of an eye, you can be thrown out there for a long field goal at the end of the half. I think we did a good job staying in the game and not just looking forward to halftime. We executed really well on the snap, hold (and) kick. Everybody blocked really well. It’s a lot of fun to go out there and attempt those, and I’m really happy that one worked out for us.”
That wasn’t the longest field goal McPherson has made in a game, but it’s the one that counts in the stats and record books. He made a 67-yard field goal at Green Bay but a timeout was called as he was kicking so it didn’t stand. McPherson missed the second attempt.
McPherson is 17 of 20 on field goal attempts this season, but all three misses were from 50 yards or longer.
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