‘It Was a Moment’ – Bengals Coach Zac Taylor Discusses 4th-and-1 Failure, Resulting Snowball

CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Bengals will carry plenty of regrets and “what ifs” into the offseason, but maybe the most haunting memory of 2023 will be 4th-and-1.

Short-yardage success was elusive all season, but never was it more glaring than in the final two weeks of the season when the Bengals failed twice on 4th-and-1 near the goal line, leading to back-to-back losses and elimination from the playoffs.

When they failed on 4th-and-1 from the 5-yard line at Pittsburgh, they already were down 21-0 late in the second quarter, so it’s pure speculation on whether it would have mattered.

Bengals Coach Zac Taylor Talks Failed 4th-and-1

But Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium was a different matter. The Bengals were leading 17-13 when they went for it on 4th-and-1 at the Kansas City 6 with 7:30 to go.

It was a critical point in the game, with Bengals head coach Zac Taylor saying the decision to go for it was solely based on down and distance. And very advanced metric suggests it was the correct decision.

But the execution, or lack of it, made for a lot of second-guessing as Chiefs linebacker Willie Gay came through untouched to drop Joe Mixon for a three-yard loss.

Willie Gay is in the backfield before Mixon gets the ball.pic.twitter.com/KV7XMY0XJS

— Charlie Clifford (@char_cliff) December 31, 2023

“It’s a unique situation, that play, that front, that pressure was a major outlier there,” Taylor said.

“There are things we could do better within the play as it unfolds, but it’s tough. It was a play we liked. We liked the presentation of the front initially. Then it just didn’t work out.

“There are things that we can continue to coach and scheme and do things better that way,” he added. “That one is a little bit unique compared to some other ones that we’ve had in the past.”

It wasn’t just the outcome of the play that was so damaging, it was what followed.

The Bengals had the Chiefs backed up at their own 9-yard line. They got to a 3rd-and-4 with a chance to get off the field and give Jake Browning and the offense good starting position. Then Patrick Mahomes hit Justin Watson for 41 yards.

“It’s a moment right there,” Taylor said of the momentum swing. “A lot of times, games come down to a moment. You can look at not converting offensively and then giving up three points there defensively, that was a chance to recapture the momentum. We just didn’t get it done.”

Taylor would never say it, but the distrust of a defense that has been beaten for explosives all year long had to play in the decision-making. A field goal to make it 20-13 probably wasn’t going to win the game, but a touchdown to go up 24-13 might have been enough cushion.

The Bengals had the Chiefs backed up at their 9-yard line on the ensuing possession after Kansas City punt returner Richie James fielded a Brad Robbins punt in the end zone.

Three plays later, Mahomes hit Rashee Rice for 67 yards, leading to the go-ahead field goal.

And as things would turn out, the 4th-and-1 stop was the last snap the Bengals would take on the Kansas City side of the field until the final drive of the game when they converted a 4th-and-18 to get to the 45, only to give up back-to-back sacks to doom all hope.

MORE: Bengals Coach Zac Taylor Says Week 18 Has Plenty of Meaning

“The 4th-and-1, they got us on that one,” Taylor said. “From there it was a drive with an intentional grounding call on a 1st-and-10 that puts us in a 2nd-and-20.

“One time we are in a good situation. We get a sack on 2nd-and-5. There were different things we thought we were putting ourselves in decent position.

“But a play sets you back, and you get yourself in a situation where it’s 3rd-and-long, which we’d done a good job of avoiding all game. That’s really when they teed off and had a lot of success, and that’s the game in the fourth quarter.”

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