Zac Taylor has five-brutal response regarding controversial play call in loss to Ravens
Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor made a bold decision in the closing minutes of the Week 10 matchup between the Bengals and Baltimore Ravens on Thursday Night Football.
The Bengals had just scored a touchdown to bring the score of the game to 35-34. At that point, Cincinnati had two options: They could kick the extra point, tie the game and play for overtime, or they could opt to go for two and try to win right then and there. Taylor went with the second option.
We know how that turned out by now. The Bengals failed to covert — thanks in part to some poor officiating — and the Ravens were able to run out the clock and claim the victory. After the game, Taylor had a brief, five-word response when asked about erring on the side of aggression.
“We came here to win
Unfortunately, the Bengals didn’t win, and as a result Taylor’s decision not to force overtime is going to be endlessly second-guessed, but it appears as though the players on the team were on board with the decision.
“We knew what situation we were in,” Joe Burrow said of going for two.
“Hell yeah. I agree with it 100 percent,” Ja’Marr Chase added.
Taylor went on to express confidence that the team would respond in a positive way from the second heart-breaking loss to the rival Ravens in a little over a month.
“We had our opportunity,” Taylor said. “We got down there, went for two, and it just didn’t work out for us. This team is going to continue to put us in good positions, there’s going to be a point in the season where that turns. We will respond the right way from this game.”
Taylor’s decision to go for two is a polarizing one. Some people felt that it was the right move, while others would have played for overtime, and honestly an argument could be made either way. If you go to overtime and get the ball first, you’d have an excellent opportunity to march down the field and win the game without even giving Baltimore’s offense a chance, especially with how well Burrow and Chase were playing.
However, if you let the game go into overtime and don’t win the toss, the Ravens would have an opportunity to do the same thing, and it was pretty clear that Cincinnati’s defense couldn’t really stop Baltimore’s offensive attack. So, Taylor made the decision that he thought would give his team the best chance to win the game. Unforunately, it didn’t work out this time
