The Cincinnati Bengals (7-6) clawed their way back from a 20-6 deficit to force overtime against the San Francisco 49ers (7-6) but ultimately came up short and lost 26-23 in overtime.
Sunday's loss to the 49ers knocks the Bengals out of the playoff picture. With four games to go, Cincinnati has to start stacking wins or they'll let a promising season go to waste.
Even at 7-6, the AFC North is very much still up in the air and if the Bengals beat the Ravens and Browns, winning the division remains a possibility.
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But in order to do that, the Bengals need to find an answer on how to start games faster. In the last two home losses to the Los Angeles Chargers and San Francisco, Cincinnati has dug themselves too big a hole to overcome.
If the Bengals come out fast on offense, they have proved they are a hard team to beat. The Bengals enter a must-win situation in Denver next weekend. It's an AFC game Cincinnati has to win to remain in the playoff hunt.
Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said he still believes his team is good enough to make the playoffs.
"I don't think anybody wants to play us, quite frankly. We haven't won all of the games we felt like we should have won. I think our guys have a ton of confidence, I think people see what we are about, they see talent that we've got in all three phases. They know we are going to fight until the last second."
Here's what we learned from the overtime loss to the 49ers:
Joe Burrow's epic comeback falls short
Cincinnati's franchise quarterback is only 25 years old but you would never know by the way he plays. No stage seems too big for Burrow as we've seen on numerous occasions this season.
If the Bengals were going to make a comeback against the 49ers, Burrow was going to have to take over and get his team back in the game. He did just that.
With 2:40 left to play in regulation, Burrow put together a surgical drive going 3-for-5 before throwing the game-tying touchdown pass to Ja'Marr Chase. Burrow finished the day completing 25 of 34 passes for 348 yards and two touchdowns.
"Yeah, that’s Joe, I mean that's who he’s always been," defensive end Sam Hubbard said of Burrow's performance. "We have the utmost confidence in him. I love being on his team. I love having him as my quarterback. He’s still a young player. I’m excited to be on the team with him for a very long time and win a lot of football games. I’m just proud of the way he battles, never bats an eye. He’s an incredible leader and teammate.”
Burrow said his pinkie felt good enough to get the job done after missing practice on Wednesday and being limited throughout the week.
Bengals defense struggles to defend 49ers' tight end George Kittle
The Bengals' defense had no answer for tight end George Kittle who caught 13 passes for 151 yards and one touchdown. Safety Vonn Bell was matched up with Kittle for a majority of the game but even when Cincinnati tried different approaches to limit his production, Kittle couldn't be stopped.
"We tried everything," Taylor said of why Kittle was able to be so successful. "He's one of the best tight ends, we've known that for a long time. It's not like he surprises people."
Not only did Kittle's performance play a direct role in the 49ers' production on offense, the Bengals inability to shut down a top-tier tight end is concerning because of the players they are about to face at the position in the upcoming weeks.
Cincinnati's defense will face Noah Fant, Mark Andrews and Travis Kelce over the course of the next three games.
Muffed punts cost Bengals points
It was a tough night for cornerback Darius Phillips who muffed two punts against the 49ers on Sunday. Phillips' special teams errors cost the Bengals 10 points as his first muffed punt resulted in a field goal for San Francisco.
The second one came late in the second quarter and gave Jimmy Garappolo and Co. another opportunity to put points on the board before the half after Cincinnati's defense had just made a stop to force the punt.
Garoppolo found Kittle for a 14-yard touchdown three plays later. Wide receiver Tyler Boyd took over punt return duties in the second half.
"We've got to do a better job of protecting the football all around," Taylor said of the muffed punts. "We know that's unacceptable and we have to be better at taking care of the football. Period."
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