3 Bengals to blame for heartbreaking loss on Thursday Night Football

Most fans share the same thought when it comes to close, heart-breaking losses like the Bengals suffered on Thursday Night Football at the hands of the hated Baltimore Ravens: it would have hurt less to lose by 50. This isn't a nail in the Bengals coffin with seven games still left to play, but a 4-6 record is going to be tough to remedy.

From the high of the last-minute Ja'Marr Chase touchdown to the low of the failed two-point conversion directly afterward, Bengals fans were on a roller coaster of emotions all night that eventually got stuck upside down on the loop. They're all still there. The amusement park has shut down. Somebody help them!

After a loss like that, Bengals fans are looking for someone to blame. In this loss, it's not one person; it was, unfortunately, a team effort on Thursday. Not you, Joe Burrow or Ja'Marr Chase. You guys are immune to criticism tonight.

1. Zac Taylor

It was a team effort, but the leader of the team unfortunately shoulders the blame in cases like these. Zac Taylor could have been the hero of this game if Cincy had converted its two-point conversion attempt in the final minute of this game, but the ball fell harmlessly to the turf and Baltimore escaped with a win. Taylor left a lot of points on the board in this game, specifically when the Bengals went for it on fourth down in field goal range and didn't convert.

Taylor felt like he had to go for two in the game's final minute after scoring a touchdown. That's not entirely crazy, but it was the decisions that led up to that — plus the fact that the play call on the two-point conversion was strange — which make him a culprit of the loss. Yes, a penalty (or maybe penalties) should have been called on the two-point conversion attempt, but the refs can't be blamed for every gaffe of Taylor's tonight.

2. Bengals secondary

After giving up just 7 points in the first half, the Bengals defense fell apart in the second half, allowing 28 points, some of those scores coming from unlikely sources — specifically wide receiver Tylan Wallace, who scampered 84 yards down the sideline for a touchdown because the Bengals defenders kind of just forgot to push him out of bounds.

Truly, how did no one just shove him out of bounds? He was right on the sideline! He didn't need to be tackled, just pushed! This was a great play by Wallace, without a doubt, and the unsung hero deserves credit for stepping up in a big spot.

But this was kind of the theme from the secondary in the second half: subpar tackling, being a step late in coverage, not great communication. Lamar Jackson ended the night with a passer rating of 141.4, which isn't abnormal for him, but the Bengals didn't do much to stop his passing attack en route to another masterful performance. Cincy actually did a good job keeping Lamar in check on the ground, holding him to just 33 rushing yards, but it felt like he could do anyhting he wanted through the air, completing passes to nine different receivers. No one can stop the Baltimore offense, to be fair — this team has scored over 40 points on three occasions.

3. Chase Brown

This doesn't feel that fair because Chase Brown has been really good as the Bengals top running back option with Zack Moss sidelined, but his fumble in the third quarter of this game completely changed the momentum and impacted how the second half was played.

Brown finished with 42 rushing yards, 52 receiving yards and a touchdown on the ground, so he was effective throughout the game, but this fumble was about as untimely as fumbles get. Baltimore took advantage with a touchdown, and that's all Lamar Jackson and the Ravens offense needed to wake up and start gashing the Bengals defense down the stretch of this game. Brown is a good back who just made a mistake in a bad spot; this was his first lost fumble all year long, and the Bengals will undoubtedly keep him as their lead back going forward.