Bengals head coach Zac Taylor didn't hesitate to take blame after Sunday's 41-22 loss to the Chargers.
"Sloppy game all the way around," he said during his opening remarks. "To dig a hole the way that we did [with] turnovers, explosive plays, the opening kickoff going back plus-48 [yards and] things that I did were certainly unacceptable. We didn’t deserve to win today."
The Bengals fell behind 24-0 early in the second quarter, but rallied to make it 24-22 and had multiple chances to take the lead.
Taylor may take the blame, but Joe Mixon and Ja'Marr Chase committed two huge turnovers that completely shifted the momentum in the Chargers favor and led to 14 of their 41 points.
Taylor was especially critical of himself when asked about a 2-point conversion attempt in the second quarter.
Joe Burrow found Tee Higgins for a 29-yard touchdown that cut the lead to 24-6. Cincinnati opted to go for two, but called a timeout.
They were called for delay of game out of the timeout. Both Burrow and Mixon were visibly frustrated on the sideline.
“Horrific [management] by me. Horrific, horrific, horrific," Taylor said. "We were going for two, and so we were a little slow making sure we had the right personnel on the field. When I made that mistake, I was going to call timeout and put the ball on the hash, wait and see what personnel they were in. I ended up calling the play backwards and I tried to correct it at the last second and ended up taking a delay of game. So it was just horrific management of a situation by me twice coming out of a timeout. We ended up having to take a delay of game, and ended up missing the extra point on top of it."
Bengals cornerback Chidobe Awuzie intercepted a Justin Herbert pass last in the first half that gave Cincinnati another chance to score before halftime.
Samaje Perine's 17-yard run gave Cincinnati the ball on their own 41 with 43 seconds remaining in the half. They attempted two more plays before halftime, gaining five total yards.
"The communication is critical [and] it’s got to be crisper from me to make sure that we’re all on the same page and make sure we’re all getting one call, and I’m trying to change it, essentially," Taylor said. "That’s just bad ball [management] on me—bad handling, bad communication—and then we go into halftime.”
Taylor isn't the only reason the Bengals' lost Sunday. The turnovers—specifically Mixon and Chase's were crushing—but the third-year head coach was visibly frustrated with himself after the game.
For more on the game, watch the video below.
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