Bengals' Failures on Full Display During Pathetic Collapse in Loss to New York Jets

"It should have been over."

Ja'Marr Chase said what everyone was thinking. The Bengals blew two double-digit leads in the fourth quarter during Sunday's 39-38 loss to the Jets.

Cincinnati was cruising for most of the game. It looked like they were going to get their second-straight win to improve to 4-4 on the season. It would've vaulted them back into the playoff picture. Instead, it was a reminder of just how flawed they are.

They're bad in a lot of areas. Everyone's going to talk about the talent—or lack thereof on defense. It's a fair assessment. But they were also outcoached. Everyone in the building knew Breece Hall was the Jets only true threat on offense with Garrett Wilson injured.

How did Hall run for 133 yards and two touchdowns? How did his backup break away from you defense for a 50-yard gain that helped keep the Jets in the game?

The Bengals were outcoached and outplayed in the fourth quarter. Cincinnati was outscored 23-7 in the fourth quarter. They led 31-16 and 38-24 in the fourth, but couldn't hang on to either lead.

"This game should have been over when it was 16-31, or 20-28, whatever the hell they had," Chase said. "It should have been over. It should have been over."

The only thing that may be over is the Bengals' season. Facing the Jets at home was one of the easiest games on the schedule.

If they can't stop Justin Fields, Tyler Johnson and Hall, how're they going to stop anyone?

"Someone’s got to step up and make a play," Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said. "Someone's going to (have to) make a point either way just to separate that game for us—create a turnover, getting on the ground, third down, win offensively explosive play in the game—just never happened for us.

"This is one that we had right in our grasp, and that’s the disappointing part about it. We were right there, we had this. Any time you’ve got a game like that and you can do (what’s necessary), we let it get away from us. It’s frustrating.”

The Bengals are 1-3 when they score 38 points over the past two seasons. The defense needs to be fixed. There are plenty of things that need to happen personnel wise, but Taylor needs to find a solution to put this defense in position to play at a competent level.

There is a talent issue on defense. There's no denying that. The Bengals have two rookie linebackers starting in Demetrius Knight Jr. and Barrett Carter. They're banking on the same faces from last year to be difference makers in the secondary. Trey Hendrickson couldn't finish the game due to a hip injury.