While not every NFL game draws national attention, some unexpectedly turn into unforgettable moments. That was exactly the case in the 2019 season finale for Zac Taylor and the Cincinnati Bengals. Taylor’s first year as the Bengals’ head coach ended with the team struggling to a 2-14 record. Despite the difficult season, the final game against the Miami Dolphins produced a dramatic finish that the coach still remembers vividly.

And the reason he recollects that game so well doesn’t have anything to do with a sharp memory. If anything, the game stands out because of how its outcome shaped the Bengals’ future. Hear it from Taylor himself.

“Every situational clip we still show is from that game,” Taylor said during his appearance on the Fitz and Whit podcast. “Recovering an onside kick, down clock with an injured receiver, picking Tyler Boyd up to avoid the 10-second runoff, and everyone facing the correct direction. Five verticals on the last play of the game, hitting Tyler Eifert with I think no time left or a couple of seconds left. We were down 35-12 with about six minutes left. I mean, we all know that the loser of that game was going to get the better draft pick.”

“And I think that shows we were down 35 to 12, and as coaches and players, we did not care. We wanted to win more than anything. I mean, when you had lost as much as we had, you wanted to win every time you got a chance. And so, we fought back and did everything we could to win that game, but came up short in overtime. But yeah, one of the all-time games that people don’t know about because nobody was watching, right?”

While it initially looked like a blowout, the 2019 season finale game eventually turned into a stunning comeback attempt for Zac Taylor’s team. At the time, Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton threw for 396 yards and four touchdowns, including three scores in the final 5:01 minutes within the regulation time, as the Bengals rallied from a 35-12 deficit. Hard Rock Stadium had already begun to empty when the Bengals cut the Dolphins’ lead to 35-27. 

Dalton then connected with tight end Tyler Eifert on a 3-yard TD pass before completing the two-point conversion with just 29 seconds remaining.

Then things got even more exciting when Taylor’s team recovered an onside kick and quickly moved the ball to the Dolphins’ 25-yard line with only four seconds left. The Dolphins responded by dropping eight defenders into the end zone, hoping to prevent a TD. But Eifert rose above two defenders to catch Dalton’s pass for a 25-yard touchdown.

The Bengals still needed a two-point conversion to tie the game, and Dalton initially couldn’t find an open receiver. So, instead of forcing a risky throw, Dalton took off and scrambled into the end zone himself. Suddenly, the score was tied 35-35, sparking one of the rare celebrations for the Bengals during a tough 2019 campaign.

But as overtime followed, neither the Bengals nor the Dolphins immediately seized control of the game. Both teams punted twice before Dolphins quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick led a 10-play, 51-yard drive in OT that set up the game-winning field goal for his team. Miami ultimately escaped with a 38-35 victory to end their season with a 5-11 record. 

For Cincinnati, however, the loss came with a silver lining. It was locked in as the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. But Zac Taylor has now emphasized that his team never approached the game with the idea of losing, even though the draft implications were obvious. Situations like this have happened later in the NFL, too, as was the case with the New England Patriots. 

After losing their Week 18 game against the New York Jets during the 2023 season, the Patriots finished with a 4-13 record and secured the third pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Had the Patriots won, they likely would have dropped further down the draft board. Instead, the Patriots selected quarterback Drake Maye in the first round, and that decision paid off well.

Last season, Maye helped spark a dramatic turnaround, leading the Pats to a 14-3 record and a Super Bowl appearance. Isn’t it interesting how one loss can completely reshape a franchise’s future? The Bengals also experienced a similar turning point after their 2019 season finale, as it led them to quarterback Joe Burrow.

Was the 2019 season finale loss a blessing in disguise for Zac Taylor’s team?

The 2019 season marked a major transition for the Bengals, as it was the franchise’s first year since 2003 without head coach Marvin Lewis, who parted ways with the team after the 2018 season. Unfortunately, the Bengals struggled as Zac Taylor took over the reins, and they even started the season 0–11 for the first time in franchise history. The season-ending loss to Miami further led the Bengals to a record tying the franchise’s worst one since 2002, but it also delivered exactly what the team needed.

“It’s why you guys got Burrow, and it’s why the Dolphins got Tua,” Ryan Fitzpatrick said to Taylor on the Fitz and Whit podcast. “Like it was so crazy, and the ending of it, like Andy [Dalton] running in two-point conversion running in, and just all the things that had to happen for you guys to get to overtime.

“And then in overtime, it was back and forth. It was like, ‘Oh my god, is this going to end up in a tie?’ Like, is anybody going to score here? That was wild.”

Fitzpatrick’s comments highlight just how chaotic and consequential that game truly was for the Bengals. While Cincinnati ended up being the worst team in the 2019 season, they got the opportunity to draft Joe Burrow because of that. At the time, the quarterback entered the league as the clear top prospect after one of the greatest seasons in college football history. 

Joe Burrow: LSU’s 2019 championship run

During LSU’s 2019 championship run, Burrow threw for 5,671 yards and 60 touchdowns while completing 76.3 percent of his passes. He led the Tigers to a perfect 15–0 season and a College Football Playoff National Championship. He also capped off the year by winning the Heisman Trophy. So, in a twist of fate, the Bengals ended up accomplishing what many believed the Dolphins were aiming for: landing the draft’s top quarterback prospect.

Burrow then wasted little time in changing the franchise’s trajectory. After the Bengals finished 4-11-1 during his rookie season, the team surged to a 10-7 record in 2021. Burrow’s team also won the AFC North title and reached its first Super Bowl since 1989. The QB played a massive role in that turnaround, finishing the regular season with 4,611 passing yards and 34 TDs.

Meanwhile, Miami used its fifth overall pick in the same draft to select QB Tua Tagovailoa. While Tagovailoa showed flashes of promise, including a good season in 2023, his performance in the last two seasons has raised major concerns for the Dolphins. Injuries and concussion issues have limited his consistency, while he posted just 2,660 yards, 20 TDs, and 15 interceptions in 14 starts before he was benched for rookie QB Quinn Ewers.

Joe Burrow also faced challenges last season in Cincinnati as he played only eight games because of a toe turf injury. He threw for just 1,809 yards, 17 TDs, and 5 interceptions, and went 5-3 as a starter while the Bengals finished with a disappointing 6-11 record. Still, Burrow appears determined to steer the Bengals back to the winning track in the upcoming season.