On a pass to Ja’Marr Chase in the corner of the end zone, the ball had a 12.5% chance of being completed. Chase had 0.6 yards of separation. He was 0.2 yards from the sideline. He caught it for a touchdown, Cincinnati’s first in 20 possessions. It was a beautiful, impossible play. A minor miracle. And it meant absolutely nothing. However, the Bengals still got throttled by the Lions, 37-24, and that single moment of brilliance only served to highlight the mess surrounding it. The architect of that mess, at least on this particular Sunday, was Jake Browning.

And now, his coach is having a very public, very delicate crisis of faith. After the game, Zac Taylor stood at the podium and did the verbal dance every coach in his position has to. He said all the right things, but the subtext was screaming. He opened by shouldering the blame, with Mike Petraglia quoting him:

“We’ve hung them (the defense) out to dry… put this on me.” He praised his QB’s resilience, insisting, “That’s the Jake Browning I know.” But then, the carefully constructed wall of coach-speak started to crack. Kelsey Conway reported Taylor admitted it was a “fair question to ask” if Browning would remain the starter, effectively, as Ben Baby put it, “cracking the door open” to a change.

Look, you don’t need to be a grizzled offensive coordinator to see the problem. While Jared Goff was surgical for Detroit—19 of 23 for 258 yds and 3 TDs, Browning’s stat line was a chaotic portrait of a QB at war with himself. He threw for 251 yds and 3 TDs, which looks fine on paper.

But he also gift-wrapped 3 INTs for the Lions. Turnovers that felt like daggers to a defense already struggling to contain David Montgomery, who ran roughshod over his hometown team. When your coach says the offense “hung the defense out to dry,” he’s talking about those moments. He’s talking about asking his guys to sprint back onto the field after a soul-crushing pick, all momentum gone.

A belief tested under fire

So, where does this leave the Bengals? At 2-3, with a 3 straight loss stinging their faces, the season is teetering on a knife-edge.  This is about a pattern. Since Joe Burrow went down with that toe injury, the Bengals have been outscored 113-37 in 3 straight losses.

Browning was supposed to be the steady hand to guide the ship through choppy waters, not the guy drilling holes in the hull. The rub is that the flashes of brilliance, like that improbable TD to Chase, almost make it worse. They’re a reminder of what this offense could be.

And then there’s Chase, who put up 110 yds and 2 TDs in a masterclass of receiving that was largely wasted. On his second score, a 65-yard bomb, he put a double move on cornerback Amik Robertson that was so filthy it should’ve been illegal. 

In the end, Taylor finished his press conference by circling the wagons one last time. When pressed directly, he stated, “I do (believe in Jake). I believe Jake can win games for us,” a direct quote captured by Mike Petraglia. Blake Jewel similarly noted Taylor’s final stance, confirming he “still believes in Jake…Browning going forward as the starter.” But belief is a funny thing in the NFL. 

Taylor says he believes, but his words now carry the weight of doubt. After another meltdown, that belief feels less like a conviction and more like a desperate hope, a prayer whispered into the void, as beautiful and improbable as a touchdown with a 12.5% chance of success.