Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor attempted several trick plays in the Monday Night game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Offensive coordinator is one of the most creative jobs in all of sports. You have to figure out ways to keep defenders guessing at any point in the game. Whether that’s as simple as running the ball in an obvious passing situation or running elaborate trick plays, the offensive coordinator has to always be thinking outside the box. On occasion, this results in hilarious awful play designs that make analysts scratch their heads.
Analysts of all sorts did not hesitate to criticize the Bengals poor execution
For some context, the Cincinnati Bengals were starting a backup quarterback against an extremely talented defensive front seven. They have struggled to run the ball for most of the season and coordinators tend to try trick plays to build the quarterbacks self confidence throughout the game. On one occasion, the Bengals attempted a double pass where backup quarterback Jake Browning threw the ball to Ja’marr Chase who throws it right back to Browning. Whether it was designed to be a triple pass is unclear because Browning was immediately tackled for a loss.
The second attempt was much worse however. In a tight game in the third quarter, Browning threw the ball out left to receiver Tyler Boyd. In the process, Browning fell down and was essentially out of the play. Boyd threw the ball on either a designed or improvised screen attempt to Bengals running back Joe Mixon which was intercepted by the Jaguars defensive line. Most likely the trick play was just far too complicated and required far too much time to develop. Trick plays that take too long to develop allow the defensive plays to think through the trap. This is exactly what happened in this specific play.
One analyst that was blown away by how ridiculous both the play call and design were was Hall of Fame quarterback Peryton Manning. On Peyton Manning‘s Manningcast, Peyton Manning did not hold back on his opinions:
“What are we doing?! Why are they not letting Browning throw?” Manning shouted as he exploded out of his seat and actually throwing his wireless headset in amazement.
The whole play and reaction can be seen below:
Impact on the Cincinnati Bengals Gameplan
While this play clearly ended in disaster, the Bengals fortunes for the night were luckily not heavily effected. The Bengals ultimately won the game on a game winning field goal on a tremendous performance by quarterback Jake Browning.
While the Bengals performed exceptionally well throughout the night on offense, the absolute disastrous attempt at trick plays should not be forgotten. Bengals Head Coach Zac Taylor and Offensive Coordinator Brian Callahan have had a reputation for poorly drawn trick plays that take far too long to develop. The Bengals will look to continue their Cinderella Story on Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts at Paul Brown Stadium.
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