MONTEPULCIANO, ITALY — When you play-call not to lose, you sometimes lose.
When you-play call with hesitation and you try to eliminate that hesitation with caution/timidity, you take away the point of the contest, which is to win it. Because if you think about your situation in terms of winning, and still don’t win, at least you can say it wasn’t for lack of conviction.
I’m still in Italy. One of the Mobsters on the trip rigged the laptop up to the hotel TV and pirated the telecast. 30-some Bengals fans gathered in the lobby of the hotel Albergo SanBiagio to watch the 7 pm local kickoff. Each went to bed with the empty and familiar feeling that can define Bengaldom.
Because I haven’t slept in a week and my sinuses are closed for the season, I’m going to keep this short.
A reason The Men lost that wild and wonderful and dissatisfying game was Zac Taylor ran the ball three consecutive times on the Bengals final possession. Let’s recap:
Taylor has one of the best wideouts in the league, having one of the best games of his life. Taylor has a top-5 QBs in football who was enjoying a 5-TD-pass afternoon. Jamar Chase was simply unguardable. Joe Burrow was on a rhythmic Burrow roll.
Let’s run the ball.
A frequent gripe about Taylor in This Space is that he sometimes play-calls from the fetal position. He looks at Chase and Burrow and sees, I dunno, Klinger and Jeff Query. (Lookimup, kids.)
I don’t know why he does this. All I know after 38-41 is I’m a dead man walking and Zac Taylor lost this particular game for his team. He needs to play-call all the time like he has the two best offensive players in any given game. Because as often as not, he does.
What is the point in having Burrow and Chase at their best if you don’t use them with the game in the balance?
Talk quietly amongst yourselves.
Ciao.
Paul, I hope you are feeling better and enjoying the rest of your trip. As a fan and subscriber, I have a request that I believe will be well received by your readers. Recently, past TMLs have been posted daily with the word “new” in the link with the background image. Would it be possible to just include the date originally published so we don’t have to keep opening old entries? I’m guessing this is done to drive up numbers, but several of my friends who are also readers would appreciate the change
Safe travels home!
Could 1 or 2 of those run plays have been an audible?