Flacco completed 31 of 47 passes for 470 yards and four touchdowns, despite going into the game questionable after suffering a sprained AC joint late in the Week 8 loss to the Jets. His efforts – throwing for 400 yards for the first time in his 18-year career - went unrewarded for the second straight week.
With his team trailing 41-27 with five minutes left, the 40-year-old quarterback led the Bengals to back-to-back touchdown drives – with a recovered onside kick between - to take a one-point lead with 54 seconds remaining. The defense couldn’t even protect that.
Caleb Williams delivered the dagger with a 58-yard touchdown pass to Colston Loveland with 17 seconds left, capping a four-play, 72-yard drive over 37 seconds.
A Bears squad missing two of its top three running backs still managed to rush for 283 yards, and even practice squad player Brittain Brown ran over the Bengals defense for a 22-yard touchdown when rookie Kyle Monangai finally needed a rest in the third quarter.
Monangai, starting with D’Andre Swift out due to a groin injury, finished with 176 yards on 26 carries. Third-string running back Roschon Johnson also was unavailable Sunday because of a back injury.
The Bengals missed opportunities in the first half to build a sizable lead and instead went into halftime clinging to a 20-17 advantage that quickly disappeared. The Bears scored points on each of their first four drives in the second half, and Cincinnati only answered one of those before Flacco connected with Noah Fant for a 23-yard touchdown to begin the late comeback with 1:42 left.
After Tee Higgins scored his second touchdown of the day on Cincinnati’s first possession of the second half, the next three drives ended in Flacco losing his first turnover in four games on a sack-fumble, an Evan McPherson missed field goal of 54 yards and an interception.
Four critical mistakes cost the Bengals in the first half, and those caught up with them in the second half.
A drop and unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on two separate trips to the red zone potentially cost the offense eight points when both drives ended in field goals instead of touchdowns. Two other penalties cost the defense 14 points on drives they otherwise would have gotten stops.
Had it not been for Higgins’ ridiculous catch for a 44-yard touchdown and a blocked Bears field goal within the last two minutes, the Bengals would have trailed at the half.
Charlie Jones gave the Bengals an early boost when he returned the opening kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown, but the Bears responded with a 12-play, 73-yard scoring drive capped by a Philly Special variation in which wide receiver DJ Moore threw a 2-yard pass to quarterback Caleb Williams.
It was the third trick play of the drive, including one that was wiped by an illegal contact call on Demetrius Knight on a third-down stop.
The Bengals then cost themselves four points when Chase Brown dropped a pass on third down when he likely would have scored a touchdown on the play. Instead, they settled for a 41-yard field goal from McPherson to take a 10-7 lead.
Mistakes then piled on for Cincinnati the next drive on defense.
Cairo Santos missed a 47-yard field goal, but DJ Ivey lined up in the neutral zone to put the Bears in a fourth-and-1, which they converted on a Monangai run to set up an eventual touchdown. Williams connected with Olamide Zaccheaus for a 15-yard touchdown to put Chicago up 14-10.
Two plays after Flacco took a hit to his throwing arm as he attempted a pass to Fant, Flacco bounced back to hit Ja’Marr Chase for a 36-yard pass to get down near the goal line. Orlando Brown’s unsportsmanlike conduct penalty pushed the Bengals back 15 yards, though, and they ended up settling for a field goal to cut the deficit to 14-13 with 5:47 left in the second quarter.
Chicago tacked on a field goal the next drive, to extend the lead to four points but Cincinnati took the lead when Higgins fought through contact to catch a deep pass he didn’t even appear to see coming. The 44-yard play gave Higgins the franchise record for most consecutive home games with a touchdown, now at nine straight games.
Ossai then blocked Santos’ 47-yard field goal attempt with three seconds left to help Cincinnati maintain the lead.
There simply weren’t enough of those positive plays for the Bengals in the second half until too late, especially as the Bears dialed up pressure on Flacco, and Cincinnati needed a near perfect game to match Chicago’s offense, which finished with 576 yards.
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