Quick Hits: Joe Flacco Wakes Up Late, But Not Enough, Bengals Drop Their Fourth Straight, 27-18, To Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Bengals almost completed one of their most improbable wins in team history in one of the most historic venues Sunday at Lambeau Field. But almost was as close as it got.

Josh Jacobs ran for a pair of touchdowns and Jordan Love threw a touchdown pass to Tucker Kraft as the Green Bay Packers handed the Bengals their fourth straight loss, 27-18, Sunday before 78,277 at Lambeau Field. The Bengals (2-4) have lost all four starts without Joe Burrow and have the first-place Pittsburgh Steelers this Thursday night at Paycor Stadium.

The Bengals made it 24-18 when Ja’Marr Chase caught a one-handed touchdown with 4:11 left on fourth-and-5 at the Green Bay 19. Joe Flacco found Chase Brown for the two-point conversion. The Bengals had a chance to get the ball back but Love found Matthew Golden for 31 yards on third-and-8 at the Green Bay 40. Back-up kicker Lucas Havrisik connected from 39 yards with 1:52 left to make it a two-score game.

The Steelers improved to 4-1 Sunday with a 23-9 win over the Cleveland Browns.

In his first start since being acquired from Cleveland to replace Jake Browning, Flacco finished 29-of-45 for 219 yards and two touchdowns on fourth down. Love finished 19-of-25 for 259 yards, one touchdown and one pick.

Before the Bengals put together three first downs on the final drive of the first half, the Bengals had the ball four times and were three-and-out three times with one first down, an 11-yard pass to Tee Higgins. Green Bay had 14 first downs in the opening half while Cincinnati could manage just the one. Green Bay outgained the Bengals, 240-65. The Bengals had just two minutes of possession in the first quarter while the Packers had 13 minutes.

The Bengals suffered a pair of injuries as Mike Gesicki left in the first quarter with a pectoral injury and was immediately ruled out. Trey Hendrickson left in the final minute of the first half with a back issue and did not return.

The Bengals showed some life after the defense forced a plus-50 punt with just under a minute remaining. The Bengals drove to the Green Bay 49 before Flacco clocked the ball to the ground with one second remaining. Evan McPherson’s first try from an NFL-record 67 yards was good after it hit the crossbar and skipped over. But Packers head coach Matt LaFleur was granted a timeout just before the kick and McPherson’s retry was short and returned to the Green Bay 32 by Keisean Nixon to end the half. It was McPherson’s first miss of the season. McPherson missed a desperation 56-yard field goal with 41 seconds remaining.

The Bengals trailed, 10-0, at the half thanks to a 43-yard field goal from Lucas Havrisik and a three-yard touchdown run up the middle from Josh Jacobs. On the Green Bay drive, Cam Taylor-Britt had a couple of costly mistakes. He gave up a 35-yard pass play to Matthew Golden to the Cincinnati 30 on third-and-10. Two plays later, he committed a defensive holding that gave the Packers first-and-goal.

In their last four games, the Bengals have scored 3, 3, 3 and zero points in the first half and have been outscored, 79-9.

The Bengals looked like a new team to start the second half, taking the opening drive and marching 74 yards in 17 plays, consuming 10:14 off the third quarter clock.

For the first time since the opening drive of the season, the Bengals played smashmouth, running the ball up the middle and attacking the middle of the field. The Bengals converted a third down and had first-and-goal at the Packers 1 after two Green Bay penalties extended the drive. But Noah Fant committed a false start and Flacco was sacked back to the 10. On fourth-and-goal from the Green Bay 3, Flacco found Tanner Hudson in the back of the end zone for a touchdown that made it 10-7.

But the Packers answered with a 66-yard, nine-play drive in 4:50, capped with a Josh Jacobs 14-yard run up the gut, practically untouched through the A-gap to the end zone to make it 17-7, just four seconds into the fourth quarter.

Flacco drove the Bengals to the Green Bay 27 but on third down Andrei Iosivas dropped a potential first down pass and the Bengals had to settle for a 45-yard field goal from McPherson to make it 17-10 Green Bay with 10:43 left in the fourth. But the Packers answered with another drive of 62 yards in six plays, capped by a 19-yard sideline touchdown connection between Love and tight end Tucker Kraft to make it 24-10.

After Ja’Marr Chase had a third-down pass broken up, Cincinnati product (Moeller High) Carrington Valentine broke into a Griddy to show up Chase, who scored the fourth-down touchdown on the next snap.