Frustrated Bengals are 4-7 at their bye week and still looking for ways to win the close games

CINCINNATI (AP) — After the Bengals let yet another close game slip away, Joe Burrow acknowledged that this is the most frustrating season of his NFL career. Someone asked why. "Self-explanatory," Cincinnati's star quarterback said. That it is. Burrow is playing great football. He's making spectacular throws on the run and scrambling for first downs while regularly taking monster hits from poorly blocked pass rushers. But the Bengals keep losing the close ones. They are 4-7 at the bye week and in danger of missing the playoffs for the second straight season. They'd likely have to win all of their last six games to have a chance at the postseason. Burrow, still not completely recovered from surgery on his throwing hand, leads the NFL in completions (274), passing yards (3,028) and touchdowns (27). He also joined Matt Ryan (2018) as the only quarterbacks in NFL history to lose consecutive games while throwing for at least 350 yards and three TDs with no interceptions. Star wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase is also having an outstanding season. He's leading the NFL in yards receiving (1,056), yards after the catch (481) and touchdowns (12). Edge rusher Trey Hendrickson is leading the NFL with 11 1/2 sacks. But Cincinnati has been hurt by turnovers, an inconsistent secondary, injuries that have shuffled the offensive and defensive lines, and a kicker with a case of the yips. Its rushing game is the sixth worst in the league. Six of the Bengals' seven losses have been by one score. Five losses were by six points or fewer. The Bengals lost by one point to the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs and both games to AFC North rival Baltimore by one point. Cincinnati fell to Kansas City on a 51-yard field goal as time expired. They lost by 3 to Washington, despite Burrow throwing for 324 yards and three touchdowns. They were defeated by the Ravens 41-38 in overtime after Evan McPherson missed a potential game-winning 53-yard field goal. In the second loss to the Ravens, Lamar Jackson threw three fourth-quarter touchdown passes. When the Bengals scored with 38 seconds left, a 2-point try for the win was no good. McPherson missed two second-half field goals last Sunday night that would have given the Bengals a lead. They ended up losing to the Chargers 34-27. "They just made one more on the play than we did. That's kind of been the story of our season so far," Bengals coach Zac Taylor said. "By no stretch is our season over with. We have a chance to use a bye to kind of get back and get into a groove here in the last part of the season." Part of the problem has been injuries. Rookie Amarius Mims was thrust into a starting role when right tackle Trent Brown was lost to a knee injury in Week 3. Then starting left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. went out with knee and fibula injuries. On the other side of the ball, interior linemen B.J. Hill and Sheldon Rankins have missed time with injuries and illness. And cornerback DJ Turner II went on injured reserve with a fractured clavicle suffered in Sunday night's game. The Bengals' four wins have come against losing teams. Taylor has trouble explaining why they can't seem to close out wins against the better clubs. "I can't. I wish I could," he said. "It's sick, the way that these games are ending and the way that we come off the field every week." The bye week is certainly welcome in the Bengals' camp. "Just gives us a chance to be healthy," Taylor said. "There's not a lot of wholesale changes we need to make. Every game we lose comes down to the last play of the game. We've just got to find a way to win these and generate some momentum for ourselves." Cincinnati still has to play the AFC North-leading Pittsburgh Steelers (8-2) twice, plus the Dallas Cowboys (3-7), Tennessee Titans (2-8), Cleveland Browns (2-8) and Denver Broncos (6-5).