In the last moments of another Bengals last-second soul-grinder Sunday night against the Chargers at SoFi Stadium with the score tied at 27:
Quarterback Joe Burrow and wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase nearly hit on one of their patented 70-yard go-ahead go-balls.
Cornerback Mike Hilton nearly gathered in a pick-six crossing Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert's stunned face.
Kicker Evan McPherson nearly curled in two field goals on the same field he ended the greatest postseason ever by a rookie kicker in Super Bowl LVI.
None of it happened when one would have done it and their sixth loss by seven points, 34-27, had the usually impenetrable Burrow shaking his head.
"Pretty self-explanatory," when asked if this is his most frustrating season.
And yet as they pulled into Paycor Stadium at 7 a.m., Monday to start their bye week, Burrow is the only quarterback in the NFL with more than 3,000 passing yards and 27 touchdown passes.
Chase, his soulmate running mate, continues to lead the race for the receiver triple crown when he upped his league-leading totals to 73 catches, 1,056 yards, and two more touchdowns Sunday to give him a dozen.
Trey Hendrickson ballooned his NFL sack lead to 2.5 over Nick Bontito and Dexter Lawrence with a half of one to make it 11.5.
Yet their frozen faces courtesy of NBC tell you it's truly a team game.
"It doesn't really matter how good I'm performing at the end of the day," Chase said. "Putting up all these numbers and losing, not good.
"I still believe in the guys in this locker room. We have to find a way to finish.,"
The Chase is on when they re-convene to prep for the Dec. 1 game against the Steelers at Paycor Stadium.
"What I just keep telling the team is, 'at some point, this has got to help us. At some point we got to find some momentum and we got to get on a run. We've got to find ourselves in a good position where we reflect back,' Taylor said.
"We don't ever want to use a loss for good, but it's got to help us in some way. We've played some really good football teams and we've just got to find a way to finish it. I keep saying that and obviously, we're a play away every time I say it, but I still got the confidence that we can get this thing done."
They seemed to have learned Ja'Marr Chase and running back Chase Brown are a thing. They are one of two tandems on the same team that are in the top 19 in scrimmage yards, joining Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson and running back Aaron Jones.
Chase is the only receiver with 1,000 yards and Brown is coming off his two best career games in 14 days when he had 143 yards from scrimmage on 27 touches Sunday after his career-best day in the Nov. 3 win over the Raiders netted him 157 scrimmage yards on the most Bengal touches (32) in 15 years.
They also seemed to have learned something on defense. They found a player in fifth-rounder Josh Newton on his career-high 51 snaps at cornerback when he relieved Cam Taylor-Britt and then the injured DJ Turner and came up with two passes defensed and three tackles.
Newton's promotion and Hilton's re-ascension to slightly more playing time seemed to infuse the defense in the second half. Raked by six Herbert 20-yard passes and 24 points in the first half, they didn't allow any deep passes, or a touchdown, in the second half until the final 45 seconds. Hilton roamed for seven tackles (three for a loss) and threw in that pass defensed.
Plus, they re-learned that Hendrickson, is one of the most fierce competitors you'll ever meet on any field or in any office as he raged at anybody he could find. And Bengals head coach Zac Taylor understood.
"It's okay for guys to show emotion. It's okay for guys to be frustrated. That doesn't bother me," Taylor said. " We just got to take a deep breath, and we did, and there was still confidence in the locker room. You had to see it because you saw in the second half the way that those guys came out and played."
The Hendrickson who had turned his famous switch didn't rage at the knot of reporters that engulfed him after the game. Instead, he politely explained what frustration does.
"I love Zac. He's a great head coach,' Hendrickson said. "He's done a lot for me as a person. He plays with the same intensity. He inspires me.
"Everybody tries to calm me down. It's the NFL. Everybody plays with an edge. Everyboy should play with an edge. Flicking that switch off."
They are trying to find the switch that turns nearly into done.
They certainly re-discovered it takes Burrow no time to renew a connection with a guy like Higgins, out the last three games with a quad injury. Fourth-and-two and down 27-20 with 18 minutes left in the game from the Chargers 42, the bomb was ticking.
Higgins said the Chargers were jumping their slants in the first half and Burrow "gave me the sign."
Touchdown behind the defense.
They also continue to learn that Burrow and Chase only just have to have an idea what the other is doing and they can score.
When the Chargers blitzed on fourth-and-goal leaving Chase alone on a rookie cornerback, it was a four-yard touchdown slant. When they tied it at 27, Burrow waved Chase out of double coverage into a 17-yard touchdown as the offensive line gave him time to dance and direct traffic before he took a shot as he threw it.
"He gave me the thumb, so I went left," said Chase after he fled linebacker Daiyan Henley and his old high school chum, cornerback Kristian Fulton. "Was I doubled?"
Burrow: "They doubled him. Any time I was able to sit back there and kind of direct to where I wanted to go and he made a great play. I didn't see what happened, I was on the ground. But it sounds like a good play."
They needed one more. It seems like they've been saying that all year.
Just one more.
"Keep throwing the ball," says Chase, which seems to be the one thing that's working.
