Instant Takeaways From Cincinnati Bengals' 47-42 Loss to Chicago Bears

CINCINNATI — The Bengals rallied, but came up short in Sunday's 47-42 loss to the Bears at Paycor Stadium.

Cincinnati falls to 3-6 on the season. Cincinnati has lost back-to-back games and the hope that was injected into this team when they traded for Joe Flacco last month has gone by the wayside.

Flacco nearly led the Bengals to an improbable victory. Cincinnati scored 15 points in less than a minute to take a 42-41 lead with 49 seconds left.

The Bears answered when Caleb Williams found Colston Loveland for a 58-yard touchdown with 17 seconds left. Jordan Battle didn't tackle Loveland in the open field and the rookie tight end coasted into the end zone for the game winning score.

Here are our instant takeaways from the Bengals' sixth loss in seven games:

Tee Time

Higgins only had two catches last week. Flacco made sure that didn't happen again on Sunday. Higgins finished seven catches for 121 yards and two touchdowns. He had a 44-yard touchdown grab in the first half and a 2-yard score in the second half.

Higgins' first touchdown was one of the touchdowns of the week. He skied over Nahshon Wright for a 44-yard score that gave the Bengals a 20-17 halftime lead. Watch the play here.

Higgins's six touchdown catches rank second in the NFL behind Amon-Ra St. Brown (7) and Dallas Goedert (7).

Ja'Marr Chase had five catches for 111 yards. The Bears did a good job of keeping Chase in check for most of the game.

Key Turnovers

Austin Booker beat Orlando Brown Jr. and sacked Flacco on the first play of the fourth quarter. Flacco fumbled and Booker recovered to put the Bears in position to build on their 31-27 lead. The Bengals held Chicago to a field goal, but the Bears were able to take a 34-27 lead.

That was Flacco's first turnover since the Bengals traded for him last month. He fared well again on Sunday for the most part, despite playing with an AC joint sprain.

Flacco Frenzy Continues

Flacco completed 31-of-47 passes for a career-high 470 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions. Tremaine Edmonds intercepted a Flacco pass with 2:29 left in the game. The Bengals' defense forced a punt and Cincinnati's offense went on back-to-back touchdown drives to take the lead.

Defense Struggles Again

The Bengals' run defense continues to struggle. The Bears were without starting running back D'Andre Swift, but it didn't matter. Kyle Monangai ran for 176 yards on 26 attempts. He also had three catches for 22 yards.

Caleb Williams also ran for 39 yards. The Bengals have allowed 7+ yards-per-carry in three-straight games.

The Bears finished with 576 total yards of offense. This is the second-straight week that the Bengals have given up 500+ yards of offense.

Another Loss

The Bengals are 3-6 on the season entering their bye week. They're 1-6 since Joe Burrow suffered a grade 3 turf toe injury that required surgery.

The NFL trade deadline is on Tuesday, Nov. 4. It wouldn't be surprising to see the Bengals become sellers following their sixth loss in seven games.

Up Next

The Bengals have a bye in Week 10. They play the Steelers in Pittsburgh on Sunday, Nov. 16 at 1 p.m. ET.

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