Joe Burrow: We should have put them away before kick

[Who Dey]

Getty Images

The Bengals lost a 16-13 heartbreaker to the Chargers on Sunday and the final blow came when kicker Randy Bullock missed a 31-yard field goal that would have sent the game to overtime.

Bullock’s kick came at the end of a 14-play, 84-yard drive that saw first overall pick Joe Burrow complete a string of passes to put the Bengals in position to extend the game. After Bullock’s miss, Burrow said that a game the Bengals once led 13-6 should never have come down to a kick.

“It doesn’t matter what happened on the kick. We should have put them away a lot of times before that. . . . A lot of different plays affected the game,” Burrow said, via Ben Baby of ESPN.com.

Burrow almost won the game with a pass to A.J. Green in the end zone a play before Bullock’s kick, but Green was flagged for offensive pass interference. Burrow called it “a bang-bang play” before saying he made too many mistakes. The rookie gave himself a D for a game that saw him run for a 23-yard touchdown and complete 23-of-36 passes for 196 yards and an interception.

Others might go higher on their report cards, but the end result is still a loss with a quick turnaround before facing the Browns in Week Two.