The Cincinnati Bengals had a golden opportunity to beat the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday afternoon.
The Bengals reached the Jaguars' 21-yard line with just over a minute remaining, and it sure seemed like tight end Mike Gesicki had beaten his man on a route for a wide-open, potential game-winning touchdown. But Burrow curiously sailed the pass incomplete; the Bengals eventually turned the ball over on downs to lose 22-17, and that was that.
Burrow tried to describe what happened on the key sequence. He attributed it to an unfortunate miscommunication at the worst time, as any star quarterback would do so as to not throw their teammate under the bus for a mistake:
Joe Burrow on the missed throw to Mike Gesicki on the final series: “We just had
a little miscommunication.”#Bengals pic.twitter.com/oHNVxvosGh
— Chatterbox Sports (@CBoxSports) October 4, 2026
Gesicki had a different take on the miss. As reported by Sports Illustrated's Jay Morrison, Gesicki said the miscommunication was his fault. It happened because Gesicki took Higgins' usual spot in the formation on the same play and was unfamiliar with his route, since he was taught it on the fly after Higgins got injured in the fourth quarter (on top of an earlier injury to Ja'Marr Chase). To be sure, Gesicki wasn't making an excuse; he was just clarifying why the route looked so off.
What I take away here is that Higgins likely would have scored on the same play in the same situation, and the Bengals would be 3-1 if he hadn't gotten hurt.
Alas. These are the unfortunate breaks that can happen in the NFL. More from Sports Illustrated:
“It was a play that because of personnel stuff, normally that's, that's Tee running that,” he [Gesicki] said. “So when I went in, I moved to Tee’s [Higgins] spot. I felt the corner heavy inside. I’m supposed to cross his face. I didn’t.
I learned that (play) on the sideline,” he added. “There’s no excuse for it. I was just trying to make a play. It is what it is."
What a bummer for the Bengals. They'll try to get back on track on the road against the Miami Dolphins in Week 5. It won't be easy. There's a good chance they'll be without both Chase and Higgins.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Mike Gesicki explained how Tee Higgins' injury played role in Bengals missing winning TD
