The Bengals attempted a trick play during the fourth quarter against the Jaguars that left NFL fans confused, but perhaps none were more baffled than Peyton Manning.
Watching the game on ESPN’s Manningcast, Manning was exasperated after Cincinnati dialed up a similar trick play to one they had failed to execute earlier in the game.
The Bengals took the ball out of Jake Browning’s hands, despite the backup quarterback having the best game of his career, and opted to run a trick play involving a cross-field pass from Tyler Boyd.
Boyd hazardously threw the ball across the middle of the field, which proved to be a brutal mistake as Jacksonville’s Josh Allen was able to intercept it with ease and set the Jaguars up with some prime field position.
Manning was enraged after the catastrophic trick play and he ripped into the Bengals for their play-calling.
Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, and Kay Adams react to the Bengals' trick play disaster (and gift to the Jaguars). 🏈📺🎙️😂 #MNF #ManningCast pic.twitter.com/kZ6z04IWM2
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 5, 2023
“What are we doing? Why are they not letting Browning throw? My mic just fell off...” said Manning. “Browning hasn’t thrown an incompletion and we have two receivers throwing passes. One [Ja’Marr Chase] throws a back shoulder... to Browning and this guy [Boyd] throws it right to the D-lineman.”
Eli Manning and guest Kay Adams were equally confused by the Bengals’ play-calling, though Peyton was certainly the most animated, clearly not a fan of the Bengals’ adventurous decision-making on offense.
At the time of the play, Browning had completed 19-of-21 passes, lending further confusion as to why Cincinnati had twice opted to call for passes from wide receivers.
