The Cincinnati Bengals fall to the Baltimore Ravens after missing the 2-point conversion.

Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor didn’t need much to make it two and the lead with 38 seconds left in the game on Thursday night.

And he didn’t need much time to explain the decision.

“We came here to win,” he said minutes after the missed attempt was the difference in a 35-34 loss to the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium.

“We have to find a way to finish these games,” Taylor added. “We had our chance. We got there, went as a couple and it just didn’t work out.”

The Bengals had a 21-7 lead midway through the third quarter when Chase Brown lost a fumble, giving the Ravens a short field and a ruck.

Baltimore scored touchdowns on its next four possessions, which no doubt contributed to Taylor’s decision to go for two after Joe Burrow threw his third touchdown of the night to Ja’Marr Chase, an 8-yarder that cut the deficit to one with 38 seconds left .

Chase said he agreed with the decision to go for two.

“Hell yeah. I agree 100 percent,” he said.

The Bengals lined up to go for the two-point conversion, but had to call a timeout before time expired.

Taylor said there was never any intent to snap the ball in that situation.

“We were just trying to get a free yard there,” he said. “It was a no-snap, no-play situation trying to get a free play. If they jump, grab it and get a free chance at the two-point conversion.”

After the timeout, the Bengals made a play that is more likely to be questioned than the decision to go for two.

On a night when Ja’Marr Chase had 11 catches for 264 yards and three touchdowns, Burrow threw the ball to backup tight end Tanner Hudson and the pass was incomplete.

“There is progress,” Taylor said when asked about not throwing to Chase. “Most of our stuff is for Ja’Marr Chase. But development begins again, and he was in this development. I think Joe makes pretty good decisions, so I trust where we went. We’ll just have to watch the tape.”

Chase was asked if he was open about the two-point attempt.

“Yes. I’m always open,” he said. “As a receiver, you should want the ball. Yes. But sometimes Joe doesn’t see it.”

As he had been all evening, Burrow was under pressure throughout the game and didn’t have time to reach Chase as it progressed.

Chase started wide left, came across the back of the end zone and stepped on Ravens cornerback Brandon Stephens.

“He was on the back,” Burrow said of Chase. “I haven’t reached him. I did my first reading.”

Burrow shot himself in the head during the play, but the referees, who had already called 14 penalties, did not throw a flag.

Tight end Mike Gesicki was also held during the play as he came off the line of scrimmage, and that too was not called.

“In this situation, for the most part, you’re not going to get those calls,” Burrow said.

Early in the drive, Baltimore’s Nnamdi Madubuike grabbed Burrow’s facemask when he went incomplete in the second. No flag again.

“I feel like I’ve never gotten these calls before, so I don’t really expect that,” Burrow said.

Since Taylor became head coach in 2019, the Bengals have attempted just 17 two-point conversions, tied for 26th in the league.

Had they stuck with that number and taken the extra point, the Ravens would have had 38 seconds and two timeouts to get within Justin Tucker field goal range.

And if they hadn’t, the game would have gone into overtime and the Bengals would have had to win the coin toss and/or stop Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore offense, which they failed to do on the previous four drives.

“Everyone will talk about the two points, but we had a lot of other opportunities on both sides of the ball to put ourselves in a better position,” Burrow said.

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