Late in the third quarter, the Cincinnati Bengals absolutely wasted a big-time opportunity to put points on the board. And no, I'm not talking about going for it on fourth-and-goal, because I believe that to be a good call from Zac Taylor, who must continue to tap into that aggressiveness for the rest of the season.

I'm talking about the play-calling in that whole sequence.

The Bengals, down by three with 4:21 left in the third quarter, were in a great position to take the lead. A pass interference call against the defense put them in the driver's seat in first and goal from the 2-yard line.

With a franchise quarterback on the field, one would assume the Bengals were confident in getting a score. After all, that's Joe Burrow! Instead, Cincinnati appeared to be all out of confidence.

Instead of letting Burrow go do his thing, the playcalling consistently took the football out of the quarterback's hand. Joe Goodberry did a great job pointing this out on Twitter.

1st down: quick pick-play throw
2nd down: philly special
3rd and long: He gets to read the field
4th down: Shovel pass

You're taking the ball OUT of Burrow's hands/mind

— Goodberry (@JoeGoodberry) October 10, 2022

Let's break it down, play-by-play. All of these, by the way, came out of the shotgun.

1st & Goal: With Ja'Marr Chase facing a one-on-one look against the Ravens' goal-line defense, the Bengals ran a rub play with Chase breaking inside to free up Hayden Hurst. No one else runs a route as the hope is to get Hurst open in the flat. In short, it's a quick throw play that's highly effective in the red zone. I've got nothing against the Bengals calling it (unless you'll follow it up with more plays that take the Burrow element out of it).

2nd & Goal: Philly special! Don't get me wrong, I love that play. As I type this, I'm drinking coffee out of a mug that has the design of the play printed on it. But for the second consecutive play, the Bengals took the ball out of Burrow's hands. And as pointed out in the tweet above, his mind. Also, if you're going to run that, your receiver must know it's either the #1 read or a throwaway. Wide receiver Tyler Boyd lost 12 yards on that one.

3rd & Goal: From the 14-yard line, the Bengals go on empty. Cincinnati runs slants and Burrow finds Chase, who gets upfield and is downed at the two. BOOM.

4th & Goal: Shovel pass play that essentially has no read involved. Burrow sprints out to his left as Stanley Morgan runs a route behind the offensive line. The play is not there.

I support the go-for-it call AND I support the creativity. I love watching the Kansas City Chiefs running those sneaky shovel plays that seem unstoppable even when the opponent expects it.

But not allowing Burrow from making decisions in three out of those four plays is inexcusable. Another close game, another reminder of how this Bengals team still has a lot to figure out. At 2-3, the season is far from over and the AFC North is still well within reach.

Now granted, the game was lost in more ways than this one, but this is the moment many will remember when looking back at a pivotal AFC North loss.

We're on to Week 6 and the Bengals' bye week isn't until Week 10. They've got to be in a hurry to get things right.

Featured image via Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK