Joe Burrow, Zac Taylor react to Cody Ford’s jaw-dropping moment during Bengals’ 37-14 win over Cardinals
Cody Ford big-man rumble for 21 yards turned everyone’s heads during the Bengals’ win over Arizona.
Cody Ford, on his 29th birthday, stole the show when the Cincinnati Bengals trampled the Arizona Cardinals, 37-14, in their penultimate game of the bittersweet 2025 season.
Head coach Zac Taylor said it only existed in the playbook for a week. Quarterback Joe Burrow wasn’t even looking his way at first after the snap. No matter the obstacles, Ford made everyone’s jaws drop and adrenaline spike when he caught his first-career pass for a 21-yard gain late in the third quarter.
Ford had not touched the football since his rookie season in 2019, when he recovered two fumbles for the Buffalo Bills. When he enters the game for Cincinnati, it’s either in relief of an injury at offensive tackle or as an extra blocker in short-yardage situations.
What was he doing out wide as a receiver, and then turning a short catch into an explosive play? The plan was a lot more mundane than the result.
How the Cody Ford catch happened for the Bengals
The whole reason Ford was even an option on the play was due to Noah Fant being limited in practice during the week. Taylor told reporters after the game that Fant’s availability being unclear during the week paved the way for Ford to be involved in certain two-tight end packages.
“We had a lot of heavier 12-personnel groupings where [Ford] was going to be out there,” Taylor said. “And so just to keep the guys, you know, in the o-line room, keep that energy sky high. Not that I need to create anything to do that, but we practiced it. He caught it during the week, and then felt like the right moment to get a call.”
Catching is one thing, but creating missed tackles after the catch was not a part of the plan.
“I wanted him just to go down,” Taylor said. “Get the four [yards], go down, put us in the second-and-6, and he just kept breaking tackles. That was pretty impressive.”
Taylor and Burrow were equally impressed.
“Couldn’t believe what I was watching,” Burrow said. “But it was sick.”
That reaction was evident in Burrow’s face after the play.
Ford had to play several snaps in a more normal setting leading up to his shining moment, and he wasn’t particularly a crowd favorite. Cincinnati’s offensive line struggled when he was in for Amarius Mims at right tackle, and Burrow was sacked twice on back-to-back plays during the first drive that Ford took Mims’ spot. His struggles in pass protection are nothing new to the offense.
After his catch-and-run got the Bengals to the goal line with the game very much in hand, fans began chanting “CODY” for the seventh-year veteran to get the ball for a touchdown. Taylor did not hesitate to say that it was never in the plans.
“No. No chance,” Taylor said. “0% chance.”
I bet many fans would’ve given the same answer before the game if asked whether a play involving Ford would make them smile and cheer.
And that’s why, even in a lost season, they play the games.