Bengals - 22, Patriots - 18
BB: Disappointing finish here. Competitive game. Things to work with but in the end just not enough. Disappointing result.
Q. We saw in the second half the sort of impact that Kendrick Bourne can have when he's made the focal point of the passing game. Why have the opportunities for him to be such a regular target in the offense been so few and far between this year?
BB: No particular reason.
Q. Curious what your impressions were of Joe Burrow. First time you faced him, first time he's faced you. Was it any different from what you'd seen on film?
BB: No, about the same.
Q. On the Bengals, one of their drives early, a third and 17, far from your sideline. How much consideration did you give to possibly challenging whether he came down and controlled the ball there?
BB: Didn't see anything that would give us a chance to do that.
Q. And at the end of the first half, can you explain just sort of the sequence there, where you had the quick pass and then took a timeout and kneeled? What was behind that thought process?
BB: See what happened, see how much we gained on that play. In the end, didn't feel like it was much we could do there.
Q. You made adjustments in the second half. Defense played great. What was the big change there in the second half after giving up 22 points?
BB: No big change. Same calls.
Q. What have you seen from Marcus Jones and how he's progressed this season?
BB: Yeah, talked about him a lot. He's done a good job for us. A little bit more each week. (Indiscernible) defense.
Q. You've repeatedly taken responsibility for the offense this season. When you don't cross midfield until the end of the third quarter, you get 12 points here today, how much of that is your responsibility? Your players were well-positioned to win today.
BB: I'm the head coach.
Q. You said it was the same calls in the second half. Obviously Joe Burrow had a great first half. Threw for 284 yards and three touchdowns. Was the second half you guys slowing him down or was that the Bengals stopping themselves?
BB: I don't know. Call it whatever you want.
Q. I want to know what you call it.
BB: We shut them out in the second half. Played good defense. Call it whatever you want.
Q. How do you make sure that the players stay together these final two weeks of the season here?
BB: Do what we've been doing.
Q. Four straight runs there once you guys got in the red zone on the offense's final drive. Was running clock also a consideration there or just simply trying to score?
BB: Trying to score and trying to control the clock. They used their timeouts. We had control of the clock and the field position on the last, was it, first down play.
Q. What was the Bengals defense able to do to slow down your group for three quarters?
BB: Couldn't convert on the third down in the first half. That was the biggest problem.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports