INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Even after another painful loss in a season full of heartbreakers for Cincinnati, head coach Zac Taylor insisted his beleaguered Bengals can still make the playoffs.

Taylor’s Bengals (4-7) and their fans may find it increasingly difficult to maintain confidence after the Los Angeles Chargers delivered their latest gut punch.

Cincinnati lost 34-27 on Sunday night after rallying from a 21-point deficit in the second half only to surrender a dramatic 84-yard touchdown drive in the final minute. The Bengals have suffered six losses by seven points or less this season, including two in a row.

Taylor remained passionately optimistic about his team, even after its lackluster performance at SoFi Stadium.

“This is sick, the way these games end, and the way we feel coming off the field every week, the feeling I have when I have to talk to the team in the locker room after all these endings. ,” said Taylor. “What I keep saying to the team is: ‘At some point this has to help us.’ At some point we’ve got to find some momentum, and we’ve got to get on the run, and we’ve got to put ourselves in a good position where we can look back. We never want to use a loss for good, but it has to help us in some way.”

Cincinnati is 4 1/2 games behind AFC North leader Pittsburgh (8-2). Nine AFC teams have better records than the Bengals as they enter their bye week.

Taylor repeatedly emphasized that he thinks his Bengals can still be a playoff team, saying they have “played good football” this season.

“We believe in our guys,” he said. “We have good systems in place, and we will persevere and support each other and find a way to get this done. And if we can pull that off, it’s going to be a damn good season. It’s not as far as we would have written for ourselves, but I’m telling you, I stand here today with full confidence that we can still do this in the second half of our schedule.”

When Joe Burrow was asked if he shared his coach’s beliefs, the quarterback quietly said, “I hope so.”

Moments later, Burrow replied, “Yes,” when asked if this was the most frustrating season of his football life.

“It goes without saying,” he added.

The Bengals’ passion and frustration did indeed spill over into Inglewood at times, and it’s natural to wonder if rifts are developing.

Ja’Marr Chase already had seven catches for 75 yards and two TDs to surpass 1,000 yards for the fourth straight season, but the NFL’s all-time rushing leader gave an odd answer when asked how the Bengals can start late in games with execute.

“I don’t know,” Chase said. “Ask Zac. Ask the coaches. Don’t ask me. That’s not my job. I play football on the field. I don’t call plays for us, so I can’t really do nothing.

Three-time Pro Bowler Trey Hendrickson came off the field yelling in Taylor’s direction during the first half and he batted away Taylor’s outstretched arm. Hendrickson said he was frustrated by a no-call.

“Everyone’s trying to calm me down, but it’s the (NFL),” Hendrickson said. “You play with an edge. Everyone does that. Everyone should do that, and by turning that switch off… I love Zac. He’s a great head coach. He has done a lot for me as a person. I love him.”

But Hendrickson acknowledged the defense deserved to feel low after giving up 272 yards in the first half.

“I wish I knew all the answers,” Hendrickson said. “Right now I’m not doing that. It’s humiliating, the (NFL). We have a very talented roster, I think, individually, these pieces. It’s not coming together as a defense like we planned.

Cincinnati started the season 1-4, with the four losses coming by a combined 15 points. After going up 3-1, the Bengals blew a 14-point lead over Baltimore last week and then rallied to catch up, but lost 35-34 when their two-point conversion attempt failed with 38 seconds left.

The loss to Los Angeles canceled out another comeback led by Burrow, who passed for 214 yards in the second half alone in an electric five-drive stretch. Cincinnati scored three touchdowns on those drives, but Evan McPherson missed field goals to end the other two drives, leaving him 6 for 10 over 39 yards on the season.

Taylor defended his kicker and he emphasized that the Bengals don’t need any major changes in an attempt to save their season.

“We can see that it comes down to one play in every single game, so why make a big, wholesale change if it only comes down to one play?” Taylor said. “To me that’s just panic. That’s not what we’re about. We believe in what we’re doing, and so we’re not going to be those people who just panic because the record is 4-7 and we’re starting to make all these important changes. That is not the answer.”