After the Bengals' furious fourth quarter at Paycor Stadium came up short Sunday against the Lions, there were some quiet musings amid the lockers about how the AFC North is still as open as All-Pro wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase’s fire.

The Steelers stayed in first place at 3-1 with a bye. When the Ravens lost big at home and the Browns lost late overseas, the 2-3 Bengals stayed close in second place, 1.5 games behind.

The game against Pittsburgh, 10 days away at Paycor on Thursday night, would be worth two, one vet mused. Start by winning the division games and the rest of the home games, and the playoffs are very much in the picture.

First, though, the Bengals know they need to stop the skid at three next Sunday in Green Bay, and another vet, linebacker Logan Wilson, believes they can hang together to do it.

"I'm not worried about guys pointing fingers, or guys hanging their heads," said Wilson after playing all 62 snaps of the defense's admirable bid. "That's not the type of guys we have in this locker room. We just have to find a way to right the ship and weather the storm."

The Bengals had a bunch of stand-up guys who offered to cut the sail.

After throwing three interceptions in the game's first 32 minutes, quarterback Jake Browning said he cost them the game. Head coach Zac Taylor took the blame for putting Browning in those spots. Even Chase, after his jump-on-my back fourth quarter, acknowledged cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt was right when he told him after a possession to jog off the field and not walk.

"He's holding me to a standard because I hold him to a standard. I respect that," said Chase, who refused the moral victory. "At the end of the day, we still lost. My effort wasn't good enough. I need to put up more stats, so just put up more as a team to help us get in a position to win."

But there were a few things everyone could agree on.

Chase's leadership grows every week. Monday night in Denver, it was in the postgame locker room. Sunday at Paycor, it was when he kept playing like the best player in the league in the fourth quarter to pull the Bengals out of a 28-3 hole with two touchdowns within four minutes.

"He's got some heart like our great players. Everybody on our team," said Taylor, who thought they were going to win as an onside kick squirted on the ground with 2:57 left and the Bengals down 11.

They could also agree that the defense played well enough to win. The Lions' No. 1 scoring offense had the ball nearly 10 more minutes, had an average drive start of their own 44, and had touchdown drives of 17 and 28 yards.

After the Bengals came up with a season-high four sacks and forced the Lions to punt five times while holding Detroit's punishing ground game to 3.5 yards per carry on 33 smashes, there was a sense their defense was putting together new coordinator Al Golden’s scheme.

"I can't say anything about our defense. Our defense is doing enough," Chase said. "At the end of the day, our defense was good enough for us. We have to find a way to make the defense look better."

Running back Chase Brown, who could get only four carries in that keep-away first half the Bengals had the ball four minutes when the Lions went up 14-0:

"Offensively, we need to step up early. We can't put too much pressure on the defense. They're getting us stops and balls back. As an offensive unit, you have to look at yourself in the mirror and figure out how to get started faster."

All-Pro edge Trey Hendrickson asserted himself early against a rookie backup left tackle with a sack-strip and added another sack as the Bengals hit Lions quarterback Jared Goff seven times.

"We have a resilient group, so we're finding that team identity," Hendrickson said. "There's a lot to be proud of on defense and there's a lot we need to correct on defense. Keep chopping wood, it'll break. It's the National Football League. Hard work works. I'm a firm believer in that.

"There are some things that are good on tape. Pat yourself on the back for a second, and then let's look at the plays we need to fix."

Four defensive tackles, with vet Mike Pennel getting 20 plays, took at least 32% of the plays. T.J. Slaton Jr.’s dogged 50 netted eight tackles, one off a career high.

Golden went with primarily Dax Hill and DJ Turner II at cornerback (they played every snap), and rookies Demetrius Knight and Barrett Carter basically split the snaps for the first time, where both delivered in the run game combining for 14 tackles.

"I have to do a better job as a play caller to bail them out," Taylor said. "I'm going to sit here and say it whether people want to hear it or not, our defense has given us what we needed the first half of these games. It's hard to sustain that over four quarters when there's turnovers, there's punts, there's no points going on the board, especially against teams like that."

Taylor's philosophy of attacking Detroit with three wideouts proved right in the fourth quarter once Browning got into a flow. He dished the ball to all three receivers. Andrei Iosivas had a career 82-yard day, and Tee Higgins had a touchdown to go with Chase's 110 yards.

The three interceptions ("Trying to force things that aren't there," Browning said) were too much to overcome.

The defense gave it a run.

"The defensive chemistry is building up," said safety Jordan Battle. "Guys are playing off each other. Helping people create plays. We got a few sacks today. That was good to see. Good progress. We have to keep elevating."

But they were following Chase's lead.

No moral victories.

"We did find a way to get some stops," Wilson said. "I feel like for the most part, we did a good job facing some of the situations we were in. At the end of the day, it's just not good enough to get a win, and we have to keep finding a way."