The 2025 Cincinnati Bengals were the worst defense in NFL history through the first 10 weeks of the season.
But the improvement since then likely means no real change is coming.
According to Paul Dehner Jr., “the most likely scenario is [Al] Golden stays.”
The Athletic writer pointed out that the team doesn’t want to go through a second defensive coordinator change in two years, especially not with the success Lou Anarumo found in Indianapolis after being relieved of his duties in Cincinnati.
But more importantly, the language used by Zac Taylor when speaking about the defense does not give us reason to believe Golden’s job is on the line. Here’s what Taylor said, according to Dehner Jr.:
Nobody wants to hear it, but I do think there’s things on defense that have really improved, particularly since the bye… Anybody who’s watching the game can see that that’s improvement being made and there’s a lot of young players that are participating in that, second-, third-year players that are showing growth through the season.
Dehner Jr. also included a graphic to support Taylor’s statement.
The Athletic
To be fair, there is clearly improvement going on. And we’ve seen Myles Murphy and even Demetrius Knight Jr. show signs of improvement.
So, if you’re hoping to see heads roll, you’ll have to look elsewhere for now.
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