The Cincinnati Bengals’ 44-38 home loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers left many speechless.
Where do we even begin with this team?
Front office?
Coaching?
Talent?
Let’s hit on each of them.
This front office has given the fans a lot of mixed feelings over the last few years. From letting Jessie Bates and DJ Reader walk, among others, to extending Logan Wilson and Joe Burrow, and from not touching free agency and trades to making some of the best free agent acquisitions and trades in franchise history, it might be time to start asking questions. Is it time for the younger generation to start listening to the older generation…once again?
This front office has to see what the entire fan base and players see, right? They’re professionals.
For years, this front office has been known for being cheap. Then, there was a false sense of hope when the team makes it to the Super Bowl in ‘21 with one of the worst offensive lines this team has ever seen. The team hears the fans, and they go get a handful of what we think is a good group of lineman. Everyone thinks, finally this team has acquired a group of “glass-eaters.”
Somehow, Burrow is still getting hit and ultimately scrambling to another season-ending injury. Once again, they see an issue, and they draft the team’s future right tackle, Amarius Mims, and they think they finally have our line.
Then the season starts. The team has yet another slow start, then pick up the pace. As the season starts rolling along, it doesn’t take long for everyone to notice something startling.
The offense begins clicking, which everyone knew they would, under the authority of Burrow. This defense is atrocious. I hate to say, but that’s an understatement.
Seeing that stat above is truly embarrassing.
There is A LOT you can blame on this defense, but there’s also quite a bit you can blame on coaching. Before last season, this was Zac’s team. Most people had a world of confidence in Zac.
Last season happened, and the team missed the playoffs for the first time since the Super Bowl. This team made it to the biggest stage just two years ago, then missed that same stage by just one game.
Then this season comes along, and they begin to have one of the most unpredictable seasons in franchise and NFL history. With arguably the league’s best quarterback-receiver duo, they have lost seven games by one score. If they win those games, they are sitting on the complete opposite side of the spectrum once again, beginning to stare the postseason in the eyes.
But after each loss, we hear the same responses from head coach Taylor. Either he’s sickened by the outcome, or he feels sick for those guys in the locker room, or I still have confidence in these guys, or we have to find a way to win. Whatever the excuse was, it was the same thing each week. How many weeks have the fans finally seen the team have an aggressive 4th-down attempt with one or two yards to gain and they decide to throw the ball 20 yards down the field and leave the fans questioning the call?
They come back, make it a close game again, then let the opponent drive down the field with 1:30 left to go and…(this is when fans can already predict the outcome) lose on a last-second field goal or touchdown. Every now and then, the defense will have a great stop or turnover…but then there’s a flag for defensive holding or pass interference. When will it stop?
Looking at several plays this season, you ask yourself how?
How can a defense not know how to cover certain players or read an offense and predict the play? The only thing fans expect the defense to do is to get one stop. It doesn’t have to be every drive, but a handful of times throughout the game.
Instead, the offense drives down the field, just taking advantage of this depleted defense, whether it’s a missed tackle or a completely botched play where the best receiver is left wide open by 15 yards.
The unfortunate part is that some players think they are still playing well and come up with excuses.
That’s the best answer you can come up with? I hate to say it, but I laughed at this answer. Hats off to Russell Wilson. He was able to “get the ball out quick.”
At this point, the only thing I can defend this team on besides the offense is officiating. I’ve been noticing a trend, biased or unbiased, over the last few years, but this season tops them all. The officiating this season has been worse than the Bengals’ defense. There are always some bad calls, but this year, they have come in some of the most key parts of the game. I hate to be that guy, but a few of them have decided the game.
Football is a complementary game. Not everyone will play perfect, not everyone is expected to play perfect, but one side can’t play near perfect and the other side(s) not play at all, you end up with a 4-8 record.
There are still a few things I still can’t wrap my head around, though.
Lou Anarumo was known as one of the best defensive coordinators around a couple of years ago. He was a final candidate in a handful of head coaching positions for multiple years.
Then, out of nowhere, he has, seemingly, one of the worst defenses in the league. Is this a scheme or game plan issue or a personnel issue? Cam Taylor-Britt has one of the best seasons we have seen from a defensive back. He came into this season as the Bengals’ No. 1 DB but has turned into a disaster of epic proportions.
Sure, he has a couple of amazing plays…that’s it. That’s all he has this year. With everything else, he looks like a high school player. At one point, I tried giving him the benefit of the doubt and agreed with Mike Hilton when he mentioned all young players go through slumps, but slumps aren’t full seasons.
The confusing part of the offense, though, is Zac’s play-calling in key moments. You would think after the bye week, if they noticed some things not working, they would switch it up. Doesn’t seem that way.
We can compare Joe and this offense all day long to Mahomes and the Chiefs, Allen and the Bills, and whoever else. Yes, the Bengals have continued to score 30+ points weekly, but if this offense had the right play-caller, they could be scoring nearly every drive. The difference between these teams and style of play is aggressiveness. This Bengals team simply plays well enough not to lose rather than to win. They have been playing flat-footed with the tendency to score a couple of times per half vs. foot on the gas pedal and playing downhill.
I will defend Zac all day long. He helped save this team’s culture and was a great influence in the locker room for a few years. He gave this entire city great hope, but it’s looking like it’s slipping away steadily.
Unfortunately for fans, everything is happening at the same time, presenting itself as doom. This is where I’ll actually listen to Dan Pitcher. A few weeks ago, he mentioned that the team can’t fall into the arms of the presumed script, completely declare panic mode, and abandon everything.
With approximately a 3% chance to make the playoffs, I really don’t want to scrap the season, and I really don’t want to say what every other fan is thinking, but looking at the offseason, there are some positives.
This is the perfect opportunity for this front office to reevaluate themselves and recover this city’s faith in them, which is slipping away at an alarming rate. You don’t want to say it, but can we say the Bengals are wasting the talent of Burrow and Chase, who are both having career-best years, and their team is 4-8?
Most, if not all, fans believe this was the last year the team had been able to hold one of the best tandems we have seen in a long time between Burrow, Chase, and Higgins. But was it?
I’m nowhere near an expert in contracts, but looking at different contracts and cap space, there are a few players who have had little to no impact on this season at all that the team could cut or release, like Sheldon Rankins and Sam Hubbard, among others, which could free up around $30 million. I won’t get ahead myself any further, but there’s still a sliver of opportunity this front office can hang on to and capitalize on.
With this season essentially ending on Sunday, Bengals fans are requesting one thing from the front office: Effort.
Sorry Zac, but I think your time has come and gone. This front office needs to go find its own Dan Campbell, Sean McVay, or Andy Reid. They need to go find a true offensive line that can actually protect Burrow.
Yes, Burrow can do some very impressive things when he scrambles, but that shouldn’t be every play. They need to find a defensive coordinator who believes in blitzing more than a dozen times per season. They need to find more than one player who can actually make it within five yards of the quarterback. They need to find a shut-down corner who can either keep up with a receiver or at least make a play on the ball. They need to find a true safety who isn’t missing his assignments. They need to find a linebacker who knows how to tackle. They need to find a coach who actually promotes tackling vs. stripping the ball.
If this front office actually wants to display the Lombardi Trophy in their facility, which was a true team effort, they have to attempt to pull out the checkbook, sign big deals with major players, and give this team a chance to succeed.
