Fans have had a myriad of complaints with Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor over his tenure with the team dating back to the 2019 season. A constant one at times has been wanting to see him be a bit more aggressive.
He has shown spurts of this. Look at most of the wins against the Kansas City Chiefs, and you’ll find a few 4th downs the team converted to either seal the deal or at least try to.
However, more often than not, Taylor lacks that desire to keep the offense out there rather than play the field position game or settle for three points. In fact, over the first three games, he has been the worst in the NFL, costing the Bengals nearly 5.5% win probability by kicking in “go situations.”
They have converted their only 4th-down attempt this season. It came against the Jacksonville Jaguars from well inside their own territory in the closing minutes.
You could probably find a few instances in the escape win against the Cleveland Browns where they could have attempted a 4th down or two. However, the offense was an absolute dud in the second half.
You also won’t convince many people that Taylor not being aggressive enough on 4th down was what cost them the win against the Minnesota Vikings when it was 48-10.
It is something to monitor without Joe Burrow out there as every coach and player gets magnified.
You also can’t ignore the fact that Taylor’s record in one-score games is 22-33-1 and he was 1-6 at one point last season. You can call it luck sometimes. Sometimes, there are other reasons for things being the way they are. One thing is for sure. This team probably can’t get by without stealing a 4th-down conversion or two a game without Burrow.
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