The Detroit Lions and Cincinnati Bengals will square off in Week 5 of the 2025 season, the Lions’ third straight matchup against an AFC North opponent. These two teams have met only 13 times in their history, with just one meeting during the Dan Campbell era—a Bengals win, which occurred back in 2021.
While the teams don’t have a lengthy history, these two head coaches are very familiar with each other. Campbell and Bengals’ coach Zac Taylor coached alongside each other from 2012 to 2015 with the Miami Dolphins. And when Campbell was named interim head coach in their final season, Taylor was his offensive coordinator.
“I’ve known Zac (Taylor) a long time, coached with Zac,” Campbell said on Wednesday. “What he’s done out there has been pretty amazing, and they’ve built something pretty special over there.”
Let’s take a closer look at the Bengals’ coaching staff, the scheme that they run, and some scouting notes from previously viewed games.
NFL coaching seasons: 13 seasons
Head coaching seasons: 7th season (all with Bengals)
Influences: Sean McVay, Matt LaFleur, Mike Sherman, Joe Philbin, Bill Lazor
Playcaller: Yes
Fun Fact: Taylor was Jared Goff’s offensive coordinator in L.A. in 2018, the year they went to the Super Bowl
While Campbell and Goff are praising Taylor this week, the Cincinnati fan base has a much different perspective, with many calling for his job. Here’s an excerpt from a recent article at our brother site at SB Nation, Cincy Jungle:
Here’s the thing about Zac Taylor, and this may be stating the obvious: He’s a great leader and culture builder. The Bengals locker room has been lauded for its positivity, leadership, and strong culture for the last seven seasons. That stuff is hard to come by in the NFL, and Taylor’s relentless positivity through the Bengals’ struggles in his first two seasons as head coach is a big reason why the Bengals got to Super Bowl LVI in just Taylor’s third season.
The downside is that Taylor is severely limited as an offensive-minded coach and schemer. Most notably, he hasn’t evolved as much as other head coaches, including his former boss, Sean McVay. He’s undergone some evolution, but not nearly enough, like McVay and other great head coaches in the NFL.
Offensive coordinator: Dan Pitcher
NFL coaching seasons: 10 (all with Bengals)
Offensive coordinator seasons: 2nd (took over in 2024 after Brian Callahan, Titans HC)
Influences: Zac Taylor, Brian Callahan, Ken Zampese, Bill Lazor
Offensive scheme
Passing game: Modern-Spread, West Coast McVay/Shanahan style blend
Running scheme: Outside-zone, run inside OTs nearly 60% of the time (2nd most in NFL)
Staples of scheme:
- Personnel: 11 (68.9%, 10th), 12 (26.8%, 12th)
- Offense designed and molded for Joe Burrow (injured)
- Heavy passing team under Burrow — shifting towards balance after injury under Jake Browning
- Primarily work out of shotgun sets — more under center with Browning
- Play-action – very low numbers this season (18.5%, 31st)
- Vertical shots
- Explosive plays with two top-tier WRs
- Screens and flares to skill players
- Run behind tackles, but stay inside
- Offense hasn’t evolved over the past seven seasons under Taylor and is struggling to adapt
- Risk adverse: Opts for field position and FG over going for it on fourth down
Scouting notes
- Offense is operating at historical lows: held under 200 yards of offense in three of four games
- Failed to run a play in Broncos territory following their opening possession
- Undisciplined football right now: mistakes on top of mistakes, penalties on top of penalties
- Pushed the envelope in passing game vs. Vikings (Week 3), which led to turnovers
- Passing game went very conservative vs. Broncos (Week 4), which led to a subdued offense
- Passing game isn’t getting the ball to their playmakers; rushed and poor decision-making
- Defenses are stacking the box with a limited passing threat
- The most ineffective run game in the NFL right now—rank dead last in NFL in multiple categories
- OL not opening rushing lanes
- IOL is very leaky, losing one-on-ones, multiple MAs; now starting two rookie guards
- Aidan Hutchinson should eat vs. these OTs
Dan Campbell on the Bengals’ offense
“So, they’ve got good players; (Ja’Marr Chase) 1 and (Tee Higgins) 5 are good, this quarterback (Jake Browning)’s capable. The (Chase Brown) back, he’s explosive, he finds a crease, he can take it.”
Dan Campbell on the Bengals’ offense without Burrow
“Well, they’re doing the same things. They’re really, I would say, proceeding the same way, for the most part. Maybe some quicker throws, things of that nature, but this team throws it a lot and in primo looks, they’ll run it. But I don’t feel like it’s that different. We know these two receivers (Chase and Higgins) are really good and they’re looking for those matchups. They feel like they can get a one-on-one, that’s where the ball’s going—and why wouldn’t it? So, we’re going to have to do a good job of disrupting those guys as much as we can and try to limit what they can do over there. But also, not let this guy tear us up in the run game either. So, I don’t feel like it’s something different though.”
Defensive coordinator: Al Golden
NFL coaching seasons: 7 total; Lions (TE: 2016—17, LB 18-19), Bengals (LB: 2020-1, DC: 2025)
Defensive coordinator seasons: 1st in NFL (2025)
College DC: Virginia (2001-5), Notre Dame (2022-24)
College HC: Temple (2006-10), Miami (2011-15)
Influences: Bill Parcells, Al Groh, Tom O’Brien, Lou Anarumo, Teryl Austin, Matt Patricia
Key Staff: Jordan Kovacs, Secondary/Safeties coach (Former Michigan Safety)
Defensive scheme
Base: 4-2 Pro-Style
Coverage: Split field into thirds; Cover-1 man (23%), Cover-3 zone (33%), Cover-6 zone (21%)
Staples of scheme:
- This defense is brand new to the Bengals’ defense, from concepts to language
- Defensive design is to mitigate risk
- Defense matches offense rather than disguising intentions
- Priority is stopping the run first
- Defensive line heavily rotates their bigger bodies
- DL Stunts – fewer than anticipated due to run-stuffing IDL personnel
- Replacement blitzing – drop EDGE Trey Hendrickson into coverage at times
- Linebackers are the heavy focus – asked to do a lot in this scheme
- Linebackers rotate and shift around
- CBs need to have press-man experience
- Prefers more physical, safety-like NB
- Centerfield safety on 75+% of snaps
Scouting notes
- Has turned up the aggression now that Burrow is out… However, that’s not saying much
- Through 3 games, lowest blitz rate in the NFL: 6.6%… After 4 games: 12.7% (still lowest)
- Only 2 pass rushers with double-digit win rate: Hendrickson (20.8%, 18th), Shemar Stewart (14.6%, 45th) … but Stewart is injured and not practicing
- Front-seven struggle to stay with RBs in the passing game and laterally on outside zone runs
- Linebackers make plays more because of scrappiness than scheme/talent
- Why are they rotating their best LBs out in critical spots?
- Back-seven are losing track of coverage assignments, not communicating well
- NB Dax Hill could be Amon-Ra St. Brown’s toughest assignment so far this season
- Give up a lot of YAC (yards after catch)
Dan Campbell on the Bengals’ defense
“Defensively, I’ve always loved (T.J.) Slaton up there in the middle, (B.J.) Hill long-time steady, reliable, hard-nosed. Certainly (Trey) Hendrickson on the edge, 55 Logan (Wilson) has seen it all, done it all, run and hit. So yeah, they’ve got some good guys. I think their (Dax Hill) nickel’s a good player too. They’ve got some dudes, so we’ve got to be ready to go out at their place, but we’re looking forward to it.”
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