CINCINNATI — For better or worse, the 2024 Bengals are bound and determined to keep things the way they are and hope for happier endings.
That was the message from Zac Taylor and his offensive and defensive coordinators Tuesday as they set the players off on a five-day bye, hopeful that the physical and emotional break from the game can help reset them for the final six games of the season.
The Bengals are in a confounding and infuriating place, 11 games into a season that has been put in the dumpster that is waiting only to be hauled to the landfill for its final resting place.
The Bengals have simply squandered too many chances to resuscitate their season.
The look on Joe Burrow after the latest blown chance in Los Angeles Sunday night told the entire story of dejection and frustration.
Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase followed in the locker room postgame.
Coaches get paid to continue to break down film and prepare the team for the next battle. That next battle is with the Pittsburgh Steelers, who are once again proving that tough culture and defense matter more than an elite quarterback with two weapons.
“I think there are guys who play through a lot of crap that are banged up and are giving us everything they’ve got, and you can count on them,” Taylor said. “And they’re doing everything from a leadership standpoint. In the locker room, anytime you are losing close games there are always those guys behind the scenes that do an excellent job of making sure no one strays, and everyone knows understands the purpose in staying together. I think the leadership on our team always has really good conversations with those guys whether it’s together or one offs to make sure you’re aware of everything.
“That’s what gives you a lot of hope and positivity moving forward. We’ve got a good collection of guys that are about the right stuff. They understand there is still a lot to play for. They understand it’s not completely out of our control. You just go win and good things will happen and you turn this into a really special season that will be worth remembering. December football is upon us, and that’s always when you have to play your best football and more than ever.”
Joe Burrow is a top-3 quarterback in the NFL. He is having statistically the best season of his career. Ja’Marr Chase is the best receiver in the NFL and is also having the best year of his career, which is only in year 4.
But the Steelers have built a culture of winning and perseverance around head coach Mike Tomlin, who is the frontrunner for NFL coach of the year.
The Bengals, perhaps, should take the next five days as a way to rest mentally. They’ve been through a grind since the start of camp in late July.
At this point of the season, you basically are what you are. Could the Bengals run the table and finish 10-7? Sure. But the odds of that are very high, given their inability to prove to anyone – including themselves – that they’re capable of “f-ing finishing the game” as Higgins put it after Sunday’s 34-27 meltdown in LA to the Chargers, one of six teams with a winning record that have beaten the Bengals.
“It all falls on us,” Taylor said. “We’re trying to put our players in the best position possible, and always have to provide them solutions, and sometimes solutions are hard to come by. We’ve all watched the same games. We’ve seen how they’ve ended. They’ve all ended a little bit differently, and so we’ve got to continue to find ways as coaches to make sure our players have the confidence, they are put in the best spot so that they can make those plays and help us finish those games. So, we’re all part of it. I do think it absolutely turns to me and trying to find ways to continue to put us in the best positions possible, find ways to put us in the best position possible. I think we’ve got a really good process that obviously has put us in a position in a lot of these games to be in a spot to win them. We just haven’t won them. And, you know, there’s not always this easy solution that’s just going to hit us right in the face on how these things can change, but I 100 percent think I’ve gotta uncover every stone.
“And as coaches, we’ve gotta make sure our process is perfect to win some of the games that in the past we’ve won. We’ve won some close games before, in some of these close games, and it’s disappointing for everybody right now. I still have a lot of confidence in how we go about things and what we have in front of us going forward. Sometimes it just takes winning one of these games to ‘Okay, there we go. That monkey’s off our back a little bit, and now let’s go continue and finish.’ And so sometimes it’s just kind of a snowball effect. Unfortunately, the snowball’s gone the wrong way for us this year. There’s no excuse for that, you know? But we’ve got to find solutions and find a way to finish it.”
Ja’Marr Chase said ask the coaches, ask Zac Taylor why the team can’t execute late. Here’s what Taylor said in response Tuesday:
“He’s emotional,” Taylor said. “And when you got a guy that works as hard as he does, leaves it all on the field, I do think things — I don’t want to say misconstrued — but can look differently than what they really are. But again, he’s a guy that is one of the most genuine players I’ve ever been around and honest, insightful, puts it all out there for us.
“I don’t have problems with guys that work as hard as they do, speaking with emotion after the game, speaking with passion. He and I are very much on the same page and appreciate the work he puts in and sometimes postgame it’s emotional, and that’s the way it is.”
Is there a divide between player and coach?
“I talk to Ja’Marr every week, and again, I’m confident that we’re always on the same page,” Taylor added.
Chase and Higgins each had 14 targets Sunday night. Burrow threw the ball 50 times and was again hammered to the turf and took another massive beating. Chase is just wondering if there’s a plan for Burrow to keep feeding him the ball at the end of games and put the ball in the hands of the best players that can win the game.
“I feel very confident we put Ja’Marr in the best position possible to succeed,” Taylor said. “He’s first in every category there is. We make a conscious effort to involve him and make sure he’s always a big part of that. I always love the dialog with him in terms of game plan, how we’re going to use you. I think he’s come a long way. He’s not a captain with it on his chest, but in so many ways, he acts like one.
“So again, I don’t ever hold against a player when they’re after a game having an emotional response, and so again, we’ll just continue to move forward as a team, but love working with him. Thankful that he’s on our team. Love everything he brings to the table. Love the energy he brings. And just wants to win. You know, we all want to win, and you put a lot of pressure on yourself, and when you don’t, it can lead to frustration, but feel very confident we’re on the same page and we’ll be good going forward.”
But obviously, the offense hasn’t been the issue. The lack of playmakers on defense has. The secondary looked slow and Cam Taylor-Britt, the team’s top corner coming into the season, has been so bad that he’s been benched twice.
The Bengals added nothing defensively at the trade deadline. They refused to sign Xavien Howard early in the season when he could help. They refused later when he could’ve helped more. Instead, they go with the cheapest option off the waiver wire in defensive back Marco Wilson, who was burned several times in New England’s loss to the Rams Sunday in Foxboro.
This is why Bengals fans just raise their hands in a futile expression of resistance and wave their hands off in a sign of all-too familiar resignation.
The defense needs to be overhauled with players that can complement the All-Pro that is Trey Hendrickson. The edge is another star that showed during the game Sunday that he’s sick and tired of calls going against him and tired of playing losing defense.
He made no secret after Sunday’s game that he still has all the respect in the world for Taylor. The Bengals’ top players have played hard for Taylor. They’re just not getting enough support from others. The defense looks old and slow, especially the middle of the defense. Vonn Bell and Geno Stone are veterans but have struggled at times with speedier receivers. The linebackers – Germaine Pratt and Logan Wilson – are very reliable downhill but not as much in space.
We’re about to see just what the Bengals are capable of as rookies like Josh Newton, McKinnley Jackson and Kris Jenkins Jr. get more run.
