The 4-8 Cincinnati Bengals have no one to blame but themselves. While not officially eliminated from playoff contention, the 2024 season is a certified failure. Quarterback Joe Burrow delivered a harsh assessment of the team, and while on the Rich Eisen Show, head coach Zac Taylor doubled down on his sentiment.
Eisen shared the quote with Taylor, “Now I know you don’t speak for him, but there is a quote I’d like to read you from something he (Joe Burrow) said after the loss this past weekend. He said, ‘I think we’ll learn a lot about who we have in the locker room, the guys we can count on going forward, and the guys we can’t. The next 6 weeks will say a lot about who we can count on and who we can’t.’ What do you think about when you hear that?”
Taylor responded earnestly, “He’s dead on. I mean that’s what adversity does to you. You get a chance to see what people’s true character is about and who can endure it. Because we’ve faced it here in 6 years, we’ve had the roller coaster, we’ve had bad seasons and we’ve had great seasons. What you learn is you find a lot out about people when you’re facing adversity and times are tough.
“It’s easy when you’re winning and you’re playing for AFC Championships and Super Bowls. That part is easy, that doesn’t take much management, but it’s times like this when you really find out about people and who you want to go through it with. So it’s a great time to observe people that way.”
Bengals need a hard reset
Cincinnati has allowed 34 or more points in three straight games. Defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo believes the team needs more player accountability.
“Ultimately, you’d like to just see somebody settle in and say, ‘This is mine,’” Anarumo said. “But again, I’ll say the word. It gets boring, but it’s just consistent. I just want to see consistency, play in, play out. And until we get that, we’ll continue to rotate.”
Since the team’s Super Bowl loss during the 2021 season, the Bengals have very slowly been unraveling. They followed up 2021 with a strong 12-4 record in 2022 and an appearance in the AFC Championship game. But last year’s 9-8 record and last place finish in the AFC North should’ve rung the alarm bells.
Just bringing in ping-pong tables wasn’t going to be enough.
Taylor and the Bengals need a fresh start away from each other, per Jeff Kerr of CBS Sports.
“A change in leadership could be in order after this season. Taylor is coming off three consecutive winning seasons, but the Bengals should be better than their record indicates. … Taylor will likely get another opportunity to coach in the league, but his run in Cincinnati appears to be over.”
The Bengals are headed to Dallas to play the Cowboys on Monday, December 9, at 8:15 p.m. EST.
