If Bengals were to fire Zach – who would be your pick?? I’m tired of Zach and this coaching staff. I would love to see Ben Johnson or Ben McAdoo or Flores. All three would bring discipline + structure this team lacks.

I’m tired of people saying “it’s not all on Zac” ignores the reality. Zac has had elite talent for years – Burrow, Chase, Higgins, a top defense – and still has three straight seasons with no playoffs. That’s coaching.

• Terrible in-game adjustments - he gets outcoached every single halftime.
• Atrocious playcalling - the most predictable run/pass tendencies in the league.
• No offensive identity despite having Burrow + Chase.
• Constantly mismanages leads and gets conservative at the worst times.
• Players look flat - that’s 100% on leadership.
• Wastes downs with bad situational calls (2nd & long runs, empty set on 3rd & short, etc.).
• Defense regressed massively because the team lacks complementary football and discipline.

At some point, you stop blaming “execution” and look at the guy in charge. He’s the common denominator. Burrow isn’t the issue. Talent isn’t the issue. The front office isn’t even the issue.

It’s Zac. He’s hit his ceiling, and the league has passed him.

49 comments

  2. Zach hate is drawn out. Dude puts up points on offense. The defense is mega ass. Fire Duke Tobin.

  3. “The front office isn’t even the issue”. Thank you, I haven’t laughed like that in a long time. It starts there. That family is known around the league to be frugal and hard to deal with.

  4. Yes lmao, the defensive talent is not there, idk what Zac is supposed to do when nobody can get pressure, or can’t close running lanes, basically getting physically dominated

  5. Not a Zac supporter, but not very many coaches would be any better. It all starts with the FO not giving a shit. Until that changes, nothing will.

  6. Zac is absolutely a problem. Full stop.

    But this team is rotten from the top. The front office is made of Frugal administrators and lawyers that run this team like just a business.

    A new head coach adds maybe a win or two? Maybe? The talent and overall roster construction of this team is not conducive to sustained winning. I’m not sure Andy Reid comes in and suddenly makes this team a winner.

    Every single person from the Brown family down to Al Golden needs to go. But that won’t happen, so we have to hope someone who can do more with less comes in to coach this team, I guess

  13. The funniest part about today’s loss is it brought back all the ZT defenders.

    Sure burrows interceptions were the reason we lost today specifically. Sure the front office and scouting department are absolutely awful.

    That doesn’t mean that ZT isn’t also absolutely a problem that needs to be addressed. He’s basically David Bell where if we had Tito instead we could at least slip into the playoffs.

  14. The defense would not be an elite college defense. The offense has scored 30+ points in 3 games and lost. Defense has heart, they try, they just are not talented enough at the NFL level. Thats on the scouting department.

  15. Urban Meyer. 

    Hahaha totally kidding…. Sorry – I just wanted to be the jackass who would post that. 😅

  17. Gotta remember this is same front office that employed Marvin Lewis for over a decade of mediocrity, Zac probably has another 2-3 years of coasting off the SB appearance

  18. Passing on Jihaad Campbell for Shemar Stewart is a fireable offense imo; you know you needed a linebacker, and pass on the best one in the draft for a combine warrior, then reach on two guys that haven’t done a single thing to warrant their selection.

    Sooner Duke leaves town the better.

  19. This defensive roster is terrible. So yeah… it’s hard to win in the NFL when the other team barely punts.

  20. I think that the one good thing with our season being over is that it kicks the can down the road for both Zac and Duke being fired. I don’t think they’re firing Zac this season but he’s for sure deep in the hot seat now and next season is likely his last unless he pulls off something crazy like a super bowl run again.

  21. Zac is certainly not innocent but the “front office” is likely a huge part of it too

  22. Should have grabbed Vrabel when he was available, dude is doing what he does in NE

  23. Sean Payton missed the playoffs 3 straight years with us and never got any blame, I understand your pain

  24. Problem is if they axe Zac then who comes in. We don’t need another first time coach. Not sure we’ll pay for a proven coach. I’d love to see a Flores or someone along those lines come in. If we have a top 20 D we’d be insane. With that being said I am concerned about Burrow’s availability. That is a problem.

  27. “Talent isn’t the issue” except our defense has like one all pro and zero depth because we’ve blown draft picks for years.  

    Look ZT deserves a big heap of the blame and should go. But without Tobin and team gone and significant more investment into scouting department the Bengals will continue to be mediocre regardless of how great burrow and co are on offense. 

  28. Last year someone else would have made it, but the real problem is that we have an ownership group who doesn’t care about winning

  32. This is certainly a take 😂

    Offense isn’t a problem, defense has been the past two years and that’s directly related to the exodus of talent. Simple.

  33. A top defense? When.
    I don’t completely blame Zac. He’s working within a business model that’s outdated. I think he coached a great game today. Yes he’s made many a mistake, but he’s also made some good decisions.

    Sadly, he isn’t the one that drafts for us. Sadly, he has to work within a budget to get a defensive coordinator and assistant coaches. The Brown family is notoriously frugal, and this is a large reason why the Bengals are the way they are.

    Why haven’t they hired an actual scouting department? Why haven’t they hired an actual GM?

    Again, Zac is not innocent of our record. However, I would put more blame on the Brown family. They simply need to get with the times.

    If Mike Brown wants to see The Vince Lombardi trophy housed at Paul Brown stadium (Paycor) then they need to do much better and invest in their product.

    I mean, it’s their own business that they are being frugal with!

  39. I was screaming for Ben Johnson for 3 years and look where he took a subpar roster so far….

  40. Yes, because he HASN’T has this roster for 3 years. Burrow has missed most of 2 of the 3 seasons with injury.

  42. I know this is going to sound crazy, but I don’t want another milquetoast head coach. I want a guy who has shown he can do more with less through creativity. I want a guy who has taken underdogs further than anybody thought. I want a guy with a big personality. Also, probably someone we could get relatively cheap since… you know… Mike Brown.

    Rex Ryan. The dude has been in the media for a long time but he took the Sanchez Jets to the AFC champ game, and since then the Jets have been the Jets. He’s got a big, bold personality but motivates guys to play hard for him, and clearly can create schemes and plays to get the most from each guys’ strengths. He would probably come cheap to get back in the game. Let him bring his brother in to work with the defense and see where he takes us.

  44. The next question is would any coach miss the playoffs three straight years with this roster AND still have a job?

  47. I realize Burrow threw the game away… but why were we passing evey down with a lead. Why were we throwing a quick screen out to Chase? I believe we had just run that same playmoments earlier and Chase had to fight to get 4 yards. Whenever we try it the defense is all over it, so we must be telegraphing it.

  48. “a top defense”

    You know this defense is record settingly bad, right? Like, not even worst in the NFL bad, it’s worst in the NFL in the last 25 years bad.

    We have a handful of pieces on offense in Burrow, Chase, Higgins, Brown and then just a heap of practice squad level talent everywhere else. This is not a playoff caliber roster.

    Ownership and FO need to sort themselves out before we start pointing fingers at the coaching staff, who, though not blameless, are very much victims of what they’ve been given to work with.

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