Who even takes the blame for this? Same DC for Pratt just a new team
November 24, 2025
Genuinely how does this happen? Lol
46 comments
Clearly ZT does not make tackling a priority in practice
I would bet the lack of real scouting hurt him in addition to HC. Scout analysis can show tendencies. On yesterday’s game they said Higgins prepped by watching video. Not enough for a great team
zac taylor. ZT sux
Its actually crazy how often a player leaves the bengals and suddenly performs better
Some of it could be a change of scenery but not all of it
We let him go. Raiders release him after 4 games. I just don’t even know how to understand this. Guy gets dropped by 2 teams in the same year, and then goes on a tear with team 3.
When the players around you are playing good I think it elevates your own play as well. Its part of the culture, which we have lost the last couple years.
The Bengals are not a serious franchise. Its not the players. Its not even the coaches. Its lack of support from ownership. Nobody is put in a position to succeed on this team. The coaches have to make do woth glaring holes on the roster. The players try to compensate for them. And end up playing poorly trying to do too much every snap.
The Bengals simply are not an organization that knows how to compete, or has any real desire to try. That mental rot infects just about everyone in the organization over time.
germaine pratt straight up quit on us man screw him cuz that ain’t how real players act when things get rough. he just folded the moment things got tough and acted like nobody saw it. we need dudes who fight not ones who take a nap in the middle of the game. WHO DEY
Say youre a defender and in the spot you should be. A ball carrier enters your zone, you tackle him. Say the guy on your left / right is out of position, and its not your responsibility to cover his region but you obviously attempt to do so because its your job. You have to travel further and have a harder tackle to make, so you miss some tackles. All of a sudden your missed tackle % is higher because you were attempting to go above and beyond your required responsibility.
I watch a ton of Seahawks games and when Jamal Adams got replaced for a different safety the other safety that was on the field instantly looked much better despite there being no significant change in scheme or personnel outside of that.
The problem with our defense is 90% the defensive line. Last year we had all of the defensive tackles out to start the season… this year we have gotten nothing from them. It starts there and creates problems for the linebackers and secondary.
I don’t know what they are asking Pratt to do in Indy but my guess is that he isn’t being asked to play as much in coverage and open field. Pratt was always a willing tackler in the box and just kind of lost the ability to make open field tackles as he got older.
Pratt was always good he was still good despite the misses
It’s all the bad angles they take here. They seem to always be in a position to make an arm tackle and are hardly ever in a spot where they can wrap up.
How does this happen? Culture
Its on the HC to instill the culture and tone that a team will play with. Getting your team mentally prepped to run through walls has a huge impact
He’s better because people around him are better.
This is a team sport.
He was put on an island last season and struggled. Barrett Carter is on that island now.
If you are surrounded with studs, your job is a lot easier and you are a lot better. Pratt never was bad with us. He just couldn’t handle his responsibility. And that’s not all on him
Well he’s with Lou again.
Hmm let’s see. The DC is the same but the head coach isn’t.
Another reason this entire coaching staff needs to be cleaned out
I’m not saying the FO was wrong to cut Pratt, because he was not good last year. But it started a chain reaction of drafting for need.
Because the FO knew Pratt wasn’t part of the 2025 plans, they forced themselves into overdrafting D. Knight Jr. in the 2nd round while passing on other higher rated players
Playing with better players around you makes a difference. Sauce was having his worst year on a terrible NYJ defense this year, gets traded to the Colts, and is playing back at a high level.
It’s weird what playing for a team with a winning record does to a person.
Once again nothing will change until the ownership decides they actually want to invest and win. Boycott them until we get a new coach, independent GM and more than 4 scouts
Bengals culture as a whole. Clown organization that will never win anything
They need to interview every former bengals defender over the last 5 years and every staff member anonymously… let those people speak and get their opinions on why the defense has suffered. Something is going wrong in the building… it’s not just the players, or just the D coaches… something bigger.
It’s culture and having a season when it makes sense to give 100% all the time.
Scheme. Put him in the right place at the right time and BOOM, he lowers the hammer. Have him lined up 10 yards away from where he needs to be and not so much. I suspect that Lou didn’t have complete control in Cincy OR Indy’s staff is better at breaking down game film of upcoming opponents. Always liked Pratt, good for him!
The guy was playing for his NFL career. The Raiders cutting him woke him up!
I hope the Colts win the Super Bowl and the last play is a defensive stand, I don’t know what clearer message that would send to this organization about Zac Taylor
Seems like the Bengals get rid of the great talent players and draft the trash talent players. 😂
Tackling is a want-to thing. To me it’s as simple as these guys don’t want to put their body on the line for this organization that’s CONSTANTLY resisted paying defense since drafting/paying Burrow/Tee/Chase/Mike G. Not to mention a head coach who seemingly gives no fucks or has any involvement on the defensive side of things.
They put the nail in the coffin by pissing Trey off. Letting Bates/Reader go. Guys like Hilton/Pratt, who could be leaders, walk to other teams.
It’s typical Bengals things man…… the cost of being a fan of this cursed team
Everyone in this sub cheered when he was released.
Idc, ye was horrendous last year.
We have seen that version of Pratt before. We just haven’t seen it over long periods of time.
I’m sure the coaching didn’t help, but Pratt being too slow in coverage and unable to stretch to defend the edge on run plays isn’t purely scheme.
If Pratt plays like Urlacher for the rest of the season, then hats off to him.
How many times does it have to be started? It isn’t the players, it’s MF ZT!!!! He is incapable of developing or scheming his players to be successful! Especially the ones that weren’t destined for greatness regardless of coaching or scheme (burrow/chase/trey).
Can’t we just fire him already?!?
He’s playing like a guy on vet minimum with his career on the line. This isn’t rocket science. He got cut from two teams this year because of his shitty ass effort, which is entirely within his control.
Pratt, Wilson, and rankins balling out on other teams. Not a shock. Bengals are a dysfunctional organization. Trash coaching. Trash culture.
I remember the days when everyone was saying “FIRE LOU!!!”
Bruh
Easy answer, he is motivated. It was never a question of talent. Getting released twice probably made him reprioritize.
Also sealed our first playoff game in 20 + years vs the raiders. That FO is backwards af
He had games like that for the Bengals but would also miss 5 tackles and get burnt by TE in coverage for 3rd down conversions.
In 24 snaps you can see Wilson is better?
Our two best LBs starting this calendar year aren’t on the team and we are trotting out the worst LB duo in the NFL
Winning matters..
He sucked here
No one cares that he pieced together one good game
I’m guessing it has to do with the quality of DL in front of him
My guess is he finally realized he was the problem and adjusted.
46 comments
Clearly ZT does not make tackling a priority in practice
I would bet the lack of real scouting hurt him in addition to HC. Scout analysis can show tendencies. On yesterday’s game they said Higgins prepped by watching video. Not enough for a great team
zac taylor. ZT sux
Its actually crazy how often a player leaves the bengals and suddenly performs better
Some of it could be a change of scenery but not all of it
We let him go. Raiders release him after 4 games. I just don’t even know how to understand this. Guy gets dropped by 2 teams in the same year, and then goes on a tear with team 3.
When the players around you are playing good I think it elevates your own play as well. Its part of the culture, which we have lost the last couple years.
The Bengals are not a serious franchise. Its not the players. Its not even the coaches. Its lack of support from ownership. Nobody is put in a position to succeed on this team. The coaches have to make do woth glaring holes on the roster. The players try to compensate for them. And end up playing poorly trying to do too much every snap.
The Bengals simply are not an organization that knows how to compete, or has any real desire to try. That mental rot infects just about everyone in the organization over time.
germaine pratt straight up quit on us man screw him cuz that ain’t how real players act when things get rough. he just folded the moment things got tough and acted like nobody saw it. we need dudes who fight not ones who take a nap in the middle of the game. WHO DEY
Say youre a defender and in the spot you should be. A ball carrier enters your zone, you tackle him. Say the guy on your left / right is out of position, and its not your responsibility to cover his region but you obviously attempt to do so because its your job. You have to travel further and have a harder tackle to make, so you miss some tackles. All of a sudden your missed tackle % is higher because you were attempting to go above and beyond your required responsibility.
I watch a ton of Seahawks games and when Jamal Adams got replaced for a different safety the other safety that was on the field instantly looked much better despite there being no significant change in scheme or personnel outside of that.
The problem with our defense is 90% the defensive line. Last year we had all of the defensive tackles out to start the season… this year we have gotten nothing from them. It starts there and creates problems for the linebackers and secondary.
I don’t know what they are asking Pratt to do in Indy but my guess is that he isn’t being asked to play as much in coverage and open field. Pratt was always a willing tackler in the box and just kind of lost the ability to make open field tackles as he got older.
Pratt was always good he was still good despite the misses
It’s all the bad angles they take here. They seem to always be in a position to make an arm tackle and are hardly ever in a spot where they can wrap up.
How does this happen? Culture
Its on the HC to instill the culture and tone that a team will play with. Getting your team mentally prepped to run through walls has a huge impact
He’s better because people around him are better.
This is a team sport.
He was put on an island last season and struggled. Barrett Carter is on that island now.
If you are surrounded with studs, your job is a lot easier and you are a lot better. Pratt never was bad with us. He just couldn’t handle his responsibility. And that’s not all on him
Well he’s with Lou again.
Hmm let’s see. The DC is the same but the head coach isn’t.
Another reason this entire coaching staff needs to be cleaned out
I’m not saying the FO was wrong to cut Pratt, because he was not good last year. But it started a chain reaction of drafting for need.
Because the FO knew Pratt wasn’t part of the 2025 plans, they forced themselves into overdrafting D. Knight Jr. in the 2nd round while passing on other higher rated players
Playing with better players around you makes a difference. Sauce was having his worst year on a terrible NYJ defense this year, gets traded to the Colts, and is playing back at a high level.
It’s weird what playing for a team with a winning record does to a person.
Once again nothing will change until the ownership decides they actually want to invest and win. Boycott them until we get a new coach, independent GM and more than 4 scouts
Bengals culture as a whole. Clown organization that will never win anything
They need to interview every former bengals defender over the last 5 years and every staff member anonymously… let those people speak and get their opinions on why the defense has suffered. Something is going wrong in the building… it’s not just the players, or just the D coaches… something bigger.
It’s culture and having a season when it makes sense to give 100% all the time.
Scheme. Put him in the right place at the right time and BOOM, he lowers the hammer. Have him lined up 10 yards away from where he needs to be and not so much. I suspect that Lou didn’t have complete control in Cincy OR Indy’s staff is better at breaking down game film of upcoming opponents. Always liked Pratt, good for him!
The guy was playing for his NFL career. The Raiders cutting him woke him up!
I hope the Colts win the Super Bowl and the last play is a defensive stand, I don’t know what clearer message that would send to this organization about Zac Taylor
Seems like the Bengals get rid of the great talent players and draft the trash talent players. 😂
Tackling is a want-to thing. To me it’s as simple as these guys don’t want to put their body on the line for this organization that’s CONSTANTLY resisted paying defense since drafting/paying Burrow/Tee/Chase/Mike G. Not to mention a head coach who seemingly gives no fucks or has any involvement on the defensive side of things.
They put the nail in the coffin by pissing Trey off. Letting Bates/Reader go. Guys like Hilton/Pratt, who could be leaders, walk to other teams.
It’s typical Bengals things man…… the cost of being a fan of this cursed team
Everyone in this sub cheered when he was released.
Idc, ye was horrendous last year.
We have seen that version of Pratt before. We just haven’t seen it over long periods of time.
I’m sure the coaching didn’t help, but Pratt being too slow in coverage and unable to stretch to defend the edge on run plays isn’t purely scheme.
If Pratt plays like Urlacher for the rest of the season, then hats off to him.
How many times does it have to be started? It isn’t the players, it’s MF ZT!!!! He is incapable of developing or scheming his players to be successful! Especially the ones that weren’t destined for greatness regardless of coaching or scheme (burrow/chase/trey).
Can’t we just fire him already?!?
He’s playing like a guy on vet minimum with his career on the line. This isn’t rocket science. He got cut from two teams this year because of his shitty ass effort, which is entirely within his control.
Pratt, Wilson, and rankins balling out on other teams. Not a shock. Bengals are a dysfunctional organization. Trash coaching. Trash culture.
I remember the days when everyone was saying “FIRE LOU!!!”
Bruh
Easy answer, he is motivated. It was never a question of talent. Getting released twice probably made him reprioritize.
Also sealed our first playoff game in 20 + years vs the raiders. That FO is backwards af
He had games like that for the Bengals but would also miss 5 tackles and get burnt by TE in coverage for 3rd down conversions.
In 24 snaps you can see Wilson is better?
Our two best LBs starting this calendar year aren’t on the team and we are trotting out the worst LB duo in the NFL
Winning matters..
He sucked here
No one cares that he pieced together one good game
I’m guessing it has to do with the quality of DL in front of him
My guess is he finally realized he was the problem and adjusted.