Cincinnati Bengals loss to New York Jets: Zac Taylor postgame comments
Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor speaks to the media following Sunday’s 39-38 loss to the New York Jets.
Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor called out his defense’s lack of leadership.
But the lack of leadership from the front office is the real problem on defense. Duke Tobin’s inability to build even a competent defense was fully exposed (again) in an eye-covering, demoralizing and flat-out unacceptable 39-38 loss to the hapless New York Jets on Oct. 26 at Paycor Stadium.
Five hundred (bleepin’) yards to embattled quarterback Justin Fields and the previously winless Jets. A week after Fields was benched and then called out publicly by the Jets’ nutty owner. So much for Flacco fever and having hope restored in this Bengals’ season. It’s going on two full seasons of disastrous defensive performances, and the Bengals are running out of scapegoats.
It’s time for the Bengals to punt on this season and blow up their defense by trading as many players as possible before the Nov. 4 NFL trade deadline. Try to get as many draft picks as possible in return. The law of averages says the Bengals are bound to blindly hit on one if they have more darts to throw at the board, right?
They won’t blow it up, though. Because the Bengals think they’re close. They always think they’re close. It’s the attitude that led Tobin to bringing back most of the core players from arguably the worst defense in the NFL last season. The Bengals are worse on defense this year. They rank dead last in the league in points allowed.
Never mind that, know-nothing naysayer. By golly, the Bengals proved in the Pittsburgh game last week they can outscore an opponent. And they didn’t even need Joe Burrow to do that, don’t you know?
Bengals executives hold onto games like the 33-31 win over Pittsburgh as evidence that their plan of outscoring opponents actually works. Never mind they wasted an entire season of a healthy Burrow last year relying on that flawed and unsustainable plan.
The Bengals missed the playoffs. Oh, but they only missed the playoffs by one game. See, they believe they’re close. They wanted everyone to believe it was Lou Anarumo’s fault, so they fired the defensive coordinator. He’s now the defensive coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts, who have the best win percentage (.857) in the NFL.
Taylor seems out of answers for trying to explain another defensive dud, so he used his postgame press conference to plead for “someone … to step up and the lead the group.”
“I’m not going to sit here and name names,” Taylor said when a reporter asked who in the locker room that could be.
There are too many to name in a soundbite. Take a look at the Bengals’ defensive captains – Logan Wilson, Trey Hendrickson and B.J. Hill. Wilson was recently benched and reportedly asked for a trade last week. Hendrickson plays hard, but he’s not a vocal leader and isn’t known for bringing teammates along. Hill showed signs his career was on the decline last year because of age and wear and tear, but the Bengals still brought him back. He’s been a non-factor.
Yep, those are the guys who are supposed to be leading the Bengals defense.
Need more names? How about veteran safety Geno Stone? He was awful last season, but the Bengals brought him back because he was willing to take a pay cut. He’s been a non-factor this season. The Bengals brought back cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt, despite multiple benchings last season. He’s been a non-factor this season, including being inactive for the Steelers game on Oct. 16. A few years ago, they were talking about CTB as a rising star and future anchor of the secondary.
Remember when Tobin said this about the defense at the NFL Combine: “I don’t want to just pay more money for the same team we had last year.”
The Bengals paid more money for the same lousy defense.
And we haven’t even gotten into all the draft incompetence on the defensive line. Where’s Myles Murphy? Where’s Shemar Stewart? Kris Jenkins? McKinnley Jackson? All guys taken in the last three drafts.
The Bengals had one hit on the quarterback and no sacks against the Jets. Cincinnati ranks dead last in the league against the run. The Bengals are in the bottom five of the NFL in sacks.
But don’t you worry, Bengals fans. They’re close. They don’t need to add more staffers to the NFL’s smallest scouting department. Tobin’s job is safe. Everything will be just fine when Burrow comes back from injury. He’s the quarterback. He can’t tackle anyone or intercept passes, but never mind that.
Just keep trusting Tobin and his skeleton crew, and never mind the arrogance, incompetence and stubborness.
A fan email I received after the Jets debacle summed up the soul-sucking nature of how the Bengals operate: “It’s just frustrating because I have zero confidence it’ll be any better next year with the same people in charge.”
Contact columnist Jason Williams at jwilliams@enquirer.com