“This is a humbling league. This is a humbling day,” Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said after the embarrassing 34-11 loss against a team that was on a 3-game skid. A humbling day punctuated with short-yardage failures, struggles in the run game, early onslaughts, and shoddy play calling. The North has long been defined by its physicality and strong defense across the board. And this season’s Bengals are just not equipped to handle that kind of heat.
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The #Bengals this season:
– Against the AFC North: 0-5
– Against everyone else: 8-2 pic.twitter.com/aQl8OMJ0hL
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) December 24, 2023
After dominating the AFC North for two seasons straight, the Bengals are threatened with the possibility of going an entire season without a divisional win. While the team has had QB problems all season, from an initially slow Joe Burrow to a now completely absent Burrow, absolutely no divisional wins till now is not acceptable to fans.
While Jake Browning is no Burrow, he is doing well, so the responsibility to shoulder the blame must fall on the coaching. Fans are now rallying behind the removal of Zac Taylor. In a season that has been punctuated with mid-season coaching staff removals, could Taylor be the next victim?
Fans Point Fingers at Zac Taylor
The odds are not in the Bengals’ favor now, and neither in Zac Taylor’s. The New York Times playoff predictor puts the team’s odds at 11 percent as of Saturday night. While there is no coach-firing predictor, Saturday’s loss does not spell well for the HC, neither does fan sentiment.
In the postgame conference, Zac Taylor didn’t mince words as he took stock of the humiliating showcase his team put up, but neither did the fans as they bombarded social media with calls for his firing.
Fans bash Zac Taylor after Cincinnati’s humiliating defeat to the Steelers on Saturday pic.twitter.com/ZRf2m3x0QX
— nidhi (@itsnidh) December 24, 2023
Some fans pointed to the play calling in the game as one said, “You never mention maybe its play calling. I’ve never witnessed such inconsistency of play week to week for an actual good team…” and another said, “2nd and 1 in 4 down territory… What does Zac call? Two throws…both fall incomplete. Thats not to mention the other 4th down calls…Honesty need to get someone in that can scheme a run game. Fed up watching hero ball every week.”
Cincinnati might have not been eliminated from the playoffs but the situation is grim. They’ll need to best Patrick Mahomes’ Chiefs and the Browns in the coming weeks, and if their defense couldn’t take the Steelers struggling O-Line, it’s almost impossible that they’ll be able to handle Mahomes.
