The Bengals are 3-2 through five games, but the record only tells part of the story. Cincinnati got itself back over .500 with a 31-24 win over the Dolphins on Sunday, yet the performance came with plenty of mess attached. The defense was too loose against the run, the discipline wavered at the wrong times, and Miami piled up well over 200 rushing yards.
That leaves Cincinnati heading into its Week 6 bye with a lot on the to-do list. Zac Taylor has handled adversity well before when Joe Burrow was injured, but the pressure is real now.
With Burrow healthy and a better defensive roster than in past years, Taylor has to show he can make this group sharper. The bye gives the Bengals time to sort through the flaws, and there are a lot of them.
For all the excitement that comes with a 3-2 start, this does not look like a Super Bowl team at the moment. The Bengals are giving up five yards per carry, and they have not shown they can run the ball consistently enough to protect a lead.
That combination matters. Teams that get to the finish line usually win up front, controlling the run on both sides.
Burrow can only do so much.
The backfield situation is another headache, and Chase Brown’s standing has taken a hit. Samaje Perine has been the better option, plain and simple.
Brown’s inability to shed contact has become more obvious, and his Week 5 lost fumble may have been a real turning point. What once looked like extension-candidate territory has started drifting in the other direction.
On the defensive line, Shemar Stewart deserves a bigger look. Cashius Howell has not done much with his chances, so it makes sense to see what Stewart can provide.
He’s the higher draft pick, he’s a season further down the road, and he has barely been used so far. Stewart has played only 17 snaps on defense, which makes it fair to ask for a longer trial run.
If it doesn’t work against the Ravens in Week 7 or the Titans after that, fine. But the Bengals ought to learn something before shutting the door.
The middle of the defense also has a clear debate attached to it. Bobby Wagner still needs to stay in the conversation.
Barrett Carter and Demetrius Knight Jr. have both made progress, but they are not better than an aging veteran who still fits the run at an elite level. And Jack Kiser does not look like the answer either.
Up front, Amarius Mims is turning himself into a major piece. He has looked like an elite right tackle, and that creates its own kind of complication.
The better he plays, the more obvious it becomes that the Bengals are going to have to pay him next offseason. There should be no dragging this out.
If he keeps this up, he has earned a big extension.
Mims also backed up the eye test against Miami. Per PFF initial charting, he allowed 0 pressures on 32 pass block opportunities, and if that holds, it would be his fourth clean sheet in five games. That is not a fringe trend anymore.
The offense, meanwhile, looks like it needs a different shape. Dohnte Meyers has done enough to push Cincinnati back toward heavier use of 11 personnel.
He gives the Bengals more burst and more after-the-catch juice than the team has had in that role, and he needs the ball designed for him. The under-center approach has not really clicked, especially with the run game still struggling.
More one back, one tight end, and three receivers makes more sense.
There’s also the larger question hanging over all of it: if the season ended today, would Zac Taylor still be here? One view says no.
That isn’t the same thing as calling him a bad coach. It’s more about whether he brings anything distinct enough to push the Bengals into a different tier.
And if that kind of change ever came, the proposed answer would be Brian Flores as head coach, with Josh McCown as offensive coordinator. Flores would bring the defensive edge, while McCown’s background across multiple systems would be seen as a fit for putting Burrow in better position, with some Shanahan/McVay influence from his time under Kevin O’Connell in Minnesota.
In Other News...
Dexter Lawrence Is Already Creating A Bengals Problem Opponents Hate
Dexter Lawrence has wasted no time turning himself into one of the biggest weekly headaches the Bengals have to manage. Through four games, opposing lines have leaned on double teams to try to slow him down, but Lawrence keeps showing up around the ball and disrupting plays anyway, giving Cincinnati a rare interior force who changes the way offenses have to protect.
He already has three sacks and five tackles for loss, a pace that points toward a career-best season if he keeps this going. The next step for the Bengals is figuring out how to turn all that attention into even more pressure elsewhere, and the bye week should give the coaching staff a chance to build new ways to maximize what Lawrence is creating in the middle. [Read more 🡒]
Bengals Bye Week Put Zac Taylor's Offense Under Pressure
Through five games, Cincinnatis passing game has been productive enough to keep the offense on schedule, but it has not looked as sharp as the continuity on paper suggested. The Bengals brought back all 11 starters, and still the attack sits 12th in total yards per game while searching for a little more punch when the field tightens in scoring range.
The bye week gives Zac Taylor and his staff a chance to look hard at the details that have held the unit back, especially the red-zone inefficiency and the way the offense has leaned away from under-center looks. There is also a running back decision hovering over the conversation, with the author making the case for a different starter, and the next stretch will say plenty about whether Cincinnati can turn those concerns into fixes before the season gets away from it. [Read more 🡒]
Joe Burrow Just Showed Why Bengals Fans Should Feel Better
After a rough stretch, Joe Burrow and the Bengals got the kind of response game that can settle a fan base down for at least a week. Cincinnati beat Miami 31-24 in Week 5, and Burrow kept the offense moving by completing 23 of 32 passes for 190 yards while working the ball to nine different receivers. The run game did its part, too, with 117 rushing yards helping give the offense a more complete look than it had shown earlier.
The bigger takeaway for Cincinnati was the way the passing attack started to feel less dependent on any one target. JaMarr Chase was back after his concussion, and his return added another layer to an offense that needed it. The Bengals still have plenty to clean up, but a balanced day and a win over a playoff-caliber opponent gave them something they had been missing: a little confidence that this can look like a real attack again. [Read more 🡒]