Zac Taylor’s Bengals keep putting themselves in the same spot, and Jonathan Allen isn’t pretending that’s a small thing.
Cincinnati has now opened two straight games by falling into 13-0 holes, only to claw back and win both times with a burst of offense. The comeback stories look good on the final score, but they also keep pointing back to the same ugly question: why do Taylor’s teams keep starting so slowly?
That issue has followed him for years. It used to show up as bad starts to the season. Now it’s showing up as avoidable deficits that force Cincinnati to spend the rest of the afternoon digging out.
Allen, who was part of the unit that got lit up by the 1-7 Tennessee Titans in Sunday’s 43-36 overtime win, was asked whether he feels the urgency Joe Burrow has brought into the locker room this season. His answer was immediate.
"1,000%. We’re sitting at 5-2, and I don’t think anybody’s happy about how we’ve played as a team up to this point.
I think it’s probably only one game defense can say we played a complete game, and I’m sure offense will say the same thing. So for us, we’re just trying to get better every day."
That can sound encouraging if you want to hear the glass-half-full version. The Bengals are 5-2, there’s room to grow, and the best football may still be ahead. But the part about not playing a complete game is the kind of line that lands differently when it keeps coming up year after year.
This isn’t a new complaint in Cincinnati. During the 2022 season, while covering the Bengals at Barstool Sports, I wrote more than once that the team never seemed able to put together a full 60-minute performance. Burrow recently pointed out in his latest press conference that even during that run to the AFC Championship Game and Super Bowl LVI, the Bengals opened 2022 at 0-2 and sat at 5-4 before the Week 9 bye the previous season, too.
No team is perfect. That much is obvious. But the “complete game” conversation has been hanging around Taylor’s tenure for a long time, and it has never really gone away.
There are parts of Taylor’s run that deserve credit. He kept the offense moving with Jake Browning in 2023 and Joe Flacco last year when Burrow was seriously injured. Still, the bigger question remains whether he has the coaching ability to lift a team beyond what it already is.
Coaching in Cincinnati comes with its own set of challenges. The scouting department resources aren’t the same as everyone else’s.
The brain trust has been unusually insular. And until this offseason, the organization wasn’t especially willing to spend or push hard enough to chase a Super Bowl.
If that philosophy has changed, then the pressure only grows on the front office to ask how long it can live with a mediocre running game, a defense that never quite comes together, and the constant burden of keeping Burrow in heavy dropback situations where he takes more punishment than he should.
Taylor carries himself with the same steady demeanor every week. Burrow is built for that. Ja’Marr Chase, not always, and some of his frustration showed up during Week 8’s messy performance.
The idea of a coaching change may not be close, but the argument for one is hard to ignore. There’s a belief that a different voice could help, and that someone else might be better equipped to get this group where it wants to go.
Taylor’s future may not be decided by one ugly start or one comeback win. But the pattern is hard to miss, and Allen’s comments only sharpened it: the Bengals keep talking about playing complete football, and they keep leaving that promise unfinished.
In Other News...
JaMarr Chases Sideline Frustration Says A Lot About These Bengals
The Bengals have spent the last two games digging themselves into early holes and then finding a way out, which says plenty about where this group is right now. In the middle of it all, Ja'Marr Chase has been as visible as ever, not just making plays but showing the kind of edge that comes with a team that expects more of itself than a slow start and a comeback script.
Zac Taylor addressed Chases sideline frustration after the latest game, and it fit the broader picture around Cincinnati: this is an emotional team trying to keep its standard intact while it works through uneven stretches. Chases body language stood out because the Bengals know how much he cares, and because the last thing this locker room wants is to let those early lapses become a habit. [Read more 🡒]
Joe Flacco Just Weighed In On Caleb Williams Cleats Controversy
Joe Flacco has found himself in the middle of a cleats controversy far from Cincinnati, and he is not exactly staying neutral. The Bengals backup quarterback, who is also an investor in Caddix, stepped in after Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams drew an NFL fine for wearing unauthorized Caddix cleats. Flacco said the shoes are ones he has worn for years, adding another layer to a situation that has already spilled beyond the field and into the leagues enforcement of uniform rules.
Caddix has been publicly backing Williams as well, even putting up a billboard in Chicago to show support. With the brand now getting attention for the wrong kind of reason, Flaccos involvement gives the dispute a little more star power and a lot more visibility. The next question is how far he is willing to go if the league keeps pressing the issue. [Read more 🡒]
Bengals Suddenly Have A Defensive Problem They Cant Ignore
The Bengals are heading into their matchup with the Falcons at 5-2, but the defensive front took a hit this week with rookie lineman Cashius Howell landing on injured reserve because of a wrist injury that required surgery. For a team that has leaned on its defense to help fuel an early-season surge, losing a young piece in the rotation is the kind of setback that gets noticed quickly.
Howell, a second-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, had already carved out a role in seven games this season, finishing with six tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack. Cincinnati will have to sort out how to replace that production and keep its pass rush on track, even as the bigger question now is how long it will be without one of its promising rookies. [Read more 🡒]