The Bengals’ Week 7 turnaround in Baltimore did more than rescue a road win. It took a lot of the heat off Zac Taylor.
At halftime, Cincinnati looked cooked. Joe Burrow and the offense then flipped the script with a 35-0 second half and buried the Ravens on the road, a finish that made Taylor look a whole lot safer than he did when the game was still hanging around at the break.
That’s been the strange rhythm of Taylor’s tenure lately: just when the buzz starts turning sour, the Bengals find a way to drag everyone back in. Taylor has rarely felt like the central problem in Cincinnati’s recent struggles. His offense has usually done its part, and now he finally has a defense that can support it well enough to keep the Bengals in the AFC North hunt.
So where does that leave his job security heading into Week 8 against the Tennessee Titans? Much more comfortable than it was a week ago.
Zac Taylor Hot Seat Meter after Week 7: JOE BRRR CHILI - 3/10
That number still comes with a couple of caveats. The run game remains a problem, and being blanked for two quarters in Week 7 was not exactly a clean performance. Taylor isn’t completely out of the woods.
Still, the outlook is clearly better now. Tennessee comes to Paycor Stadium on Sunday with a 1-6 record, and if Cincinnati’s offense shows up like it did in Baltimore, Taylor won’t have to answer many questions about his future.
The warning sign, of course, is that this has trap-game energy all over it. It’s exactly the kind of spot where momentum can disappear fast, especially after the bye.
Since these weekly hot seat checks began, this is Taylor’s lowest alert level since Week 2 in Houston, when he was down at 1 out of 10. That doesn’t make him a lock to finish out his contract through 2027, but he’s trending that way.
Taylor’s biggest trait right now might be his steadiness. He doesn’t seem to blink.
Not when Burrow got seriously hurt in two of the last three seasons. Not when the defense failed him.
And not in Week 7, when plenty of Who Dey Nation was ready to send Taylor, Al Golden’s third-and-long defense, and the rest of the organization into the sun.
That’s the NFL for you: one half can change everything.
In Other News...
Bengals Just Gained A Real AFC North Edge Over Pittsburgh
The Bengals win over the Ravens did more than bump Cincinnati to 4-2, it also strengthened the feeling that this team has a real path in the AFC North. A strength-of-schedule breakdown from Computer Cowboy on Twitter points to one of the more favorable remaining slates in the league for 2026, which helps explain why the Bengals are drawing plenty of attention as a playoff team with division-title upside.
November is where that edge starts to take shape on the field, with a run of games that should tell a lot about how sturdy Cincinnatis position really is. The Bengals still have to handle the week-to-week grind, but the combination of their early record and the schedule in front of them has them sitting in a better spot than most of their division competition right now. [Read more 🡒]
Bengals Just Raised A Franchise-Altering Question After Crushing Baltimore
For one half, it looked like Cincinnati was staring at the same familiar problems. Then the Bengals flipped the game on Baltimore completely, rolling to a 35-13 win that suddenly gives this season a different feel. The offense did not find the end zone before halftime, but once the second half began, Joe Burrow and company turned the matchup into a showcase, and the defense matched it by keeping the Ravens out of rhythm and limiting them to 13 points.
Burrow finished with four touchdown passes, and the pass rush added four sacks as Cincinnati put together its most convincing performance of the year. It was also the kind of result that changes the conversation around a team, especially with the Bengals now riding a two-game winning streak and owning a plus-41 point margin on the season. After a start that left plenty of questions, the bigger issue now is what this version of Cincinnati might look like if it keeps showing up. [Read more 🡒]
Joe Burrow Just Turned The Bengals Into An MVP Watch Team
Joe Burrow and the Bengals came out of Week 7 looking much more like the kind of team that can hang around the AFC race than the one that stumbled through stretches earlier in the year. Cincinnatis 35-13 win over Baltimore was not just a divisional statement, it was another reminder that when Burrow is locked in, the offense can look every bit like one of the leagues most dangerous units. The victory gave the Bengals a marquee result against a Ravens team that had been one of their measuring sticks, and it came with Burrow steering a second-half surge that strengthened his case in the NFLs award conversation.
Burrows MVP buzz is no longer just a byproduct of big-name recognition. He has climbed into the thicker part of the race, and the next stretch of games will go a long way toward showing whether this is a real push or just an early-season spike. The competition at the top is crowded, which means every efficient outing and every win matters even more for Cincinnati, especially if Burrow keeps pairing production with results in games that carry real weight. [Read more 🡒]