The Cincinnati Bengals’ fast start has already faded into a mess of familiar concerns.
After opening 2-0, Cincinnati has now dropped consecutive games to the Steelers and Jaguars and sits at 2-2 heading into Week 5. The loss to Jacksonville came with an added hit, too: Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins both went down, and the Bengals will be sorting through those injuries as they prepare for their next game.
That slide has put Zac Taylor right back in the spotlight. Sports Illustrated has him back on the hot seat, with Connor Orr placing Taylor at No. 5 in his latest NFL hot seat rankings.
The criticism isn’t coming out of nowhere. Taylor is still being judged through the lens of the Bengals’ run to the Super Bowl in 2021 and their conference title game appearance in 2022.
Since then, Cincinnati has not returned to the playoffs. Last year, the situation got even stranger when it was revealed the Bengals had quietly extended Taylor, though neither the team nor the coach addressed it publicly.
For a roster like this, being 2-2 has invited plenty of questions. The team’s in-game management, game planning and offensive playcalling have again become points of frustration.
And the same issues keep showing up. One of the biggest problems right now is that Taylor’s offense still hasn’t been able to establish the run with a healthy Joe Burrow, and that was a major factor in the loss to Jacksonville.
Burrow tried to calm the noise after the game, saying in his press conference that nobody is panicking and that the season is still incredibly early. But with injuries piling up and old problems resurfacing, concern is hard to avoid.
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Bengals First-Round Pick Is Already Becoming A Real Roster Debate
Shemar Stewart entered his rookie season with the kind of athletic upside that can tempt a coaching staff to keep investing reps, but the Bengals have not been able to get much back from their first-round pick so far. Injuries have slowed his start, and his playing time has been limited enough that he has yet to carve out anything close to a steady role on the defensive front.
Stewarts situation has now turned into the kind of roster conversation teams usually hope to avoid this early in a draft class. Cincinnati still has every reason to want his talent to show up on Sundays, but with very few snaps in recent games, the question is no longer just when he breaks through. It is whether the Bengals can keep waiting for that breakthrough while trying to manage the rest of the season around him. [Read more 🡒]
Joe Burrow Gave Bengals Fans A Laugh They Really Needed
The Bengals early-season momentum has hit a rough patch, with two straight losses sending the mood around the team from upbeat to uneasy. As Cincinnati tries to reset before its next trip against the Miami Dolphins, Joe Burrow offered a small reminder that not every tense stretch has to stay tense for long.
During a recent press conference, Burrow gave reporters and fans a laugh when he reacted to the word galled with apparent unfamiliarity. It was a light moment in a week when the Bengals could use one, and it briefly shifted attention away from the skid and back to the quarterbacks quick wit as Cincinnati looks to stop the slide. [Read more 🡒]
Joe Burrow Is Pushing A Bengals Offensive Change That Still Isn't Working
The Bengals have spent time trying to build more of their offense from under center, a shift that was supposed to add variety and help them find another gear. It showed up in their game plan again before the recent loss to the Jaguars, but as the game unfolded, Cincinnati moved away from it and leaned back on what has long been more familiar.
Joe Burrow said the team is still committed to giving that approach more reps, even if the execution is not there yet. There are other moving parts for Cincinnati too, with Bryce Young potentially in line for more snaps because of injuries among the top receivers, while the defense continues to deal with problems covering and tackling tight ends. [Read more 🡒]