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The Cincinnati Bengals aren’t changing. Coach Zac Taylor will not be fired in the sixth week of the NFL

By Hudson Brooklyn
The Cincinnati Bengals aren’t changing. Coach Zac Taylor will not be fired in the sixth week of the NFL

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Ask columnist Jason Williams anything – sports or not – and he will select some of your questions and respond on Cincinnati.com. E-mail: [email protected]

Re: Cincinnati Bengals coach Zac Taylor on the hot seat?

News: Zac Taylor is coming under heavy pressure for his overtime play call and many fans want him fired. Do you think he’s in the hot seat?

Answer: Most teams would have fired Zac Taylor after a start like this. But this is another reminder: The Bengals don’t do things like most teams.

They don’t do business.

They are tough on every contract negotiation, which they conduct on their own schedule and not someone else’s.

They refuse to build their own practice complex outside the stadium.

They refused to hire more scouts to do better in the draft.

And they hate paying people not to work for them. This also applies to the exclusion of underperforming players to whom they owe a lot of money. This applies to the dismissal of coaches whose contracts still run for several years.

I’ve had to remind readers and friends lately about how the Bengals operate. That two-year run to the Super Bowl and back to the AFC championship game didn’t mean the Bengals had suddenly changed the way they did business. As a reminder, this success is because they failed so badly that they had no choice but to sign Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase.

Now that we’ve had a quick history lesson, Taylor isn’t in the hot seat – nor should he be. His contract runs through the 2026 season. If the Bengals continue to have a disastrous season, they’ll likely give Taylor at least 2025 to turn things around. If 2025 is a disaster, maybe – maybe – the Bengals would fire Taylor. The Bengals parted ways with Marvin Lewis after the 2018 season with one year left on his contract.

Calling for Taylor to be fired is an irrational, knee-jerk reaction. For heaven’s sake, Taylor led this team to its glory days in the 2021 and 2022 seasons. He did a great job last season, getting the Bengals to finish 9-7 and on the verge of making the playoffs after losing Burrow to injury in mid-November. Taylor is an offensive player and the Bengals rank fourth in the NFL in points scored.

Taylor is certainly not perfect. The Bengals have never been ready to play early in the season during his tenure – evidenced by a 1-10 record in Weeks 1-2 under Taylor – and the preparation is definitely his responsibility. Taylor’s direction in crucial minutes and in goal-line situations is sometimes overwhelming.

But the Bengals lose because they can’t stop anyone. And this terrible defense isn’t really Taylor’s fault – or Lou Anarumo, one of the league’s best defensive coordinators. The Bengals front office has added a number of largely subpar defensive players to the roster, and the coaches can only do so much.

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