Cincy Jungle
Bengals head coach Zac Taylor has never taken as much heat as he has in the aftermath of the Bengals’ 48-10 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. It feels like he’s become a polarizing figure in the Cincinnati sports scene. When the Bengals win, he gets marginalized credit. But when the Bengals lose, he gets all the blame.
Here’s the thing about Zac Taylor, and this may be stating the obvious: He’s a great leader and culture builder. The Bengals locker room has been lauded for its positivity, leadership, and strong culture for the last seven seasons. That stuff is hard to come by in the NFL, and Taylor’s relentless positivity through the Bengals’ struggles in his first two seasons as head coach is a big reason why the Bengals got to Super Bowl LVI in just Taylor’s third season.
The downside is that Taylor is severely limited as an offensive-minded coach and schemer. Most notably, he hasn’t evolved as much as other head coaches, including his former boss, Sean McVay. He’s undergone some evolution, but not nearly enough, like McVay and other great head coaches in the NFL.
When Taylor has had his full offense healthy, he’s done some really good things. Yes, most of it is due to Joe Burrow being one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, but Taylor has also made significant contributions to it. He’s flourished in key situations, leaning on the strengths of the Bengals in recent seasons. That’s a product of the culture and belief that has been established in the locker room, and Taylor is a big part of that.
Cincinnati has won before with Taylor. Heck, they were less than two minutes away from bringing the first Lombardi Trophy to the Queen City. There’s a saying from Paul Brown that “Winning makes believers in us all.” Taylor has responded well when the Bengals have faced adversity over the last four seasons. They’ll need another response, in a big way, on Monday Night Football this week in Denver against the Broncos.
This game feels like the season for the Bengals. It may feel like even more than that. There’s no way around either of those feelings.
With that, let’s take a look at Broncos quarterback Bo Nix, four other key players to watch, keys to the game, and score prediction for this week’s Monday Night Football showdown.
There was a lot of skepticism surrounding Nix when he came out of Oregon in the 2024 NFL Draft. However, he could not have landed in a better situation. Being paired with Sean Payton was the best thing that could have happened to Nix, but it’s much more than that.
The Broncos’ defense bought Nix time to develop as a quarterback, and playing behind an elite offensive line also helped. When the Broncos came to play the Bengals in Week 17 last season, Nix looked the part of a franchise quarterback. He...
