ClutchPoints
There’s a point in every NFL franchise’s decline when change isn’t optional anymore. For the Cincinnati Bengals, that point came Sunday afternoon in Chicago. What unfolded at Soldier Field was a defining indictment of head coach Zac Taylor’s tenure.
The Bengals blew yet another late lead. They surrendered 576 total yards and allowed the Bears to march 75 yards in the final minute for a game-winning touchdown with just 17 seconds left. The 47-42 defeat was the team’s sixth loss in nine games. It dropped them to 3-6 and extinguished what little hope remained of salvaging their season.
Offensively, backup quarterback Joe Flacco did his part. He threw for 379 yards and four touchdowns. Once again, though, a porous and undisciplined defense unraveled at the worst possible time. Sadly, this has become the hallmark of Taylor’s Bengals. This version of Cincinnati looks disorganized, defeated, and disconnected. Taylor stands at the center of it all.
Here we’ll try to look at and discuss why the Bengals must fire Zac Taylor after latest defensive collapse vs. Bears.
Zac Taylor’s biggest failure is cultural. After yet another defensive collapse, his postgame comments rang hollow.
“We just gotta find a way,” Taylor said, emphasizing effort and positivity while offering no tangible solutions. Right now, however, optimism isn’t a plan.
The problem is that the defense has been bad for years. This unit has become a revolving door of blown assignments and missed tackles. Players look lost, coverage busts have become weekly occurrences, and opposing offenses know they can pick their spots. Yet Taylor continues to double down on patience and platitudes instead of accountability and answers.
Player frustration is bubbling to the surface. Ja’Marr Chase and Chase Brown reportedly voiced their discontent postgame. Meanwhile, several defensive players refused to speak to the media. That’s a clear sign of a locker room divided. When one side of the ball is producing 40-plus points and still losing, resentment is inevitable.
Taylor’s leadership once brought stability and identity to the Bengals during their early playoff runs. Now, however, that steady demeanor feels like complacency. When a coach repeatedly insists ‘we’ll figure it out’ after years of the same mistakes, it’s no longer reassurance. It’s resignation.
Taylor’s Bengals are caught in a cruel cycle of déjà vu. Every week, we see moments of brilliance on offense undone by catastrophic breakdowns on defense. In fact, this is the second straight game in which Cincinnati’s offense scored more than 38 points and still lost.
Even during last season’s mediocre campaign, the Bengals found creative ways to lose close games. They were 2-6 in one-score contests last year, and they’ve already lost four this season in similar fashion. At some point, the inability to close games just reflects the head coach’s culture.
Recall that Taylor was hired to bring an innovative offensive identity to Cincinnati. To his credit, the Bengals have produced fireworks,...
