The Bengals should fire Zac Taylor and hire anyone else.

[nom de plume_rivals392166]

Fire Zac Taylor and offer Urban Meyer the entire riverfront section of the Ohio River in downtown, if he says no because he's already going to the Jaguars then I am even in favor of taking a flyer on a college coach like Ryan Day of Ohio State at this point.

New coach, bulk up the offensive line via any means possible through draft and/or trade and take our chances from there.

 

[nom de plume_rivals392166]

I like this idea, too:

There is some sense that the Bengals might want to reunite quarterback Joe Burrow with Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator Joe Brady, who helped turn Burrow into a star at LSU. The Bengals may need to move quickly if they want to get Brady, as he may attract head coaching interest from elsewhere.

Zac Taylor could be fired by Bengals?

 

[numberonedad]

Zac Taylor isn’t going to be fired. But tomorrow several assistants are

 

[LineSkiCat14]

Hahaha I just want to say **** the Giants! Savage move by philly.

 

[WildcatfaninOhio]

I've heard that Taylor has surrounded himself with yes men. Time for all those assistants to go. Bring in Orlando Antigua and Kenny Payne.

 

[Tskware]

I wonder if the Bengals or the Reds will ever figure things out. Used to be a fan of the Bengals but hardly pay attention anymore. Have lost a lot of interest in the Reds over the last 10 years as well. They make changes they have new coaches and managers but the crap on the field never changes

 

[nom de plume_rivals392166]

I wonder if the Bengals or the Reds will ever figure things out. Used to be a fan of the Bengals but hardly pay attention anymore. Have lost a lot of interest in the Reds over the last 10 years as well. They make changes they have new coaches and managers but the crap on the field never changes

I gave up on the Reds a long time ago. I barely pay attention during the regular season and when the playoffs roll around I glom onto a team to root for and watch most of the playoffs and all of the World Series.

I enjoy football so I'd like the Bengals to do well. I was very excited about Burrow but I guaranteed the idiot Brown family wouldn't get him any O line and he'd get hurt and that's exactly what happened. But football is great and I watch games whether the Bengals are playing or not. I love the yearly Steelers/Ravens games because I like physical football.

 

[Cawood86_rivals]

The Brown family is the definition of being inept. Taylor should have been fired as soon as the time expired in their last game yesterday. 6-25-1 record.

 

[nom de plume_rivals392166]

Right on queue dumbass Mike Brown announced they're keeping him today. If there were a worst sports owner Hall of Fame he'd be the crown jewel.

 

[Catman100]

Got plenty of buddies that are Bengal fans, and they know I am not. I do believe Burrow is an exciting addition, but they better find someone to block for him or he will stay hurt.

No matter what they do, they still have to go through the Steelers, Ravens, and Browns, and I would think it would take 4-5 years to get over all those humps.

 

[nom de plume_rivals392166]

They're going to ruin Burrow's career by getting him injured all the time and that kills me. Why on earth would you draft one of the best QB prospects of all time and then not be able to protect him?

 

[Catman100]

They're going to ruin Burrow's career by getting him injured all the time and that kills me. Why on earth would you draft one of the best QB prospects of all time and then not be able to protect him?

Exactly what I told a buddy of mine. I know the kid needed experience, but I would not have put him in until you had a better O line. He is the frigging franchise. Gotta protect him.

 

[jameslee32]

Talk from the local scribes is several coaches have been given walking papers. OL Jim Turner, DL Nick Eason & Gerald Chatman, WR Bob Bicknell.

 

[catsfanbgky]

WTF has he done to be fired ? He took over a really ****** team, he is not a miracle worker. Glad UK did not have this mind set with Stoops. Damn, you guys are F'N Savage. The Bengals are a few years away. They got some nice young talent, got rid of the older set in their ways veterans who was bringing the young guys down. Got their QB, have some very nice skill guys. Build a O-Line and they will be fine. But you have to give a guy 4-5 years to rebuild. You can't polish a turd and make it shiny. Zac Taylor had the Bengals competing and was a very exciting team to watch before Burrow went down. Now get him blocking.

 

[nom de plume_rivals392166]

WTF has he done to be fired ? He took over a really ****** team, he is not a miracle worker. Glad UK did not have this mind set with Stoops. Damn, you guys are F'N Savage. The Bengals are a few years away. They got some nice young talent, got rid of the older set in their ways veterans who was bringing the young guys down. Got their QB, have some very nice skill guys. Build a O-Line and they will be fine. But you have to give a guy 4-5 years to rebuild. You can't polish a turd and make it shiny. Zac Taylor had the Bengals competing and was a very exciting team to watch before Burrow went down. Now get him blocking.

Burrow won't last 2 more years, let along 4-5 more. He got that kid killed last year and for what? Now they'll reshuffle the deck and put another makeshift O-line out there and in about week 8 next year Burrow will be out again with a knee or ankle injury and probably a broken collarbone the next year. The kid will wind up a shell of what he could have been in our system ran by the most incompetent owners in the history of the NFL.

 

[nom de plume_rivals392166]

Watching Burrow at LSU the whole season I was so excited to see him become a Bengal. That kid is Tom Brady reincarnate. And I said before the draft that they have to also make big moves to fix the offensive line in the picks after Burrow via trade and draft and they did next to nothing and I knew it was only a matter of time before Burrow got knocked out for the season. Watching him get hammered I could already see the years coming off his career. I hate seeing that and I know the only reason the Browns do that is to sell tickets because unlike most NFL owners, the Browns depend on the Bengals for their income as it is a family business and they run it like one on the cheap. Get a glitzy pick like Burrow to sell tickets then run him into the ground to get their money back.

 

[catsfanbgky]

Burrow won't last 2 more years, let along 4-5 more. He got that kid killed last year and for what? Now they'll reshuffle the deck and put another makeshift O-line out there and in about week 8 next year Burrow will be out again with a knee or ankle injury and probably a broken collarbone the next year. The kid will wind up a shell of what he could have been in our system ran by the most incompetent owners in the history of the NFL.

While i will agree the Bengals did pass the ball too much, the injury was a freak injury. it is football, injuries happen, deal with it. You can get injured on the 10th pass of the game, or 40th. What about the RB's ? SO you are not worried about them getting hurt ? I mean if you do not throw the ball, what do you do ? run it 70 times a game ? Well the same line blocks for the RB's also. It is not Taylor's fault he inherited a ****** O-Line. Can't played scared or hide players from injury, it is part of it. LSU passed just as much.

 

[nom de plume_rivals392166]

It wasn't the injury it was the hits he was taking. Kid got pummeled every week so the Bengals could sell tickets. No long range plan. No key pickups on the offensive line to give the kid a chance. Just pure ticket selling because the whole family depends on the dough.

 

[rick64]

Bengals along with the Reds try to get by on the cheap. They seem to be content being mediocre.

 

[NewEraCATS]

Not going to matter until ownership changes.

 

[numberonedad]

Burrow won't last 2 more years, let along 4-5 more. He got that kid killed last year and for what? Now they'll reshuffle the deck and put another makeshift O-line out there and in about week 8 next year Burrow will be out again with a knee or ankle injury and probably a broken collarbone the next year. The kid will wind up a shell of what he could have been in our system ran by the most incompetent owners in the history of the NFL.

They are drafting an offensive lineman first this year. Then going wide receiver and offensive lineman again. They hope to get a decent edge rusher with the 4th pick. This is all contingent on rather or not they sign any good free agents

 

[jameslee32]

Bengals along with the Reds try to get by on the cheap. They seem to be content being mediocre.

Historically yes but last year both went on a spending spree in free agency never before seen on the banks of the Ohio. The Bengals alone committed $158 million thru 2023. Of course with injuries Trae Waynes never saw the field, DJ Reader played 5 games, Xavier S'ua-Filo played 5 and Mackensie Alexander missed 3 games as well. However Vonn Bell became their leading tackler.

 

[catsfanbgky]

It wasn't the injury it was the hits he was taking. Kid got pummeled every week so the Bengals could sell tickets. No long range plan. No key pickups on the offensive line to give the kid a chance. Just pure ticket selling because the whole family depends on the dough.

Well, you can't just go out and rebuild a O-Line mid season, it takes a while. Of course he took hits, all QB's with a terrible line does. Look at Dak Prescott. He has been a top level QB for a while now, he played behind a 2nd string O-Line after several injuries to the starters. He got injured also, Dallas didn't try to hide him when the line was depleted. He had a freak injury also. It is not just the Bengals, they did nothing wrong. You notice Dallas couldn't rebuild their line mid season ??? You can't.
Injuries are part of football, even if he had the best line ever, there is still a risk for injury, QB's take hits, look what happened to Big Ben, he took a beating. It is why the QB is the highest paid player on the team, it is a dangerous position and it is not IF, but When they get hurt.

 

[Cawood86_rivals]

For the Bengals to be an actual legit contender in the NFL, a complete culture change has to happen. It has to happen from the top down.

The Browns (the Owners) are and will be the problem unless they have a total change in their approach. Have they? A little. They spent a lot of money in FA on their defense. Reader gets hurt. Waynes get hurt. Geno plays hurt for a while. Dunlap wanted out. Couple of defensive guys opted out on D-line. Hard to have a good unit with all that happening.

They eventually through the season lost 5 key starters/players at some point in the season. Mixon after 5 games. Burrow after 7-8m games. Williams missed about 7-8 games. Tate missed a lot of games. Uzoma lost for the season after 2 games. O-line was a mess all year (totally Taylor and the team's fault).

Will the Browns change their approach? Maybe that is what is happening. The players seem to love Taylor. Seriouly address the O-line and get Burrow another weapon or two on offense and they might be able win some more games. FA and the Draft this coming year will be huge for this Org.

 

[J_Dee]

Well Cincy just canned Jim Turner, the guy who was responsible for getting Burrow sacked an average of three times per game and who also helped Joe set the new NFL rookie QB record for hits taken in a single season (a feat he accomplished by week nine), so that's a start. The injuries (especially to the high draft picks) can't be helped, but the o-line's other underlying problems -- the general lack of talent, lack of effort, lack of discipline -- were on Turner and (like many other teams that he's coached) he obviously isn't capable of righting the ship.

 

[Jeff Drummond]

You guys had a good coach. You fired him because the front office couldn't come up with the right personnel for him.

 

[pbjuk]

Have to give him one more season at least.

Bengals were pretty decent against the spread this season!

 

[nom de plume_rivals392166]

Well Cincy just canned Jim Turner, the guy who was responsible for getting Burrow sacked an average of three times per game and who also helped Joe set the new NFL rookie QB record for hits taken in a single season (a feat he accomplished by week nine), so that's a start. The injuries (especially to the high draft picks) can't be helped, but the o-line's other underlying problems -- the general lack of talent, lack of effort, lack of discipline -- were on Turner and (like many other teams that he's coached) he obviously isn't capable of righting the ship.

Great post but catsfanbgky will be along in a minute to tell you that's football and Burrow just needs to toughen up and rub a little dirt on it.

We have the best QB prospect I've ever seen by a mile in Cincinnati, so protecting him has to be priority#1. Getting him battered last year to sell tickets wasn't pleasant to watch. Those weren't gentle hits either, he was getting teed off on.

 

[jameslee32]

You guys had a good coach. You fired him because the front office couldn't come up with the right personnel for him.

In 2015 they had the best Bengals team in history shelved by a thumb injury to Andy Dalton and a playoff fumble by Jeremy Hill. Mohamed Sanu and Marvin Jones walked in 2016 free agency followed by Andrew Whitworth and Kevin Zeitler in 2017. Marvin Lewis was ready for a change as much as the Brown family when they couldn't agree on a new contract after the 2018 season. All the player moves on the front office, yes.

 

[nom de plume_rivals392166]

In 2015 they had the best Bengals team in history shelved by a thumb injury to Andy Dalton and a playoff fumble by Jeremy Hill. Mohamed Sanu and Marvin Jones walked in 2016 free agency followed by Andrew Whitworth and Kevin Zeitler in 2017. Marvin Lewis was ready for a change as much as the Brown family when they couldn't agree on a new contract after the 2018 season. All the player moves on the front office, yes.

The 2006 Carson Palmer kneecap job in the playoffs by the Stillers is what haunts me. I loved those Carson Palmer teams. Carson threw for 3.836 yards, 32 touchdowns and a 67.8 completion percentage that year.

 

[jameslee32]

The 2006 Carson Palmer kneecap job in the playoffs by the Stillers is what haunts me. I loved those Carson Palmer teams. Carson threw for 3.836 yards, 32 touchdowns and a 67.8 completion percentage that year.

He was as accurate as anyone in the league before the elbow injury in 2008.

 

[JBHolmesfan]

WTF has he done to be fired ? He took over a really ****** team, he is not a miracle worker. Glad UK did not have this mind set with Stoops. Damn, you guys are F'N Savage. The Bengals are a few years away. They got some nice young talent, got rid of the older set in their ways veterans who was bringing the young guys down. Got their QB, have some very nice skill guys. Build a O-Line and they will be fine. But you have to give a guy 4-5 years to rebuild. You can't polish a turd and make it shiny. Zac Taylor had the Bengals competing and was a very exciting team to watch before Burrow went down. Now get him blocking.

His 6 wins in 2 years matches the franchise’s lowest win total in any 2 year stretch in franchise history. He’s 1-14-1 on the road. He went 0-3-1 against perhaps the worst division to ever exist. He doubled down on an atrocious offensive line, which ultimately got Burrow hurt. Everyone knew the line sucked, except him. He said he believed in the guys on the line and decided not to make offseason upgrades. To me, he hasn’t done anything worth giving another year too.

 

[Cawood86_rivals]

You guys had a good coach. You fired him because the front office couldn't come up with the right personnel for him.

Meh....no playoff wins in 16 years. 0-7 in the playoffs. He did rebuild the franchise to a respectable level though. Just couldn't get the teamover the hump when it mattered the most. I do believe he would a be a good GM.

He assembled a vey talented roster from '11 to '15. Had as much talent as anyone in the NFL. He could build a roster no doubt. '15 team should have at least made it to the AFC title game. Way too much talent on that team to lose in the first round of the playoffs. '16 -18 were bad.

 

[catsfanbgky]

His 6 wins in 2 years matches the franchise’s lowest win total in any 2 year stretch in franchise history. He’s 1-14-1 on the road. He went 0-3-1 against perhaps the worst division to ever exist. He doubled down on an atrocious offensive line, which ultimately got Burrow hurt. Everyone knew the line sucked, except him. He said he believed in the guys on the line and decided not to make offseason upgrades. To me, he hasn’t done anything worth giving another year too.

He also inherited the worst roster in franchise history (at least one of). Not a coach in the game could have taken that Bengals roster and done anything with it right away. You know the old saying, "can't make chicken salad out of chicken ****." Give him 4/5 years, if the team is still below par, make a change. BUT, you do not replace a coach every two years when he takes over someone else's failure. Give him a chance to build HIS roster.
I am not saying he is the next "insert hot shot coaches name", but give the guy a chance. He has some nice skill position players, SOME talent on defense, but it is a roster that was laughed at by the very same Bengal fans before he got JUST 2 years ago. You can't just waive a magic wand and presto, be contenders.

 

[Jeff Drummond]

Meh....no playoff wins in 16 years. 0-7 in the playoffs. He did rebuild the franchise to a respectable level though. Just couldn't get the teamover the hump when it mattered the most. I do believe he would a be a good GM.

He assembled a vey talented roster from '11 to '15. Had as much talent as anyone in the NFL. He could build a roster no doubt. '15 team should have at least made it to the AFC title game. Way too much talent on that team to lose in the first round of the playoffs. '16 -18 were bad.

Do you know if they were favored to win any of those 7 playoff games? I know most of them (if not all) were wild card games. I would be surprised if CIN was the favorite in more than one or two of those. A lot of close games. The only thing I'd fault Lewis for is harboring two fools like Burfict and Pacman. They at least would have won one of those playoff games if not for them.

 

[JBHolmesfan]

He also inherited the worst roster in franchise history (at least one of). Not a coach in the game could have taken that Bengals roster and done anything with it right away. You know the old saying, "can't make chicken salad out of chicken ****." Give him 4/5 years, if the team is still below par, make a change. BUT, you do not replace a coach every two years when he takes over someone else's failure. Give him a chance to build HIS roster.
I am not saying he is the next "insert hot shot coaches name", but give the guy a chance. He has some nice skill position players, SOME talent on defense, but it is a roster that was laughed at by the very same Bengal fans before he got JUST 2 years ago. You can't just waive a magic wand and presto, be contenders.

I don’t think he should be fired because they weren’t 14-2. I think he should be fired because he hasn’t done anything to help the trajectory of the franchise. Adam Gase had 3 more wins than Taylor has in the same time frame yet Gase was universally mocked as being awful.

The lone bright spot this franchise has is Burrow and we only got him because of how bad we were in year 1 and Taylor didn’t do anything to help him going into year 2. He let Pittsburgh tee off on him in the 4th quarter in a blowout game. Gross negligence. Then he gets hurt the next play. Sure, you can say that could happen on any play and that’s true. However, that’s not an excuse for doubling down on what was an awful line the year before.

I don’t know what role he had in drafting Drew Sample but that alone is almost fireable. Who drafts a blocking TE early in the 2nd round?

I don’t think you let a coach have 4/5 years in the NFL to see if he’s got it. That’s wasting Joe Burrow’s entire rookie contract. It’s imperative the Bengals are competitive while they still have Burrow for cheap. I haven’t seen anything from Taylor to suggest he’s the right guy.

 

[nom de plume_rivals392166]

Do you know if they were favored to win any of those 7 playoff games? I know most of them (if not all) were wild card games. I would be surprised if CIN was the favorite in more than one or two of those. A lot of close games. The only thing I'd fault Lewis for is harboring two fools like Burfict and Pacman. They at least would have won one of those playoff games if not for them.

Burfict played the best game I've ever seen a Bengals defensive player play in against the Stillers in 2016 as far as being a pure malevolent force of disruption. Too bad he turned out to be a nut.

Looking back I was surprised to find the Bengals were +3 in that game going in, I was sure they were favored.

 

[Pulaski Cat Fan_rivals377587]

The Bengals made an effort to finally spend in free agency last year, but they should have spent it on the offensive line. They knew the line was abysmal. They also should not have invested big money on Mixon, that money would have been better served on the line. I ain't investing huge money on the running back position.

 

[Cawood86_rivals]

Do you know if they were favored to win any of those 7 playoff games? I know most of them (if not all) were wild card games. I would be surprised if CIN was the favorite in more than one or two of those. A lot of close games. The only thing I'd fault Lewis for is harboring two fools like Burfict and Pacman. They at least would have won one of those playoff games if not for them.

I don't know if they were favorites. But I do believe at least 3-4 of those games were home games. They were also division winners 4 of those playoff games.
I can excuse the loss in '05 due to Palmer's knee injury. Should have been able to get one win in 7 tries though.
Agree completely on Burfict and Pacman.

 

[JBHolmesfan]

I don't know if they were favorites. But I do believe at least 3-4 of those games were home games. They were also division winners 4 of those playoff games.
I can excuse the loss in '05 due to Palmer's knee injury. Should have been able to get one win in 7 tries though.
Agree completely on Burfict and Pacman.

They were probably favorites in only the San Diego game whatever year that was outside of the 2005 game, but like you said, Carson went down.

Dalton’s rookie year against the Texans certainly were underdogs. Next year against the Texans on the road I’m sure they were 4-6 point dogs. Colts on the road with a depleted receiving corps had to have been underdogs. Steelers without Dalton I’m sure they were underdogs as well.

Doesn’t excuse them losing all of those games, but it’s not like they were losing as heavy favorites every time.