There’s a common joke among Cincinnati Bengals faithful that Zac Taylor will spend his entire lifetime with the team after the Super Bowl appearance, considering Marvin Lewis stayed in town for nearly two decades.
But that couldn’t be further from the truth.
In the end, eventually, sheer fan disinterest and bad business numbers will force a change. It must. And it must for a franchise that has, to its credit, modernized greatly over the last few years. And it must in the face of an upcoming expiring lease.
There’s a lease on goodwill, too.
Fans aren’t stupid, and they understood that a string of Joe Burrow injuries played a big role in the Super Bowl and AFC title game hangovers. It’s football, that’s what they and the players sign up for willingly.
But 2024 was the year the excuses went away. Burrow was back and healthy. All-systems go on a roster and core that even national pundits admitted should be in contention.
Instead, the Bengals are 3-5 and winless at home. They’ve played some good teams close, but they’ve also only actually defeated Carolina, New York and Cleveland.
Read that again: They’ve also only actually defeated Carolina, New York and Cleveland.
Again, fans aren’t stupid. Fans know that:
- A Taylor team flopped to start the season again at 0-3.
- The play-calling is erratic, sometimes too conservative, sometimes oddly aggressive. Some successful concepts appear to disappear midgame.
- Taylor was underqualified for the position and the team was vocally happy to let him develop. The Super Bowl prevented more serious questions about said development.
- Lou Anarumo is fielding a bottom unit for the second year in a row.
- Duke Tobin and the front office has failed the staff. The drafting largely stinks and when they develop an All-Pro like Jessie Bates, he slips through their fingers. Replacements for Bates, DJ Reader and others never materialize. There’s no pass-rush. Top draft assets spent on cover corners are erratic. A second rounder like Jackson Carman and a possible contributor like Jordan Battle can’t get on the field.
- The bill only gets higher: They missed on paying Ja’Marr Chase when they should have and won’t retain Tee Higgins. They will pay Chase and Burrow’s bigger cap hits will start to arrive, constricting roster construction.
This will show up in the attendance. It will show up in the pervading deja vu as the ghost of the Carson Palmer era lingers. And it could weigh heavy in the critical few years of the upcoming lease negotiations. The team isn’t going anywhere, but can the team afford to keep trotting out an underperforming Tobin and Taylor as the face?
Compare this to a perennial contender like the Kansas City Chiefs, a team currently 7-0 despite a “bad” season from Patrick Mahomes so far. Right now, it’s almost like a different league by comparison and it starts at basic roster construction.
For most teams, nailing an elite quarterback-wideout duo is the dream and it’s all-in from there. But the Bengals didn’t change quick enough and let little bad habits and problems linger for too long, impacting the contention window.
What’s funny is that Burrow is talented enough to drag the Bengals kicking and screaming to a wild card with nine or 10 wins and make this analysis look bad. Ironically, that would probably be enough to keep everything as-is for another go in 2025 and we might end up right here again.
