For the second straight season, the Cincinnati Bengals are 0-2 to start the season, and this time the two losses were both against AFC North opponents. The offense largely hasn’t shown up, though it was much better in Week 2, but there haven’t been many encouraging things to point to yet very early into the new season.
Head coach Zac Taylor wants Bengals fans to be patient with the team and said as much after the game.
Buy Bengals Tickets“Stay patient with us,” he said, according to CLNS Media’s Mike Petraglia. “I know that’s hard to say and listen to. (The fans) want wins, there’s a lot of excitement going into this season. We have a lot of excitement, and we still do. It’s Sept. 17, and we plan on this being a long season. We’ll be excited to make corrections, put this one behind us, and have an electric Monday Night Football crowd as we’ve had here.”
The Bengals 2022 season began 0-2 and finished in the AFC Championship, so Taylor is right. It’s a long season, and while it may be discouraging staring down an 0-2 divisional record as a fan, there is a lot of season to go, and they showed just last year that this team can come back from a slow start.
Taylor said he believes the team is in great shape, and while there are things that can be corrected and adjusted, he feels comfortable with where the team is at now.
“The beauty of this team is we know it’s a 17-game season,” he said. “There’s no overreaction on our end. We have to be prepared for stuff outside our locker room, which is natural. We’re in a very difficult division. We would have loved to come out 2-0; 1-1 would have been fine too. This is exactly where we were last year, and this team is only going to get better with every game that passes.”
While fans might be frustrated with the losses, it should be noted that the team obviously is as well. They have the talent to come back from it and the confidence Taylor is showing should ease some minds.
Zac Taylor asks Bengals fans to stay patient. pic.twitter.com/gsKu1KXJpz
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) September 17, 2023
