Zac Taylor Defends Approach, Believes Bengals Are 'Close'
CINCINNATI — The clock is ticking on Zac Taylor.
Many believed the Bengals were going to lay a strong foundation this season, much like the organization did in 2003-04.
This year was about building a competent team that was ready to contend for a playoff spot in 2021. They were supposed to be on the rise.
Instead, things are going downhill fast. From their 2-8-1 record to rookie quarterback Joe Burrow suffering a season-ending knee injury, things couldn't have gone much worse for the Bengals this season.
Fans have grown frustrated and apathetic.
Despite the adversity, Taylor believes the team is making progress.
"Often times this thing has come down to one play and we gotta find that way to make that one play at the end of the game. We just haven’t done it yet," Taylor said on Monday. "We keep doing everything that we believe in and keep making progress. I know there’s a day where we’re gonna bust down this wall and there’s gonna be some great times ahead. I know that. Right now it’s very difficult sometimes when you deal with these losses, but I also know what our future holds for us. We gotta keep working towards that. These two years that we’ve endured will serve us incredibly well in the future when we’ll win a lot of football games, [when] we’re playing for championships, these will be times that we look back and reflect on as almost necessary for where we end up being.”
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Taylor is 4-22-1 since being named Bengals head coach in 2019. He's 0-12-1 on the road and 1-13-1 in one score games.
The losses keep piling up. Cincinnati has lost three straight and six of their last seven contests.
Taylor feels pressure to coach at a high level, regardless of the Bengals' record, but he doesn't think the coaching staff needs to change their approach.
"If you believe in the way that you're approaching things and what your mission is it shouldn't change based on wins and losses," Taylor said. "We tell the guys we want consistent players who walk in the building every single day and we know what to expect from them. I sure as heck am not going to be any different than I was the day I showed up on the job. I believe in what this staff has asked these players to do. I believe that the players have bought in and that they know this is the right way to do it, and we're not going to change our personalities or the way we go about our business just because of the trials that we've faced."
There will be plenty of speculation about Taylor's future in the coming weeks, especially if the Bengals don't win one of their five remaining games.
They have finished with two wins just twice in team history. They were 2-14 in 2002 and in 2019.
If the Bengals finish 2-13-1 this season, then Taylor would be responsible for two of the three two-win seasons in team history.
Is that acceptable? Can the organization sell fans on the idea that they're still trending in the right direction?
Will Bengals President Mike Brown want to bring Taylor back for a third season? What about Executive Vice President Katie Blackburn or Vice President Troy Blackburn?
They're the ones that will be making the final decision.
It's up to Taylor and his staff to surprise people down the stretch. They need to win without Burrow and show the franchise and the city that they can turn things around in 2021.
"It’s all we think about, it’s all we care about, it’s all we work for. That’s all that matters to us," Taylor said when asked about winning. "We’re all sick and tired of this feeling, so all that matters to us is finding ways to win games, and we don’t really care about all the other stuff. We just want to win."
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