Zac Taylor, Bengals Players Express Confidence in DC Al Golden Amid Defensive Struggles

CINCINNATI — The Bengals' defense has struggled for most of the 2025 season. They brought in Al Golden as their defensive coordinator in February. They were hoping a new coordinator would breathe new life into the defense.

That hasn't happened. The Bengals' defense has allowed 86 points in the past two games. They've given up 500+ yards from scrimmage in back-to-back games.

Despite the struggles, head coach Zac Taylor remains confident in Golden.

"He's a great football coach. He's doing everything he can to uncover every single stone to make us play better," Taylor said on Monday. "We're all sick for the way that these games have gone, him probably as much as anybody else on this planet. And so I trust in him, trust in his staff, that we're going to keep working and get all these guys on the same page, execute on a high level, and be good defense going forward."

Golden was one of the top defensive coordinators in the country last year for Notre Dame. Now he's in charge of the NFL's worst defense.

He took full responsibility for the Bengals' struggles.

"At the end of the day it rests with me," Golden said on Monday. "Special teams did a heckuva job. Obviously the offense did an excellent job, and they're scoring in bunches right now. I have to do a better job, there's no doubt about it. I think from a scheme standpoint there's nothing that's not on the table. We have to examine all that. At the same time we don't have to be perfect. You name the play, where there was a batted ball, a sack where we had three chances to get him before the big play. One takeaway whether that's a caused fumble or an interception. Any one of those plays could be the difference in the game. I do take it personally and I know the coaches take it personally."

Taylor wasn't the only one to back Golden. Both Geno Stone and Jordan Battle believe in their defensive coordinator.

"Very confident. Everything he's been calling, I feel like, has put us in good positions, you know, to go make plays. We just got to make those plays,” Battle said. “When we don't have a great call for what the offense gives us, we just got to go and get the ball on the ground, you know, survive the down and just play ball from there.”

"It's not the scheme. It's not the scheme at all," Stone said bluntly. "It's definitely not the scheme. Like I said, it's people doing their job. That's all it really comes down to. I mean, that's really all I got to say about it. You got to do your job, and it has nothing to do with the scheme because the scheme that he put together is setting everyone up to be successful. If they do their job, if we do our job, it's all going to work, and we would be in situations that we would not be in right now."

Watch all of Battle and Stone's comments below:

Sticking With the Staff

Nov 2, 2025; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor calls for a timeout against the Chicago Bears during the second quarter at Paycor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images | Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

Not only is Taylor sticking with Golden at defensive coordinator. He isn't making any changes to his staff ahead of the bye week.

“These are good football coaches," Taylor said. "They've been successful everywhere they've been. And so, again, we're still in the first half of the season. We all know we've got to play better as a football team. There's been challenges our offense has faced over the course of the season. We've worked through them. We're playing better for it. There's challenges our defense are facing right now. I'm confident that we're going to work through it. We're going to play better football and find a way to win some games.”

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