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Critically assessing Zac Taylor ?


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Zac took the team with the #1 pick to a Super Bowl in 3 years, so he obviously has done many things right. 

 

- Built a winning culture 

- Brought in great free agents 

- Drafted well 

- Gotten Mike Brown to loosen the reins 

- He's well respected by players 

- You never hear about internal team drama 

- Burrow likes playing for him and has known him for years because of the Nebraska connection with his dad 

 

But this season thus far through 5 games something is off. The offense was better last season despite having worse O linemen.

 

Is Zac overthinking things? Is he stubborn on recreating last year without adapting? Have opponents cracked the Bengals code and he's bad at adjusting? Is he too much of a players coach and needs to get in someone's ass? Is the team not firing on all cylinders because cushy preseason and a SB hangover? Are players not executing and they are mostly at fault? Was Zac always a bad HC and Burrow's magic hid that? Or does he just have too much on his plate and simply needs to let Callahan be a true OC?

 

I guess another possibility is that nothing is different and the team is just catching bad breaks and losing close games that they won last year? As they are like 5 plays away from 5-0. 

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1 hour ago, BlackJesus said:

 

 

But this season thus far through 5 games something is off. The offense was better last season despite having worse O linemen.

 

Is Zac overthinking things? Is he stubborn on recreating last year without adapting? Have opponents cracked the Bengals code and he's bad at adjusting? Is he too much of a players coach and needs to get in someone's ass? Is the team not firing on all cylinders because cushy preseason and a SB hangover? Are players not executing and they are mostly at fault? Was Zac always a bad HC and Burrow's magic hid that? Or does he just have too much on his plate and simply needs to let Callahan be a true OC?

 

I guess another possibility is that nothing is different and the team is just catching bad breaks and losing close games that they won last year? As they are like 5 plays away from 5-0. 

https://bengalswire.usatoday.com/2022/10/10/bengals-stunning-history-heartbreaker-losses-start-season/

Bengals make stunning history with heartbreaker losses to start season

 
October 10, 2022 8:34 am ET
 

To say it has been a rough start to the 2022 season for the Cincinnati Bengals would be an understatement.

The 2-3 Bengals haven’t just lost three games by a combined eight points — they’ve lost each of those games in the final moments.

And it somehow gets worse.

According to ESPN’s Ben Baby, the Bengals are the first team in NFL history to lose three of its first five games of a season on the final play of those losses.

Ouch.

Sunday night’s 19-17 loss to the Ravens was especially bad, with Joe Burrow leading a late scoring drive and what should have been a game-winner. Instead, the defense coughed up just enough yardage over the final two minutes to surrender a field goal.

With luck not on the Bengals’ side as it was last year, the only way to counteract this budding, historical trend is more offensive consistency throughout games. Whether that’s corrected will largely decide the outcome of the season.

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Just now, High School Harry said:

https://bengalswire.usatoday.com/2022/10/10/bengals-stunning-history-heartbreaker-losses-start-season/

Bengals make stunning history with heartbreaker losses to start season

 
October 10, 2022 8:34 am ET
 

To say it has been a rough start to the 2022 season for the Cincinnati Bengals would be an understatement.

The 2-3 Bengals haven’t just lost three games by a combined eight points — they’ve lost each of those games in the final moments.

And it somehow gets worse.

According to ESPN’s Ben Baby, the Bengals are the first team in NFL history to lose three of its first five games of a season on the final play of those losses.

Ouch.

Sunday night’s 19-17 loss to the Ravens was especially bad, with Joe Burrow leading a late scoring drive and what should have been a game-winner. Instead, the defense coughed up just enough yardage over the final two minutes to surrender a field goal.

With luck not on the Bengals’ side as it was last year, the only way to counteract this budding, historical trend is more offensive consistency throughout games. Whether that’s corrected will largely decide the outcome of the season.

 Is he too much of a players coach and needs to get in someone's ass? 

 

One comment was the coach wants to talk to La'Eel and he doesn't even stop running.

Zac chases him.

If that had been Forrest Greg chasing him, Forrest would have stomped his fat ass when he caught him

Paul Brown would have let him keep running right out of the stadium and on with his life's work.

 

Devil's Advocate Harry sez with all of Zac's poor calls a bit better execution of them would have us at 5-0.

Zac's not blowing assignments at the ORT or watching people run around him at OLT or, for that matter, is

Zac a tight end defending specialist named Flowers who let a guy have a career night being out of position.

 

 

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25 minutes ago, High School Harry said:

 Is he too much of a players coach and needs to get in someone's ass? 

 

One comment was the coach wants to talk to La'Eel and he doesn't even stop running.

Zac chases him.

If that had been Forrest Greg chasing him, Forrest would have stomped his fat ass when he caught him

Paul Brown would have let him keep running right out of the stadium and on with his life's work.

 

Devil's Advocate Harry sez with all of Zac's poor calls a bit better execution of them would have us at 5-0.

Zac's not blowing assignments at the ORT or watching people run around him at OLT or, for that matter, is

Zac a tight end defending specialist named Flowers who let a guy have a career night being out of position.

 

 

 

This is exactly what Taylor should NOT do.  He's a new age HC that thrives on player buy in.  One part of that is not calling out players in public.  Taylor lost his shit last night and it was not a good move.  Taylor has built a very good culture based upon a more modern relationship between coaches and players.  If he starts pissing off players there is going to be a breaking point where they stop putting up with his shitty decision making, play design, and playcalling.  If he keeps that kind of stuff up he could blow the whole thing up by the end of the season.  I don't think he will, but this the the very thing that will lose him the locker room.

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53 minutes ago, UncleEarl said:

 

This is exactly what Taylor should NOT do.  He's a new age HC that thrives on player buy in.  One part of that is not calling out players in public.  Taylor lost his shit last night and it was not a good move.  Taylor has built a very good culture based upon a more modern relationship between coaches and players.  If he starts pissing off players there is going to be a breaking point where they stop putting up with his shitty decision making, play design, and playcalling.  If he keeps that kind of stuff up he could blow the whole thing up by the end of the season.  I don't think he will, but this the the very thing that will lose him the locker room.

actually they paid for a bodyguard, Collins tooted his own horn , about how good he is and now its time to be a man own up to his mistakes and fix them,  we got the same inconsistent play out of the person he replaced, and he was paid to be the answer not the same bad RT we had for 1/4 the money.   

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19 minutes ago, stryker57 said:

actually they paid for a bodyguard, Collins tooted his own horn , about how good he is and now its time to be a man own up to his mistakes and fix them,  we got the same inconsistent play out of the person he replaced, and he was paid to be the answer not the same bad RT we had for 1/4 the money.   

 

 

Every coach at any level will get in a player's shit on the sideline from time to time.  It's nothing for us worry about at all.  Worry when guys fuck up and we don't see him get in their face about it.

 

He made some poor decisions late in that game.  Not sure where all the other criticism is coming from?

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6 hours ago, T-Dub said:

Not sure where all the other criticism is coming from?

The Jackal Sports Media. 
 

As predicted, the “slow start” would start producing catcalling “journalist” pieces like mushrooms. 
 

As much as they love to adore the risers,  they love even more to pick and tear at teams/players/coaches heading down—especially those who had just been at the near pinnacle. 
 

Expect even more microscopic scrutiny, made-up hyperbole, and Wolfpack attacks as the descent deepens. 
 

It’s what they do…it’s all they do. 

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13 hours ago, UncleEarl said:

 

This is exactly what Taylor should NOT do.  He's a new age HC that thrives on player buy in.  One part of that is not calling out players in public.  Taylor lost his shit last night and it was not a good move.  Taylor has built a very good culture based upon a more modern relationship between coaches and players.  If he starts pissing off players there is going to be a breaking point where they stop putting up with his shitty decision making, play design, and playcalling.  If he keeps that kind of stuff up he could blow the whole thing up by the end of the season.  I don't think he will, but this the the very thing that will lose him the locker room.

When your coach wants to talk to you, you do NOT ignore him and keep running down the sideline.

Maybe La'Eel should have tweaked Zac's cap, too.

Talking to him does not necessarily mean ripping his ass but he should listen to his coach.

La'Eel (and others) ineptitude is/has cost us every game we have lost.

Someone should talk to him.  Head coach?  OLine coach?  Locker room leader?  

But you do NOT blow off your head coach when he has something, anything, to say.

 

(and I appreciate and respect your reply and opinion, btw)

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2 things I found of interest watching CBT last night. 

 

1. Callahan has never called plays, so I'm not sure letting him do it now is a good idea. I think we will have to deal with what we have this year and get a real OC in the offseason.

2. Joe in the past was one of the best middle range passers in both college and last year, this year that part of the game is missing or just bad. No idea what happened there, but it's a problem they need to figure out and fast or the season is a bust.

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I feel like Zac just doesn't have instinct and attitude. How about running that flea flicker when the offensive is struggling, and we're on our own 40? Coming up empty when you're first and goal from the 2 was just devastating. Mixon rolling for 5.6 per tote. All the wind at our back. I know goal line yards are harder, but still. First down. 2 yards. Three chances to punch that puppy in, with a chip shot from Shooter as your most disappointing scenario. I'm still sick that they screwed the pooch on that, but all I heard from Zac postgame was happy talk about getting better and still figuring it out. I actually see what he's talking about, but we can't afford division losses to "figure it out". His risk, reward instinct seems out of whack. I'd expect him to be angrier than me about boneheaded losses, (maybe in private?). When this team starts showing flashes on offense they look unstoppable. They just keep stumbling over their own feet, and getting in their own way. 

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15 minutes ago, High School Harry said:

When your coach wants to talk to you, you do NOT ignore him and keep running down the sideline.

Maybe La'Eel should have tweaked Zac's cap, too.

Talking to him does not necessarily mean ripping his ass but he should listen to his coach.

La'Eel (and others) ineptitude is/has cost us every game we have lost.

Someone should talk to him.  Head coach?  OLine coach?  Locker room leader?  

But you do NOT blow off your head coach when he has something, anything, to say.

 

(and I appreciate and respect your reply and opinion, btw)

 

I get what you are saying, and yes, Collins probably should have stopped sooner.  Yet, this is not how Taylor has done things and it's not what players expect these days.  They do not like being made to look bad publicly.  Taylor knows this and is usually good at it.  He slipped up.  Collins and the others won't worry about it unless it becomes a habit.  That's when he could lose his team. 

 

Zac Taylor still isn't a proven NFL head coach.  He had a good run at the end of last season, but things are rocky again and a lot of it is on him and his offense.  He has more skill than most any team in the league on offense and they struggle.  Is the o-line an issue?  Yes, but so are his play designs and calls.  WR blocking a DE is a recipe for disaster.  When they used a TE and ran the ball Sunday they were quite effective.  It's all the bizarre stuff that isn't working.  When you complicate things sometimes, or a lot of times, things go wrong.  That seems to be Taylor's forte....complication.

 

Old school coaches still work. (Tomlin, Belechick, etc.)  Taylor isn't one of them and he shouldn't act like one. 

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11 minutes ago, Jamie_B said:

2 things I found of interest watching CBT last night. 

 

1. Callahan has never called plays, so I'm not sure letting him do it now is a good idea. I think we will have to deal with what we have this year and get a real OC in the offseason.

2. Joe in the past was one of the best middle range passers in both college and last year, this year that part of the game is missing or just bad. No idea what happened there, but it's a problem they need to figure out and fast or the season is a bust.

 

I agree about getting a real OC in the offseason, but unless they turn things around on offense in the next week or so I do think Callahan should get a shot.  Taylor has called plays before, but he hasn't had a lot of success.  The other issue with HC doing the play calling is that he has a bad view of the field.  He can't see what they can see in the booth.  Sure, he can talk to them, but an OC in the booth has a much better perspective and the HC has other things to worry about on the field as well. 

 

Until the Bengals show they can run the ball against cover 2 there isn't going to be much medium to long passing.  Put a TE in there, or two, and shove it down their throat until they change the look. 

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8 minutes ago, UncleEarl said:

 

I agree about getting a real OC in the offseason, but unless they turn things around on offense in the next week or so I do think Callahan should get a shot.  Taylor has called plays before, but he hasn't had a lot of success.  The other issue with HC doing the play calling is that he has a bad view of the field.  He can't see what they can see in the booth.  Sure, he can talk to them, but an OC in the booth has a much better perspective and the HC has other things to worry about on the field as well. 

 

Until the Bengals show they can run the ball against cover 2 there isn't going to be much medium to long passing.  Put a TE in there, or two, and shove it down their throat until they change the look. 

 

 

You're comfortable with giving some one who has never done the job of playcalling to do so? I can't say I am.

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28 minutes ago, UncleEarl said:

 

I agree about getting a real OC in the offseason

 

 

Not at all convinced the team will do that.  There's a history of not firing/cutting people - players or coaches - until after at least 2 solid years of everyone outside the building screaming for it to happen while they continue to dig themselves into a hole.

 

Let's see how far this "new Bengals" stuff actually carries...

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6 hours ago, Le Tigre said:

The Jackal Sports Media. 
 

As predicted, the “slow start” would start producing catcalling “journalist” pieces like mushrooms. 
 

As much as they love to adore the risers,  they love even more to pick and tear at teams/players/coaches heading down—especially those who had just been at the near pinnacle. 
 

Expect even more microscopic scrutiny, made-up hyperbole, and Wolfpack attacks as the descent deepens. 
 

It’s what they do…it’s all they do. 

 

 

You're not wrong.  I guess this is what the team being relevant looks like?

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