It Took 13 Weeks, But the Reality of Futility Has Finally Forced Its Way Into the Cincinnati Bengals Locker Room

[Arkansas Bengal]

Jay Morrison | 1 Hour Ago

 

 

 

Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Mike Hilton gives up a touchdown to the Pittsburgh Stealers' Calvin Austin during Sunday's 44-38 loss at Paycor Stadium. / Phil Didion/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

 

CINCINNATI – It was a soul-searching, reality-checking, tongue-biting scene in the Cincinnati Bengals locker room Sunday afternoon following another tackle-missing, error-making, record-breaking loss.

 

The Bengals became the first team in NFL history to lose four games in a season despite scoring at least 33 points after face-planting their way to a 44-38 loss against the Pittsburgh Stealers and one of the most pedestrian offenses in the league.

 

The Bengals fell to 4-8, three games behind the team currently occupying the seventh and final playoff seed – the Denver Broncos – with five games remaining.

 

There officially is no longer “a lot of football left to be played,” and the weight of that reality was evident every time a player stood in front of cameras and microphones to talk about the latest failure in a season teeming with them.

 

“Playoffs are the furthest thing from my mind,” quarterback Joe Burrow said.

 

“We can't be mad at anybody else but ourselves,” cornerback Mike Hilton added. “We put ourselves in this hell, in this hole.”

When asked what’s left to play for?

 

“Pride,” linebacker Germaine Pratt said. “You've got to keep on fighting. This game is high and low. It's like life. You keep on getting knocked down, and you've got to get back up. Keep on working.”

 

When Ja’Marr Chase was asked if there is still something left to play for, he said, “I don’t know. I’m just playing with the guys, making memories.”

 

The Cincinnati offense turned the ball over three times, and the defense found the end zone for the first time in 24 games when cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt opened the scoring with a 51-yard interception return for a touchdown.

 

But this loss, as is the case with so many others this season, falls squarely on the defense, as was the case in the other games in which the Bengals scored 33 and still lost.

 

Week 3: Commanders 38, Bengals 33

Week 5: Ravens 41, Bengals 38, OT

Week 10: Ravens 35, Bengals 34

 

Only three other teams in NFL history have lost three games in a season despite scoring 33 points – the 1985 San Diego Chargers, the 2002 Kansas City Chiefs and the 2017 Houston Texans.

 

Sunday marked the fifth time in franchise history the Bengals have allowed at least 44 points and at least 520 yards in a game.

 

And just the second time at home.

 

Defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo lamented the 14 missed tackles his group had in the season-opening loss against the New England Patriots, saying it was the most in his tenure in Cincinnati, which began in 2019.

 

Don’t be surprised if the rewatch of the film results in a number higher than 14.

 

When asked if he was surprised by how badly the defense struggled, Chase glanced to that area of the locker room, paused, and then said, “I don’t know. They need to find a way. We need to find a way.”

 

Burrow admitted the opposing defenses aren’t the only ones putting pressure on him.

 

“I feel the pressure on me to be great,” he said. “That's part of playing quarterback in the NFL. I just have to play to the absolute peak of my ability every week for us to go and win. Some games I've done that. Some games I haven't.”

 

Is that a sustainable way to play football?

 

“I feel like I can do anything,” he said.

 

But rallying from a 4-8 hole to make the playoffs is probably something Burrow’s not even capable of achieving.

 

The weight of that reality hung in the air after the game.

 

“We’re sitting here again saying ‘We just didn’t do enough to win the game,’” center Ted Karras said.

 

“It's sh—ty,” Hilton added. “We're took good of a team to be where we're at.”

 

“It’s nobody else’s fault but our own,” Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said.

 

https://www.si.com/nfl/bengals/it-took-13-weeks-but-the-reality-of-futility-has-finally-forced-its-way-into-the-cincinnati-bengals-locker-room-01je292kpvvc

[Le Tigre]

Go and I must have a Vulcan mind meld with these idiot media hacks. 
 

I mean: how utterly banal to ask a professional athlete “Is there anything left to play for?”…and expecting the athlete to say “no”? 
 

Sam had the best approach to these nincompoops: he would take all the “questions” himself, and then call them nincompoops. 
 

 

[|SF2|]

45 minutes ago, Le Tigre said:

Go and I must have a Vulcan mind meld with these idiot media hacks. 
 

I mean: how utterly banal to ask a professional athlete “Is there anything left to play for?”…and expecting the athlete to say “no”? 
 

Sam had the best approach to these nincompoops: he would take all the “questions” himself, and then call them nincompoops. 
 

 

Yeah, too bad the most recent CBA makes the players available.  Nobody wants to have to answer questions after that season ending loss. Hard to blame them. 

[TigerJ@w]

2 hours ago, Le Tigre said:

Go and I must have a Vulcan mind meld with these idiot media hacks. 
 

I mean: how utterly banal to ask a professional athlete “Is there anything left to play for?”…and expecting the athlete to say “no”? 
 

Sam had the best approach to these nincompoops: he would take all the “questions” himself, and then call them nincompoops. 
 

 

Chase answer though, yikes, that is not good.  Sounds like he wants out.  

[TigerJ@w]

[TigerJ@w]

[T-Dub]

Sucks that it had to get to this for the team to start, maybe, getting real.  A bit.  But at least the bullshit happy-talk faucet seems to have finally dried out.

 

First step to fixing the problems would be admitting that there are, in fact, problems...  Sounds like they might be ready to face it.

[TigerJ@w]

6 minutes ago, T-Dub said:

Sucks that it had to get to this for the team to start, maybe, getting real.  A bit.  But at least the bullshit happy-talk faucet seems to have finally dried out.

 

First step to fixing the problems would be admitting that there are, in fact, problems...  Sounds like they might be ready to face it.

I don't think Mike Brown and Family will ever get it.  I don't think they want too.  If they did, they would've did it a decade or two ago. 

[T-Dub]

2 minutes ago, TigerJ@w said:

I don't think Mike Brown and Family will ever get it.  I don't think they want too.  If they did, they would've did it a decade or two ago. 

 

Hard to argue they truly give a shit so long as those TV checks keep coming

[IKOTA]

1 hour ago, TigerJ@w said:

Chase answer though, yikes, that is not good.  Sounds like he wants out.  

Your interpretation of it is incorrect. He was asked about the defense being a huge pile of shit, and he said “they have to figure it out” then caught himself and said “we have to figure it out”. He was being honest in his first part and a good teammate in the second. 
 

NFL players don’t “want out” unless they’re not being paid. That’s literally all it comes down to for 98% of them. 

[|High School Harry|]

The Reality of Futility Has Finally Forced Its Way Into the Cincinnati Bengals Locker Room

But let's never forget what a fantastic locker room it is!

[UncleEarl]

10 hours ago, TigerJ@w said:

This is reason #1 that Taylor should be fired. At the end of the day, a HC is what his record says he is.  The Bengals have far too much talent for this to happen.  

[Cat]

33 minutes ago, High School Harry said:

The Reality of Futility Has Finally Forced Its Way Into the Cincinnati Bengals Locker Room

But let's never forget what a fantastic locker room it is!

[A Rock]

It's a vicious cycle. Denial of the reality of the team's shortcomings (much less the reality of the need to fix them), is the largest ingredient (in my opinion) of the team's futility.

[PatternMaster]

11 hours ago, T-Dub said:

Sucks that it had to get to this for the team to start, maybe, getting real.  A bit.  But at least the bullshit happy-talk faucet seems to have finally dried out.

 

First step to fixing the problems would be admitting that there are, in fact, problems...  Sounds like they might be ready to face it.

 

I saw the same thing happen to Dan Quinn in Atlanta, they lost in the Superbowl and all of this "family/brotherhood" talk went out the window.

 

That stuffs works well when you have talented team that is performing well, but it's not then it falls flat because these guys are not family.

 

They are1099 contracted employees for non-profit organizations that will replace them as soon as they deem them unnecessary

[|SF2|]

32 minutes ago, A Rock said:

It's a vicious cycle. Denial of the reality of the team's shortcomings (much less the reality of the need to fix them), is the largest ingredient (in my opinion) of the team's futility.

I have a different take:  These guys are professionals and know exactly what their shortcomings are.  
 

Everyone realizes the defense SUCKS.  Sure, they will say the right things to the cameras but they know damn well what the problems are.

 

Luckily, they are keeping their opinions in house unlike some other teams.  We don’t need the “Same old Bengals” bullshit and the idiots blaming 89 year old Mike Brown for all the problems. 

[Jamie_B]

1 hour ago, UncleEarl said:

This is reason #1 that Taylor should be fired. At the end of the day, a HC is what his record says he is.  The Bengals have far too much talent for this to happen.  

 

 

Do they though? Or are we as fans overvaluing the talent that is on this team?

[UncleEarl]

8 minutes ago, SF2 said:

I have a different take:  These guys are professionals and know exactly what their shortcomings are.  
 

Everyone realizes the defense SUCKS.  Sure, they will say the right things to the cameras but they know damn well what the problems are.

 

Luckily, they are keeping their opinions in house unlike some other teams.  We don’t need the “Same old Bengals” bullshit and the idiots blaming 89 year old Mike Brown for all the problems. 

 

I have to agree.  The problems on defense are more than just personnel.  These guys don't know their jobs, or refuse to do them!  I watch these breakdowns over and over where guys aren't where they are supposed to be!  On Pittsburgh's last play all three guys on the outside bit on the fake!  All three!  No chance any of them could have stopped an inside run for a first down, but bit anyway.  Fields easily runs around all three.  Total lack of discipline.  The coaching staff owns a big part of this.  No way all these guys are that bad.  This D is  historically bad.

[UncleEarl]

1 minute ago, Jamie_B said:

 

 

Do they though? Or are we as fans overvaluing the talent that is on this team?

 

No defense in the NFL should be this bad.  It isn't just talent. 

[Jamie_B]

34 minutes ago, PatternMaster said:

 

I saw the same thing happen to Dan Quinn in Atlanta, they lost in the Superbowl and all of this "family/brotherhood" talk went out the window.

 

That stuffs works well when you have talented team that is performing well, but it's not then it falls flat because these guys are not family.

 

They are1099 contracted employees for non-profit organizations that will replace them as soon as they deem them unnecessary

 

 

And now Quinn is doing well in DC

 

Fans should be careful about wanting a guy out 

[Jamie_B]

Just now, UncleEarl said:

 

No defense in the NFL should be this bad.  It isn't just talent. 

 

The team we play this week despite having a hell of a good pass rusher in Parsons has allowed 44 and 47 points this season. With Mike Zimmer as their DC

[A Rock]

3 minutes ago, SF2 said:

I have a different take:  These guys are professionals and know exactly what their shortcomings are.  
 

Everyone realizes the defense SUCKS.  Sure, they will say the right things to the cameras but they know damn well what the problems are.

 

Luckily, they are keeping their opinions in house unlike some other teams.  We don’t need the “Same old Bengals” bullshit and the idiots blaming 89 year old Mike Brown for all the problems. 

The players are trying to say the right things. Zac Taylor says the same Pollyanna bullshit every week, which gets more ridiculous every week. My point is the hierarchy (and I don't care if it's Mike Brown or the family dog) isn't DOING anything to address glaring needs on the roster. And that definitely includes the coaches. How can anybody witness the incredible talent, as well as the incredible ineptitude on the field and conclude anything other than the team is ran very poorly. Not just player shortcomings (though there are plenty). Systemically hamstrung.

[|SF2|]

2 minutes ago, Jamie_B said:

 

 

And now Quinn is doing well in DC

 

Fans should be careful about wanting a guy out 

Yeah but is he simply 2020’s version of Marty Shottenheimer or can he seal the deal?  That Super Bowl loss was an epic choke job. 

[Jamie_B]

Just now, SF2 said:

Yeah but is he simply 2020’s version of Marty Shottenheimer or can he seal the deal?  That Super Bowl loss was an epic choke job. 

 

Remains to be seen. They dont have a very good defense and are still building that. But Daniels appears to be a legit QB. 

[UncleEarl]

1 minute ago, Jamie_B said:

 

The team we play this week despite having a hell of a good pass rusher in Parsons has allowed 44 and 47 points this season. With Mike Zimmer as their DC

 

Defenses have bad weeks.  One of those 40 point games was against Detroit.  They are pretty good.  Zimmer is new there and deserves some time.  The Dallas D also held the Stealers, a traditionally weak offense, to 17 points. 

 

It's not the same.