Zac Taylor Changed the Culture of Cincinnati Football

[Essex Johnson]

(12-20-2021, 02:54 AM)Frank Booth Wrote: When you start the year 5-2

It’s nothing but a disappointment when you currently sit at 8-6

Do not care how wacky the league has been this year.

??  That is like saying Miami started out 1-7, now stand 7-7 so even if they finish 8-9 it was a success since they started so bad 

It is a season of 17 games, it is not a season of 7 games etc... the Bengals were picked to finish last in a tough division now they are on the door step of being in 1st.. Enough Said....

[Sled21]

(12-20-2021, 10:42 AM)WeezyBengal Wrote: Zac Taylor has good football players on his team. That's really the difference.

Uh, so you're saying this is the first time we've had good players on the team?

[Frank Booth]

(12-20-2021, 10:45 AM)Essex Johnson Wrote: ??  That is like saying Miami started out 1-7, now stand 7-7 so even if they finish 8-9 it was a success since they started so bad 

It is a season of 17 games, it is not a season of 7 games etc... the Bengals were picked to finish last in a tough division now they are on the door step of being in 1st.. Enough Said....

No that would be disappointing because Miami had high expectations expectations this year after finishing 10-6 last season

[TecmoBengals]

(12-20-2021, 10:42 AM)WeezyBengal Wrote: Zac Taylor has good football players on his team. That's really the difference.

Which lends itself to bringing up the contemporary and overused comparison sport's fans latch onto. Is Zac Taylor our Mark Jackson and the Bengals need to eventually find a Steve Kerr? I suppose the "Steve Kerr" argument is that Zac should have more wins with his current talent?

Anyhow, not an important topic to debate but the whole coaching and talent topic is always interesting to me. It's never that simple though, Super Bowl winning teams need both to succeed.

[*PhilHos*]

(12-20-2021, 10:22 AM)Frank Booth Wrote: It’s context, really. Starting the year 5-2 changes your expectations immensely.

Now if we started the year 3-4, I’d be ecstatic about 8-6

You realize how ridiculous that sounds right? 8-6 is disappointing but it's also ecstatic from a certain point of view. How about looking at it as 8-6, still in playoff contention, 1 win away from a winning season, etc?

8-6 is only a disappointment if you were expecting 11-3 or better and we ALL know you weren't expecting that. 

[Frank Booth]

(12-20-2021, 10:49 AM)PhilHos Wrote: You realize how ridiculous that sounds right? 8-6 is disappointing but it's also ecstatic from a certain point of view. How about looking at it as 8-6, still in playoff contention, 1 win away from a winning season, etc?

8-6 is only a disappointment if you were expecting 11-3 or better and we ALL know you weren't expecting that. 

It’s really not that ridiculous. You guys need to lighten up a bit

[Sled21]

(12-20-2021, 10:42 AM)WeezyBengal Wrote: Zac Taylor has good football players on his team. That's really the difference.

Who brought those good football players to this team? 

[*PhilHos*]

(12-20-2021, 10:50 AM)Frank Booth Wrote: It’s really not that ridiculous. You guys need to lighten up a bit

Yes, it is. You're saying that a team that was predicted to be last in the division and that is currently in first place in the division, 1 win away from its first winning season in like 6 years, and has a very good chance to make the playoffs is a disappointment. 

Only one(s) who needs to lighten up is you and people who think like you.

[Au165]

I'm going to hijack this for a second to mention that he was absolutely right in rolling with Lou Anarumo. People will always go to the "he has good players" defense, but in reality you have to then acknowledge he had no players last year basically with injuries. He is still producing a quality defense this year playing Eli Apple as a full time outside corner, and has actually got average play out of him.

Related, I would move on from Waynes after the year and give Apple a 2 or 3 year low end CB2 contract. I'd still look to the draft for another one on day 2 potentially but I wouldn't be upset rolling with Awuzie/Apple/Hilton next year.

[SunsetBengal]

(12-20-2021, 10:22 AM)Frank Booth Wrote: It’s context, really. Starting the year 5-2 changes your expectations immensely.

Now if we started the year 3-4, I’d be ecstatic about 8-6

Considering that I thought this team would win 5-7 games this season, I'm liking the progress that they are making.  Sure, a couple of bad bounces go our way, and they could easily have double digits in the win column right now.  They aren't a dominating team yet, but most of the ingredients are there.  They just need to cook a 'lil bit longer.

[Essex Johnson]

(12-20-2021, 10:47 AM)Frank Booth Wrote: No that would be disappointing because Miami had high expectations expectations this year after finishing 10-6 last season

ok, go with your logic, Bengals were predicted to be last in division and have 6 wins.. so we have exceeded expectations.. correct ?

[XenoMorph]

(12-18-2021, 01:10 AM)BengalChris Wrote: First off, the Bengals were not on life support under Marvin. In 2018 they had a winning record until losing AJ and Dalton to season ending injuries. Who exactly was going to win with Driskel I ask?

Taylor turned it into a 2 win team and the worst record in the NFL and followed that up with a 4 win season.

Mike Brown has opened up the check book like never before, but Taylor is not winning like never before, and he's laid some serious eggs on the field.

Taylor has won a few games, but no where near as many as he should be given the talent the front office has provided him with. Taylor and the coaches do help with the draft, but it is the front office that does the selections.

Taylor has also lost a lot of games to bad teams, which is a marked sign of a bad team itself. Sure a bad team can get lucky sometimes, but to lose to bad teams so often is a fatal flaw. My God, losing to the Jets, losing to the Bears [and to Andy Dalton two years in a row].

The coaches are way underachieving with the talent this team has.

Taylor needs to win A LOT more and he needs the playoffs to keep his job.

this the only thing taylor gets any credit for is finally looking like a coach sometimes in his 3rd year

[*ochocincos*]

(12-18-2021, 01:34 AM)leonardfan40 Wrote: Fighting for a playoff spot with a young team and mediocre at best OL is way underachieving?

So you think we’ve got 53 pro bowlers on this roster or what?

This is a solid team with some nice talent and room for improvement, but it’s far from the most talented team in the league. Is it even the most talented team in the division?

Taylor cleaned house when he came in. It was needed as the team hadn’t made the playoffs in years and was aging. Even when they had made the playoffs they never won. A change of culture was needed and there’s no denying Taylor has done that. Is he going to finish the job and take this team to playoff winner and serious contender? Maybe, maybe not, but he certainly changed the culture for the better.

He actually didn't do much purging his first year. He tried to win with the guys he had, but it just wasn't a match.
You had a first-time HC who was also an inexperienced play caller trying to coach a team that had a lot of veterans playing a certain way.

Had the Bengals brought in a HC with more experience, perhaps they could have had more success.

I'm happy that there's been progress, although it wasn't as fast as I'd wanted.
If Taylor can get at least one more win this year, I'm ok with keeping him.
Next year there will be an expectation of being one of the better teams in the AFC though.
Playoff appearance and either a playoff win or first-round bye.
Anything else will be a letdown.

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

(12-20-2021, 01:41 PM)ochocincos Wrote: He actually didn't do much purging his first year. He tried to win with the guys he had, but it just wasn't a match.
You had a first-time HC who was also an inexperienced play caller trying to coach a team that had a lot of veterans playing a certain way.

Had the Bengals brought in a HC with more experience, perhaps they could have had more success.

I'm happy that there's been progress, although it wasn't as fast as I'd wanted.
If Taylor can get at least one more win this year, I'm ok with keeping him.
Next year there will be an expectation of being one of the better teams in the AFC though.
Playoff appearance and either a playoff win or first-round bye.
Anything else will be a letdown.

Now THIS is a fair and objective take. I 100 percent agree with all of it.

[Tiger Teeth]

(12-19-2021, 01:16 PM)Destro Wrote: I’m just here to say “Fire Zach Taylor.”

And I'm just here to rep this post.

[Fan_in_Kettering]

(12-20-2021, 10:49 AM)PhilHos Wrote: You realize how ridiculous that sounds right? 8-6 is disappointing but it's also ecstatic from a certain point of view. How about looking at it as 8-6, still in playoff contention, 1 win away from a winning season, etc?

8-6 is only a disappointment if you were expecting 11-3 or better and we ALL know you weren't expecting that. 

My preseason prediction was 2-15. I’ve never been so glad to be so completely wrong.

[reuben.ahmed]

(12-20-2021, 10:50 AM)Frank Booth Wrote: It’s really not that ridiculous. You guys need to lighten up a bit

Comon now they haven't been to a comedy club in their life!

[basballguy]

(12-20-2021, 10:36 AM)Tomkat Wrote: Say what you want about Zac (I still think he gets out-coached too often) but yesterday was a game the "old" Bengals would have found a way to lose.

The announcers made sure we knew that too with as many times as they dropped Stokleys name

[Soonerpeace]

Fact: There are only 3 AFC teams with a better season record today. If Zac Taylor beats the Ravens Sunday this year in the toughest division in the NFL he will finish 4-0 versus Tomlin and Harbaugh. I don’t think fans realize how bad the losing culture was and the roster. Oh well you’d better like Taylor he’s not going anywhere.


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[KillerGoose]

(12-21-2021, 07:16 PM)Soonerpeace Wrote: Fact: There are only 3 AFC teams with a better season record today. If Zac Taylor beats the Ravens Sunday this year in the toughest division in the NFL he will finish 4-0 versus Tomlin and Harbaugh. I don’t think fans realize how bad the losing culture was and the roster. Oh well you’d better like Taylor he’s not going anywhere.


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I'm overall happy with Taylor and his performance this year but I am very hard pressed to call the AFC North the toughest division in football. It is a division made up middling teams but none of the teams are very good. Last I checked, using SRS, the AFC North was the 5th best division in football. By overall wins, they are good, but taking into account their SOS and margin of victories, they are all middling teams (which lines up with the eye test as well).