REALISTIC Zac Taylor Expectations

[BengalChris]

(10-13-2020, 12:59 PM)Fullrock Wrote: Those of you that are in the "fire Zac" camp, I'm wondering, exactly what your expectations have been in a season and 5 games?

In terms of the offensive line, the man inherited a team that had John Jerry and Andre Smith playing LT last year. Cordy Glenn (who he did not trade for) turned out to be a turd who just really didn't want to play football. Clint Boling decided for health reasons to retire. Jonah Williams got injured. First round pick Billy Price (who he did not draft) is a complete bust. They sign XSF who has played all of one game.

He inherited a team with one starting caliber WR in Tyler Boyd. First round pick John Ross is a complete bust. We all know the story with AJ.

He inherited a team with the worst LB corps in the NFL, and it wasn't even close.

They go out and spend the most they have ever spent in free agency. Trae Waynes has yet to play a snap. Mackensie Alexander is out. XSF is out. Now Reader is out for the season as Geno finally is able to play. And speaking of the defensive line, which should have been an absolute strength on this team, aside from Reader now being out and Geno being injured, Tupou opted out of the season, Glasgow failed his physical and was released, and Mike Daniels has been placed on IR.

Let's not forget, this season he has a rookie QB, and yes Joe Burrow is going to be great, but the fact of the matter is it takes some time to learn how to play QB in the NFL, to adjust to the speed of the game, and to develop that internal clock in your head where you know you have to get rid of the football. Yes, the O-line is not good, but some of the hits and sacks Joe has taken are directly attributed to himself. He's a rookie, and that was never more apparent than it was Sunday.

Look I know the mantra in the NFL is next man up. Every team suffers injuries, and the good teams figure out how to overcome them. The fact of the matter is this team has zero depth behind their starters. What Zac inherited last year was a pile of shit. Those of you who expected this team to make the playoffs this year were kidding yourselves, and that's if they stayed relatively healthy. Given that they haven't, temper your expectations.

I've stated my expectations several times, but will summarize here.

The 2018 team, which started out with success until AJ went down, then Dalton and the team was led by waiver wire pickup Jeff Driskel at QB. That team managed 6 wins.

The 2020 team has more talent.

So I expect, if Taylor is worthy of being a HC, that this team would at least match the 2018 record of 6 wins.

Sadly, there is little likelihood that this team will get to 6 wins. It will need 5 wins in the next 11 games.

In addition to the above, Dave Shula, the consensus worst HC in Bengals history, managed an 8-24 record in his first two years and had the newly drafted Dave Klingler as his QB. This pretty much places a floor on how to measure a HC. If you suck this bad as a HC, then possibly football is not the profession of choice.

Taylor's record is currently at 3-17-1. To even catch up with the dismal Shula, Taylor will need to lead the team to 5 more wins this season, the same as he needs to matching the 2018 team for the year.

There needs to be some stellar change if Taylor is even going to move up enough to match the previous worse coach in Bengals history.

When you consider how little Mike Brown gave Dave Shula to succeed and how much he has given Taylor, then you will understand my frustration with Taylor.