In the Midst of ‘Firing’ Demands, Bengals Head Coach Zac Taylor Blames Himself and His Players

HC Zac Taylor became a target to the fans after the Bengals’ playoff hopes took a major hit. Post the recent loss, Taylor acknowledged the lack of full execution and agreed with the fingers pointing toward himself and his players. The Steelers have now mastered the code of defeating the Bengals this season, grabbing their second victory against the side in just a month. The last loss of 16-10 was a hard pill to swallow, but the current defeat has taken the onus of reducing the Bengals’ chances of qualifying for the playoffs close to none.

The Bengals were handed a proper thrashing 34-11 by the Steelers in a single-sided affair. The Steelers secured a 21-0 lead in the first half and the Bengals were left only catching up to the score in the rest of the game. After securing three straight wins with their new QB Jake Browning, the Bengals had a 23.1% of qualifying for the next stage but this loss has lowered it to just 2.8%. While questions are being raised against the management and players of the side, Zac Taylor elaborated on the outlook of the loss and taking up the responsibility.

Zac Taylor pinpoints the moment of defeat against the Steelers

At the start of the post-match presser, a reporter asked Zac Taylor, “Where exactly do you feel that game got away?” Zac Taylor quickly acknowledged the question and pinpointed the moment the Steelers scored a 21-point lead, “We put ourselves in a hole real quick with the 21 to nothing.” He further shed light on, “When you do that, it just changes the flow of the game.”

Taylor made his admission that he and his team must take ownership. He pointed out the mistakes, “Turnovers on offense, missed opportunities there, that was big plays on defense”. He appreciated the fightback in the second half but the lead proved out to be too much for the Bengals to overcome. He shared his feelings on the loss, highlighting how it was a ‘humbling day.’

The HC mentioned how he wants the Bengals to quickly work on the corrections before facing the Chiefs next week. He then made a brutal admission, “We just haven’t played well enough,” earning a lot of backlash from the NFL world and the fans.

Taylor facing firing demands amidst missing out on Joe Burrow’s assistance

The fans and the critics have put Zac Taylor under thorough scrutiny, with admirers of the team even going ahead and asking for the HC to be fired. Some fans went on to mention Taylor as a “merchant” of Joe Burrow and called him out for being too dependent on Ja’Marr Chase and Joe Burrow.

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Zac Taylor even himself might be feeling the lack of his star players as one more defeat will put them out of the playoff race mathematically too. The host of TheLinesUS, Matt Brown, came forth with a brutal reality check, commenting, “Having Burrow and Chase masks the ineptitude of Zac Taylor so much.”

It seems like the loss for the Bengals has opened the gates for more than just one trouble, making things extremely difficult for the side.

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