The Bengals rallied from a 14-point deficit in the final two minutes Sunday, with the help of an onside kick recovery, to take a lead with 54 seconds left, and the Chicago Bears drove 72 yards on four plays to win the game, 47-42, on Colston Loveland’s 58-yard touchdown reception.
It was the second straight game the Bengals scored 38 points or more and still lost, while the defense has surrendered a combined 86 points and 1,080 yards against the Jets and Bears. Last year, almost the entire defensive staff was overhauled after a 9-8 finish that included similar struggles through a 4-8 start.
Taylor stands by the staff he has put together.
“These are good football coaches,” Taylor said. “They’ve been successful everywhere they’ve been. And so, again, we’re still in the first half of the season. We all know we’ve got to play better as a football team. There’s been challenges our offense has faced over the course of the season. We’ve worked through them. We’re playing better for it. There’s challenges our defense are facing right now. I’m confident that we’re going to work through it. We’re going to play better football and find a way to win some games.”
Taylor said he “absolutely” believes in defensive coordinator Al Golden and his assistants. Golden is “working like crazy” and “doing everything he can to uncover every single stone” to help the defense play better.
Despite a vote of confidence from Taylor and from players like Geno Stone and Jordan Battle in interviews Monday, Golden didn’t shy away from taking responsibility for the defense’s letdown Sunday.
“At the end of the day it rests with me,” Golden said. “Special teams did a heckuva job. Obviously the offense did an excellent job, and they’re scoring in bunches right now. I have to do a better job, there’s no doubt about it. I think from a scheme standpoint there’s nothing that’s not on the table. We have to examine all that. … I do take it personally and I know the coaches take it personally.”
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
“Know that when outcomes like this occur it’s never just one simple fix. There are a lot of elements that go into it. We just got to get back to work on it.”
Battle said he feels like the defense has been put in good positions to make plays, but a lack of execution has been the problem. That comes down to things like communication and technique on some of the basic skills, like tackling.
Stone also defended Golden and his system.
“It’s definitely not the scheme,” Stone said. “Like I said, it’s people doing their job. That’s all it really comes down to. I mean, that’s really all I got to say about it. You got to do your job, and it has nothing to do with the scheme because the scheme that he put together is setting everyone up to be successful. If they do their job, if we do our job, it’s all going to work, and we would be in situations that we would not be in right now.”
So if it’s not the coaching, it’s not the scheme, it must be the personnel?
Golden said personnel wasn’t the issue Sunday, and Taylor said he believes the solution is already in the building, in terms of the staff and the player personnel the Bengals need to be able to win games. The staff will continue to look at potential changes to the lineup or ways to get the most out of the roster.
Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin has not been available to media since the start of training camp, and Taylor said he couldn’t speak for anyone else but noted he and Tobin are on the same page when it comes to discussing the team’s needs.
When asked why the Bengals are OK keeping the status quo amid such historically bad struggles on defense, Taylor said he has faith the team can fight through adversity like it has in the past.
“We’ve been through this situation many years and come out the other side, playing for championships, winning divisions, by sticking with what we believe in and not doing what everybody wants you to do,” Taylor said. “I’m thankful that in 2020 that they didn’t kick me out of here so we were able to go to the Super Bowl the next year. And so again, I believe in the people that we’ve hired. I sit in there and watch these guys coach. I know what they’re made of. I know where we can continue to grow. So when you believe in people, you don’t just make a gut reaction from what people want to see that aren’t necessarily a part of it. I understand the frustration. I get it. I’d be frustrated, too, if I was outside the building. We’re gonna get it fixed.”
“There’s some things we’ve got to clean up and get better. There’s a coaching side to that, too, where we’ve got to find ways to push the right buttons for these guys to get them to do it exactly how we want to do it. But I trust that we can get that done.”
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