Zac Taylor: Bengals loss ‘unacceptable’ and ‘humbling’

Cincinnati Bengals coach Zac Taylor called Sunday’s loss to the previously winless New York Jets “unacceptable” and “humbling,” but had no real answers as to what led to the late collapse that cost the game.

The Bengals just needed someone to step up on defense and make a play, he said.

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Despite leading by as many as 15 points in the third quarter and by 14 with 10:24 remaining, the Bengals could not hold on as the Jets scored touchdowns on their last three drives. Breece Hall ran in the first two of those, then threw the game-winning pass to tight end Mason Taylor on a halfback option to secure a 39-38 win for the Jets on Sunday at Paycor Stadium.

Cincinnati (3-5) hadn’t trailed all game, but Joe Flacco was unable to successfully lead a final comeback drive.

Here are three takeaways from the loss:

1. The defense really is that bad

During the Bengals’ four-game losing streak earlier this year, it was easy to excuse the defense, to some extent, because the offense was doing nothing to help keep them off the field. Cincinnati made plays early to keep the team in most of those games but ended up falling apart in the second half, and it seemed like fatigue factored into those situations.

On Sunday, the Bengals left no question the defense was the problem.

Joe Flacco had led the offense to scores on six of the first eight drives to build a cushion that should have been enough against a Jets team that was averaging just 18.4 points a game and whose owner had publicly blamed quarterback Justin Fields for a winless start. Tyrod Taylor replaced Fields last week but was ruled out due to a knee injury, and apparently, all Fields needed was a confidence-booster against a bad Bengals defense.

The Jets racked up 502 yards of offense – topping the 500 mark for just the second time in 25 years, with the first also coming against the Bengals in 2021 – and the 38 points scored by Cincinnati’s offense wasn’t enough. It’s the same thing that plagued the Bengals last year when Joe Burrow was leading the league’s best passing offense.

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

“I think someone needs to step up and lead the group,” coach Taylor said. “That’s what I’m waiting to see. Someone step up and lead the group and take some accountability over there and get this thing going the right way.”

It didn’t help that Trey Hendrickson re-aggravated his hip injury that sidelined him last week and caused him to miss the entire second half. The Bengals defense looks drastically different when he’s on the field and healthy.

Cincinnati especially struggled against the run, which has been a common theme this year as opponents averaged 137.3 rushing yards against the Bengals prior to Sunday. The Jets finished with 254 yards on the ground, including 133 yards for Hall, and missed tackles and poor angles continued to be an issue.

“We have to take that to heart as a defense when the offense scores 38 points and we can’t come out with the win,” safety Jordan Battle said. “They score 39, that’s tough.”

2. Offense stalled out when needed most

The Bengals were moving the ball well through three quarters, and the running game especially took off in the second half, leading to a 32-yard touchdown run for Samaje Perine and a 1-yard carry by Chase Brown that put Cincinnati up 38-24 with 10:24 left.

However, New York responded to both of those with touchdowns to make a six-point game with the help of a pair of two-point conversions, and the Bengals suddenly were not able to move the ball. The Jets forced a three-and-out, then scored the go-ahead touchdown with 1:54 remaining, while Flacco was rushing back to the locker room to tend to a right shoulder injury he suffered on his only sack of the game that previous drive.

Jake Browning started warming up, but the crowd cheered as Flacco ran back to the sideline during the kickoff after the Jets took the lead. The Bengals moved 20 yards on six plays, and the game ended on a second drop by Andre Iosivas that series, as booing ensued.

Flacco said he was just making sure everything was OK and he felt good after the game, but it was a frustrating way to end his third start.

Ja’Marr Chase said he and Tee Higgins, who had a 44-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter, were getting doubled, but Flacco acknowledged that wasn’t an excuse. The Bengals knew that would happen and found ways to overcome that earlier in the game but couldn’t in crunch time.

“We got the touchdown in the fourth quarter, but they had two stops come up late,” Flacco said. “You put yourself in third-and-longs, and a few plays don’t hit like they did earlier, and you don’t convert a third down, and that’s how it goes. The drives we were scoring well on, they were some big-time conversions, and the one we did score on the fourth we were rolling through a little bit. You have to expect at some point they’ll come up tough, and you have to make some plays. We didn’t do it.”

3. Now what?

The Bengals offense keeps making strides, particularly in the running game, but they will need drastic improvement on defense to avoid another season like 2025.

Flacco’s arrival gave the team hope in Joe Burrow’s absence, and that was validated last week with the win over Pittsburgh, but the Bengals missed a chance to get to .500 on Sunday and it was especially disappointing to fall to a struggling Jets team.

Taylor said the team will have to “dig deep to bounce back next week” against Chicago before going into the bye.

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“It was right there for us to grab and create some momentum for ourselves, and we missed the opportunity. Quite simple. You’ve got to give credit to the Jets. We had them down multiple times by big scores, and we just never delivered that knockout blow and they just kept hanging in there. … We saw the five one-score games (New York lost) and we saw end of games, they had their opportunities and they just hadn’t been able to capitalize on them yet. Here we are, we’re the team they got it against. It’s unfortunate.”

If there is one thing to take as a positive to build on, it’s the continued improvement in the running game. Cincinnati averaged 56.7 yards rushing through the first six games, but topped 85 yards for the first time last week, rushing for 142 yards in a Week 7 win over the Steelers, and finished with 181 yards Sunday. Perine led with 93 yards on nine carries.