Why the Cincinnati Bengals should clean house after Jets loss

The Cincinnati Bengals are coming off the worst loss in recent memory after allowing the winless New York Jets to come to town and leave with their first win of the season.

The Bengals offense posted 38 points, which should be more than enough, but football is a team sport, and the Bengals defense gave up a Jets season-best 39 points.

Cincinnati has lost dozens of games it shouldn’t have over the past decade, but this loss simply feels different in many ways.

The Bengals’ defense allowed Justin Fields and the Jets offense to post over 500 total yards of offense, by far the most of the season for that unit, and it is not even close.

Fields had just been benched for Tyrod Taylor less than a week before Sunday and dragged by the owner of the New York Jets in the media, and yet here we are.

The Zac Taylor-led Bengals have become the ‘get-right’ game for struggling teams, and it is costing the franchise valuable years in the Joe Burrow era.

As much as this defense has struggled, this game really showed me how behind and concerning this unit truly is.

This loss in particular truly showed all the die-hard Bengals fans how much this franchise has failed, from top to bottom, in building a team around Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins.

There should be some serious accountability taken by Duke Tobin, Zac Taylor, and many more, yet Taylor says the issue is that there is no one stepping up on the defense to make big plays and lead the unit.

This is a unit that is unable to tackle or even simply attempt the right angles for a tackle in general.

Unfortunately, outside of Trey Hendrickson, there truly isn’t anyone on this roster who is good enough to make those plays, and that showed on Sunday.

The Bengals have given no long-term security to the best player on this defense in Hendrickson, and one of the captains, Logan Wilson, has been benched for a rookie and has requested a trade.

Again, this is a systematic failure by the entire franchise.

“General Manager” Duke Tobin has held his position for over 20 years and is unable to properly draft, which is job number one.

For example, in the Burrow era, the Bengals have spent two first round picks in the past three years on defensive ends Myles Murphy and Shemar Stewart.

The Jets have one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL and have been unable to keep Fields protected all season, until Sunday.

Both Murphy and Stewart combined for ZERO pressures and made no plays in all four quarters combined.

Tobin and his staff have made it clear they do not know how to draft productive talent, and it is becoming more obvious than ever before.

It is easy to select guys like Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins, but outside of that, it has been nearly a disaster since 2020.

With how poorly this front office has drafted, the franchise is now behind the 8-ball and will need to dig out of a potentially crippling hole before Burrow exits his prime.

The frustrations don’t stop with drafting issues; there is also a potentially even bigger problem with free agency.

The Bengals somehow hit on Jessie Bates in the draft years ago and actually were able to select an All-Pro caliber talent at the free safety position.

Instead of keeping their drafted homegrown talent in Cincinnati, they let him walk because he was ‘asking for too much’ and has been unable to keep the safety position above water since with guys like Nick Scott, Vonn Bell, Geno Stone, and Jordan Battle.

The Bengals also successfully found a gem in free agency back in 2020, and his name is DJ Reader.

Reader was one of the anchors to the defense that helped turn this franchise around with his run-stuffing ability and pressure he generated up the middle.

The front office felt he was not worth another extension a few years ago and let him walk as well. Immediately after walking, he was signed by the Detroit Lions (a team serious about winning), and he has not missed a step since his season-ending injury in Cincinnati a few years ago.

The pattern repeats itself for the Bengals front office, and the team has now been unable to fill that Reader void with guys like Sheldon Rankins, TJ Slaton, Kris Jenkins, McKinnley Jackson, and even Mike Pennel.

From drafting guys like Murphy and Stewart, as well as letting guys like Bates and Reader leave, it is clear the Bengals have completely failed in so many different ways, and that is why we find ourselves here now.

With all that being said, this coaching staff is just as bad as the front office staff.

Taylor has shown year in and year out that he is unable to out-coach anyone in the NFL and can’t win consistently without a healthy Joe Burrow.

Injuries happen in this league, and it is up to the coaching staff to pivot and find ways to adapt… Something Taylor has not done.

Allowing an 0-7 team to come into your stadium and beat you should be enough for a major shake-up with the Bengals staff and even clean house from the GM down, but this is the only franchise that will not do that.

With the drafting issue, coaching issue, and playing issues, the Bengals now find themselves in a potential rebuild AFTER managing to get Burrow, Chase, and Higgins signed to long-term deals.

We are potentially looking at three straight years without a playoff appearance during Burrow’s time in Cincinnati, and words can’t even describe how utterly inexcusable that is for a franchise.

Unacceptable. Something needs to change.

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