The Cincinnati Bengals are staring down another season that’s slipping out of their hands. At 3–8 and riding a four-game losing streak after Sunday’s 26–20 loss to the New England Patriots, frustration in Cincinnati is boiling over. And right on cue, the noise has returned: Fans are once again calling for head coach Zac Taylor to hand over the offensive play-calling.

Normally, this chorus pops up when the Bengals crawl out of the gate, when the offense hits one of its famous midseason dry spells, or when Joe Burrow goes down and everything falls apart. That’s usually when people wonder: Is Taylor holding the offense and the team back? But this time, that’s not really the question. In fact, it’s pretty unlikely that play-calling is the root of the problem right now. Because even though the calls for Taylor to step aside are loud, the motivation behind them is completely different this time.

For the Bengals, Zac Taylor’s offense isn’t the issue, but the defense is

Zac Taylor might have the final say on offensive play-calling, but he’s not sitting there dictating every snap by himself. The Bengals’ system is collaborative. The offensive staff helps build the plan, Taylor manages the big picture, and the quarterback gets freedom to change plays at the line. That’s why the whole Taylor needs to give up play-calling argument hits differently this time.

People aren’t mad at the offense. They want Taylor to stop hovering over that side of the ball and start fixing the real problem: the defense. And you can tell why. When Burrow went down with turf toe, Jake Browning couldn’t keep things afloat. But the moment Joe Flacco stepped in, the offense caught fire. Sure, the Bengals have lost four straight, but that skid isn’t on the offense.

Since Flacco took over, Cincinnati has been putting up around 27 points per game over the last six weeks. Flacco himself has thrown for 1,636 yards and 13 touchdowns, easily good enough to win games. The only catch? The Bengals are 1–5 in those six games because Al Golden’s defense keeps getting messy. It all started in Week 8 against the New York Jets, a struggling offense that suddenly hung 39 on Cincinnati.

And instead of responding the very next week, the defense unraveled even more. In Week 9, they surrendered 47 to the Chicago Bears and gave up the game-winner with 17 seconds left. The bye week didn’t help either. Fans expected a reset in Week 11, but what they got was more of the same: 34–12 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, followed by 26-20 to the Patriots in Week 12.

The pattern couldn’t be clearer. Flacco’s offense is doing its job. The defense is the anchor, dragging everything underwater. Look at the numbers: The Bengals have given up 360 points in 11 games, that’s 32.7 points per game, and at the bottom of the league, while allowing 418 yards per game. And if you narrow it down to the stretch since Week 6, the defense is bleeding almost 35 a game. No offense can outrun that.

So yeah, it might not be Zac Taylor’s play-calling that’s holding Cincinnati back. It’s the defense collapsing every week. And the best part? Even Burrow is backing up his head coach on that front.

Joe Burrow believes that the Bengals have good coaches

After suffering a brutal toe injury in Week 2, Joe Burrow is finally gearing up for his return in a Thanksgiving Day matchup against the Baltimore Ravens. He’s been sidelined for weeks, but he hasn’t been disconnected. Burrow’s been watching every bit of the Bengals’ struggles, the losses piling up, and the heat aimed at the coaching staff. And that’s exactly why, heading into his return, he stepped up and publicly defended them.

“We have good coaches,” Burrow said. “There’s not a scheme in the NFL that is so revolutionary that it’s going to completely change the way a player plays. Coaches work really hard and are smart. They work a lot of hours to put players in position to make plays. At the end of the day, you have to go make plays and you have to play great within that system. At the end of the day, players have to take some accountability and go play really good.”

Burrow didn’t call out the defense by name, but the message was pretty obvious: he doesn’t think Zac Taylor or the coaching staff are the problem. In his eyes, the players need to take ownership of what’s happening on the field, especially with Cincinnati sitting dead last in the league, giving up 32.7 points per game. Now, with Burrow gearing up for his return, we’ll see whether the Bengals can finally turn things around… or if another defensive reality check is waiting for them.

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