The Cincinnati Bengals came into the 2024 with such hope of returning to the playoffs and battling it out for a chance to return to the Super Bowl. Head Coach Zac Taylor has watched his team lose in one score games time and time again this season. Cincinnati traveled to Los Angeles to take on the surging Chargers in prime time. Sunday Night Football was supposed to be a showcase of two quarterbacks drafted in the same draft class in Bengals Joe Burrow and the Chargers Justin Herbert.
Cincinnati would find themselves in an all too familiar place on Sunday night, trailing in the second half. In the third quarter the Chargers had stretched their lead to 27-6 and it was starting to look like a blowout was in the works. Burrow and the Bengals offense would respond though, rattling off 21 unanswered points to tie the game up 27-27. Unfortunately, kicker Evan McPherson would miss two potential game winning field goals and allow the Chargers to stay alive. Herbert would drive Los Angeles down the field, where former Ohio State Buckeye JK Dobbins would have the game sealing 29-yard touchdown run.
What More Can Joe Burrow Do?
Cincy fans would see another full display of just how great their quarterback can be on Sunday night. The former National Champion and Heisman winner, Joe Burrow would pass for 356 yards and three touchdown passes. The former LSU quarterback has been putting up similar stat lines all season long, and despite that has come away with more losses than wins. On the season, Burrow has passed for 3,028 yards and 27 touchdowns to only four interceptions. If Cincinnati had a winning record, he would be one of the front runners for the MVP award.
This begs the question, what more can one man do? It seems to be the same story every week for the Bengals, Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase or this week it was Tee Higgins have a phenomenal game and still they fall short of capturing the win. The defense has to shoulder much of the blame, outside of star pass rusher Trey Hendrickson there simply hasn’t been many bright spots on the defensive unit.
Star wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase also inferred that the problems may lie with HC Zac Taylor. When asked in a post-game interview on Sunday night about the team’s struggles, Chase would answer: “I play football on the field, I don’t call plays for us, you know? So, I can’t really do nothing.”
Bengals Fans Call for Zac Taylor to Be Fired
The Cincinnati Bengals are one of the examples of a team with a highly paid franchise quarterback severely underperforming this year. That alone adds more pressure for the team to succeed and contend for championships. Taylor has been at the helm in Cincinnati since 2019 and has a losing record to show for it. In part due to Burrow missing multiple seasons due to injury.
However, Taylor did have the Bengals playing in the Super Bowl not long ago after going to back-to-back AFC Championship games. Nevertheless, Cincinatti fans believe that they’ve seen enough, and demand changes be made. It’s hard to tell if Taylor is on the hot seat, Cincinatti ownership is typically very discreet with these matters and try to keep them in house. If the fans have any influence though, the Bengals would be a very enticing job for any coach in the market.
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