The Bengals are playing games with no implications for their postseason in December for the first time in five years, but head coach Zac Taylor won't call them meaningless when the stretch starts Sunday in Miami.
With quarterback Joe Burrow three games into his comeback from turf toe surgery that wiped out 8.5 games of his season, Taylor says he's playing the final three games, "Because we want to win."
"I just want to take it one game at a time. I don't want to focus on all three, and that's what I told our guys," Taylor said Monday. "We've got a lot of obviously frustration on our end because we haven't played up to the standard that we believe we should be held accountable to. So you get an opportunity on Sunday to go down there and show the world how we're going to handle adversity and that's all we're going to focus on this week. "
So that's why it's going to be Burrow vs. the Dolphins' Tua Tagovailoa, the first pick in the 2020 draft, against the fifth, respectively, and Burrow has the edge with the Dolphins playing in Pittsburgh Monday night as Tua tries to win his first sub-freezing game.
"Certainly them playing on a shorter week is, you're not going to sugarcoat that, an advantage for us," Taylor said. "To have seven days as opposed to them having six."
An extended forecast in Miami for next Sunday has kickoff at 82 degrees.
Joespeak
Taylor heard Burrow's it's-on-me remarks to his teammates following Sunday's game in which they suffered their first shutout together, and he was glad to hear it after Burrow posted the second-lowest passer rating of his career at 58.2, ahead of only the 2023 opener in Cleveland he battled an injured calf.
"I was proud that Joe did that. That wasn't his best game he's played since he's been here, certainly, and for whatever reason that was the cold or whatever doesn't really matter at this point," Taylor said. "I thought it was good. He took accountability in front of the team last night, took accountability in here, took accountability with me. I take accountability. I played a big part in that as well. So I think it's good to see when your leaders do that and I'm not surprised that he did that. That's who he is."
Bosses Take Note Of Defense
Taylor and defensive coordinator Al Golden are looking at the five games since the bye and are heartened by a defense that has allowed just over 20 points per game.
"Nobody wants to hear it," Taylor said." But I do think there are things on defense that have really improved, particularly since the bye."
Both Taylor and Golden point to the lack of missed assignments and more pressure on the quarterback. In their last three games they have at least three sacks after getting 13 in the nine games before the bye.
"They made mistakes earlier. Those mistakes are starting to disappear," Taylor said. "We're getting pressure on the quarterback and really affecting the game that way, maybe a lot more so than we did. I think leading up to the bye that's really happening, there's still some tackling issues that came up yesterday where we've got to improve, but I think as a wholesale, when you look at the scope of a game, guys have done a much better job in that area.
"I think the energy's good. The discipline's been really good. They're starting to play through this scheme the last couple of weeks. They've gotten a ton of experience in it."
Golden takes a look at the red zone, where the Bengals have held teams to less than a touchdown eight times in the 14 red-zone trips since the bye. "That's better."
And while the third-down conversion rate is the same before-and-after the bye at 43%, "The biggest growth that we made was (third down and) seven to 10 (yards). I think teams are like nine percent since the bye."
Plus, he thinks the bye put his rookie linebackers in a good place, particularly MIKE Barrett Carter and his green dot helmet that signals in the play from Golden. Demetrious Knight Jr., the other rookie backer, had his first two NFL sacks Sunday.
"One of the biggest takeaways for me at the bye was it gave the two inside backers a chance to reset. And I've just seen a lot of growth since then," Golden said. "I don't see Barrett struggling to get us lined up or run the game or anything. And he was obviously thrust into a challenging situation starting with Green Bay and he just needed a reset. He needed to get away from it for a couple days, and he had a good reset. And he's been getting this lined up since."
Plagued by tackling problems, Carter has one miss in the last four games, according to PFF. He's one of the young guys Golden has applauded for stepping into the void of the loss of two captains via the Logan Wilson trade and Trey Hendrickson injury in a defense made over in mid-season.
"With that void, obviously (veteran) B.J. (Hill) has stepped up big time. I think (third-year) cornerback) DJ Turner is one for sure. I think (third-year safety) Jordan Battle is one. Barrett Carter is another. (Fifth-year edge) Joe Ossai. I think there's been a number of guys. "When you're down on the goal line, or you need a red-zone stop , or whatever the case may be, man, you've got to have multiple guys leading at multiple levels in terms of what's about to transpire for what we need to get done. And we're getting that from those guys that I just mentioned."
Slants and Screens
Golden may get first-round edge Shemar Stewart (knee) back for the first time in five games. Injuries have wiped out nine games for Stewart and Golden is anxious to see where he is.
"He looked good last week. Obviously, it wasn't close enough to contribute. I know that is weighing heavily on his mind," Golden said. "He wants to contribute, and I'm as excited as anybody because I was really excited early in the year before he got injured about how he was playing and setting edges and running to the ball and all those things. He needs to just go and get healthy and find the joy in playing again because it's been a rough go for him. And I'm hoping that he'll do that. I'd be anxious to see that." …
Taylor talked about building a wall around himself to focus on wins rather than the critics. And Golden, a two-time college head coach, gave him high grades and threw in a little English seminar to boot.
"I think Zac is consistently consistent. He's the same guy every day. He truly cares about the staff, the culture, the players and the players respond to that," Golden said. "I think he's as good as anybody I've seen that just blocks out the noise. He's been around long enough, he'll tell you that he's seen both sides of the spectrum, and you've got to treat both those imposters the same. I don't mean to quote famous poets, but that's the truth."
He was quoting "If," a classic poem by Rudyard Kipling published in the first decade of the 20th century about the pursuit of stoicism, self-control, and humility …
There was a big If at the end of the first half Sunday when Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson launched a killing 26-yard touchdown bomb in the last 23 seconds that beat safety Geno Stone to the pylon to gut punch the Bengals going into the locker room down, 14-0.
"I think Geno would be the first to say he would like to have that one back, " Golden said. "Just like I would like to have several calls back. It's never just one person, but on that particular play I think we can defend it better." …
Taylor said wide receiver Tee Higgins (concussion) is still in protocol …
The Bengals lost a batch of players during the game, such as returner Charlie Jones (ankle), defensive tackle Kris Jenkins (ankle), right tackle Amarius Mims (knee), and tight end Noah Fant (ankle). But Taylor said he didn't anticipate any of them being ruled out for Miami, but he stressed it's early in the week …
