Zac Taylor affirms Bengals will focus on correcting a surprising new issue on offense
By John Sheeran,
17 hours ago
One play remained until the two-minute warning on Sunday night. Cincinnati Bengals running back Chase Brown took his ninth carry of the evening towards the left side and cut up field for a critical first down conversion. With the ball on his left side, New York Giants linebacker Micah McFadden made the play he wanted by tackling Brown at his left arm and popping the pigskin free.
A scrum ensued a few seconds later and about nine yards down the field. Brown and tight end Drew Sample's efforts to recover the fumble helped knock the ball out of bounds, avoiding a disaster of a turnover.
Exactly one play later, Brown ran in a 30-yard touchdown that sealed the Bengals a 17-7 win , bumping them to 2-4 on the season. Had the ball bounced another way, we could be sitting here discussing a 1-5 record and really looking at the latest mock drafts.
It didn't cost the Bengals this time, but ball security is indeed a real issue for this team.
Bengals are a lot more prone to fumbles so far in 2024
This hasn't been the case for the past three seasons. Weapons for the Bengals' offense put the ball on the ground just five times all of last season, just four times in 16 games back in 2022, and seven times in a full 17-game slate in 2021.
Through six games in 2024, the Bengals' pass catchers and tailbacks have already fumbled five times, with two of them popping free this past Sunday night in a close call against the Giants.
Only one of Sunday's fumbles was recovered by the opposition when Zack Moss coughed it up in the third quarter. Had Brown's error resulted in a turnover, who knows how that game turns out?
Head coach Zac Taylor knows this can't continue, especially in an AFC North matchup this Sunday against the Cleveland Browns. What's already a basic teaching point will need to be hammered home going forward.
"We address it," Taylor said Monday to reporters. "Our backs have really done a good job, with the exception of the two times we had yesterday. But again, just got to look at the last game and say it wasn't good enough and make sure it continues to be a point of emphasis.
"It's hard to talk about it more than we do. Our guys know possessing the ball is critical, especially in a road divisional game coming up."
Since Taylor was hired in 2019, the Bengals and Browns have always combined for at least two turnovers in all 10 of their meetings.
The Bengals have won just three of those 10 games and won the turnover battle in two of them. Each team had one turnover in the Bengals' 23-10 win back in 2022.
"This will be a big part of that game," Taylor said. "Ball security and winning the turnover battle. And so again, we'll continue to highlight it and make it a point of emphasis again."
It's a simple variable, but a telling one nonetheless in this matchup.
As the Browns continue to struggle with Deshaun Watson , anything to tip the scales in their favor can make this a much closer game than it should be for the Bengals. If their ball security woes persist on Sunday, they may not be so lucky like they were in New York.
he's not bringing out the talent in these guys at all he's been too soft with him if you start benching them for not doing their job and missing tackles and hold on to the ball can you get better production out of these players when you hold them accountable.
Stoney Acoff
8h ago
Zach Taylor got good men on the field good talent you don't know how to coach him you run the same place you run no trick plays and he's weakest water softest butter you don't put people on the bench when they supposed to he's just let them go out there and keep making mistakes mistakes out the mistake out the mistake instead of putting their ass sitting them down put somebody in there who's going to do their f****** job
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