Will Bengals Offense Change This Season? | Zac Taylor Taking a Step Back?

Will Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor take a step back on offense this season?
James Rapien and Jake Liscow react to a recent quote from Taylor, plus they talk about Joe Burrow, Dan Pitcher and the state of the Bengals' offense going into the 2024 season.
Join the Locked on Bengals Subtext Community: joinsubtext.com/lockedonbengals
Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…
🎧 link.chtbl.com...
Locked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More
🎧 linktr.ee/Lock...
Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!
eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotors.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.
GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms Apply.
FanDuelFanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. Right now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning GUARANTEED That’s A HUNDRED AND FIFTY BUCKS - with any winning FIVE DOLLAR BET! Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started.
FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

[@uog293]

Nobody is asking for a run first offense they are asking for a balanced offense that can keep the pressure off the qb the line and the defense. You need to be able to run the ball to allow the passes- we have to beat two high and running is the way especially in the cold and late in the season

[@johnbach2380]

With this qb wr core... the team should be humming on offense every week

[@BeaverThomas]

Wrote those at the same time @JohnBach

[@uog293]

Corps*

[@jp27whodey31]

I agree. There were weeks last year where it looked like there was no game plan at all

[@pRODIGAL_sKEPTIC]

The significant personnel change in Jermaine Burton coinciding w a new coordinator is something we need to talk about. The safety valve role of the steady Tyler Boyd replaced by significant snaps from Burton who can separate deep.. this is what could realistically make them a top offense

[@forcealchemist2603]

I'm hoping Burrow gets to the point where he's the defacto offensive coordinator like Peyton Manning was back in the day.

[@desmonddaly484]

A more consistent/reliable run game (even at 15-20 total carries a game) and play action (marrying of run/pass game) = cleaner pocket for Joe. And more unpredictability… more consistent high scoring… there are plenty of drives the offense kinda stalls out. As Joe said “Theyre good game to game” but the next step is being good “series to series.” Even the Dynastic pass first (40-50 passes a game) Patriots emphasized having an efficient run game. Their play calling was masterfully varied…

[@trumanL07]

exactly

[@liamzechman2143]

We haven't been a top 5 offense with all this talent and the second best QB in the league. Zac Taylor is a great head coach and there is no shame in admitting you aren't the best play caller and allowing someone else to take over those responsibilities. Zac doesn't need to be Sean McVay or Kyle Shanahan he needs to be the best form of Zac Taylor he can be.

[@Joe-zk7ps]

What's your metric?

[@uog293]

​@@Joe-zk7pslol all of them, ypg, PPG, off-eff, dvoa

[@brandonwhodeyer8531]

2021 points scored : 7th. 2022 points scored : 8th. That's with a horrible offensive line one year and a average line the next year. 2023 would've been no different if jb9 was healthy. Talk about talent. Truth is we have really good skill position players and yes the 2nd best qb but we also have had a below to average line all of Burrows career. So in the 2 years burrow has finished we have been a top 10 offense in points. Yards means dick. Points is what matters. We have basically been what your claiming we are not in our good years. It shows that your just not a fan of the zac taylor the play caller but statistics says otherwise.

[@DurayWilcox]

​@@brandonwhodeyer8531 one year we were 4th an second year we were 3rd when it came to Best teams in the league so say what u say I do get yo point da sure but when it came to play off pictures an seeding we were the top 3 to top 5 both years an this year will be top 3 but number 1 outta those top three Bengals #1 chiefs #2 Houston #3 watch mark my words

[@brandonwhodeyer8531]

@@DurayWilcox most post was talking about statistics and not seeding or who the best teams are.

[@NathanDean79]

We had a top 5 offense in 2021 and the 7th ranked offense in 2022

[@Joe-zk7ps]

Yo don't tell anyone that, it messes up comment and influencer narratives.

[@liamzechman2143]

Top 10 yes top 5 no, and have gotten worse each year since 2021, defenses adjusted to Jamar, there's no reason our best way to get him the ball last year was throwing bubble screens 33 percent of the time.

[@rik4369]

If they don't fix the RUN GAME and Defense, get ready for a 10-7 or 9-8 season. Burrow needs to have some pressure release on him. Our WR are ot as Game Changers as we think. The AFC North Teams know pur scemes better than we do. Therefore you go 1-5 in your Divison with the one win being against Cleveland's Practice Squad in garbage time.

[@BeaverThomas]

It needs to continously change with all the changing skill set, Bueller.😮

[@BeaverThomas]

WR's will be at Max production in '24

[@chefantoniowooten6779]

We never reached our full offensive potential with Taylor what do you think?

[@charlesh1735]

When you lose good quality coordinators,you have to replace them with in house promotions to help save money for the team. Marvin Lewis did the same thing after losing Jay Gruden then again after losing Hue Jackson. But the talent just wasn’t good enough back then for Ken Zampese to have success. With Joe Burrow,Jamarr Chase and Tee Higgins it’s a lot smoother transition for the new play caller. Zac Taylor has built up a really good coaching staff to go along with the great talented players he has. This Bengals offense will be just fine this upcoming season and I think Pitcher will have success calling plays.

[@duanewright1412]

In the last few years, we have been told by the media that the Bengals offense is going to be ELITE.....I do understand its a chess game...BUT......the Bengals offense has been stagnant att times. A change may be good.

[@muppitman]

played Wishbone in high school as our primary formation, however it is easier to do in Canada with the extra player.

[@AtzcapotxalcoR]

If this means (way) less crazy plays that blow up in our faces (most, if not all, attributed to ZT's playcalling!) then I'm all for it🤭 WHO DEY!!🐅🐯

[@ilikebacon860]

Hope we make it without any major injuries (JB)

[@tomjones7729]

Dalvin cook is a free agent I believe. and Dalton risner is out there. Use sample as a fullback and definitely use gesicki and other tight end packages get them involved this yr. Sample as a fullback or Erick all when healthy may help our offense.

[@NathanDean79]

Dalvin Cook had very little left in the tank. Leonard Fornette is still out there too. I wouldn’t mind getting him a using him like a fullback. He is 6’1’’ 240 he can pass block well and he has great hands. Could use his bulk on short yardage situations. Dalton Risner is expecting a fairly large at least 3 year deal. The Bengals are t gong to do that because Volson is getting better and Cappa still has 3 years on his deal and I think they just drafted Karras replacement this year. Next year we need to draft some guards. Also would like to see what Jaxson Kirkland can do at guard. Also they have an intriguing guy they signed as an udfa a tackle named Eric miller who is 6’8’’ 312 lbs and had 33.625 inch arms. He isn’t the most athletic with a RAS of 5.20 so he is a stage In everything but height. He has a poor speed grade but an OK 10 yard split. He has OK ability and OK explosion numbers. He did 24 reps on the bench with is 67th percentile. So a little a o e average. And that’s his RAS at Tackle. At guard it would be much higher but I think he needs to play tackle because of his body type.

[@kennethpayton6672]

Zack step back this spring? Well what about the playing season?

[@dm8064]

Will the Bengals bring in a veteran CB? It sure looks kinda shallow at that position with a ton of unknowns.

[@discopotato188]

2nd and 2, let's go empty and let them blitz the shit out of Burrow.

[@NathanDean79]

I think Taylor can call plays. He got us to a Super Bowl and an AFC championship the following year and I have every reason to believe that we would have either been in the AFC championship or the Super Bowl again this year. Yea I would let Pitcher call some games. I would give him 3 pre season games to call however he wanted he would completely run the show in the pre season. And if he does well I would give him either 1st and 2nd downs or 3rd downs to call. At LSU in 2019 Steve Ensminger was the OC not Joe Brady. Brady was the QBs coach and the assistant OC. He was responsible for calling the plays on 3rd down. Ensminger got 1st and 2nd downs.

[@cm4660]

Something that should have been done two years ago!

[@stevyluv743]

& Long time ago period!!!

[@charlesh1735]

I think Pitcher understands how vital it is to protect the starting QB. I think the offense will implement more 12 personnel and I formations during the year,which will benefit Joe Burrow and the entire offense. I think the offense will be more balanced this year,that will lead to more longevity and success.

[@NathanDean79]

No crazy changes do not need to be made. How could anyone want that? 1 SB appearance and an AFC Championship the next year and we were headed right back to one of those games last year when Burrow went down. I mean you can’t get much better than that. Only thing we haven’t done is win the super bowl and I think this year they will do that too.

[@uog293]

Getting lucky on chuck em deep burrow to chase is why we went- there was nothing creative or strategic about our play calling

[@alainagehrig2736]

So let’s do it again!

[@desmonddaly484]

Things going steady it seems. Hope to see Trent and Sheldon show soon. Also, curious how Bengals will approach Kick returns? Do they have the right pieces to make that another asset of their game? Explosives special teams is a good X factor in any game too

[@louiseregan2498]

After your explanation of Coach Zac's comment that he would "standback," I'm relieved. Phew! The gun presents more time for QB , more protection and more play action, which I favor!

[@dr3coworld]

It would be a disservice to joe if the bengals don’t go out and sign Michael Thomas and really make this BACK TO THE BAYOU trip worth it

[@jamiebrs1]

James the reason that people are talking about changes in the O is that since the year we went to the SB our "big plays" have gone down, we see move Cover 2 than any team in the league and the stuff we need to do to break that tendendency we don't do well. We don't run the ball well and the Oline doesn't run block well. When Jake took over and they ran more under center that tendency was a little bit better. The desire for us as fans is to see us be able to at least run the ball well enough to break cover 2. I know you know this, stop downlplaying that and mocking us.

[@donnyfox1914]

Until Frank Pollack is gone, the Bengals will never take a step forward... change my mind

[@kingalbert513]

He’s not the PROBLEM

[@kane6529]

Hope Zac really lets Danny boy take over the offense

[@kane6529]

To clarify I don’t mean be a run heavy team just wanna see some evolution and creativity and perhaps better situational play calling. Would like to see balance

[@ChiTownTominator]

If the running game was good and more dependable, Joe would be set up so much more for success and automatically would naturally protect him from injury.

[@binderfan436]

I figure they'll get the ball out of Burrow's hands. All those tight ends will need to be used. And not as many emptys. Gotta keep JB healthy. And i would love to have an NFL team with enough monsters on the line to run the wishbone most of the time. 👍

[@jimbolser8114]

I think the new OC is going to bring more of a motion offense play action which will beat the cover to and open up some deep bombs to jamarr Chase that's what Zach Taylor is lacking Zach Taylor has not figured out cover 2 and its killed as the last 2 years more of a under Center running game to open up that play action

[@ericwalker801]

James rapien fact - during our superbowl run, bengals had the 15th ranked offense. Head coach needs to think big picture. This frankly is a needed change. If we are not a top 5 offense this year, than we have failed with the talent we have

[@stevyluv743]

Just goin to say Thay r Becoming Just a Championship Team & it will Continue for a long time havi nt replied for months Becuase i was Working on something Good but happily to Return Back on youtube!!!

[@chobbsalive]

I want burrow to make calls at the line and take ownership in the scheme as the game goes on. Peyton did it and I know he can do it.

[@jp27whodey31]

I think Pitcher is going to toss a gem

[@bertdonley513WHODEY]

Love the beard coming in James KEEP IT and shave the head that's def your look Budd make the move from the north to the south the time has come lol

[@adios1968]

You quoted him saying this spring he said nothing about the season.

[@alextrapp4049]

Hopefully no more screen passes on 3rd and 15

[@TheSokodelic]

I actually wouldn't mind seeing a wishbone fornation 3-6 times a game...🤷

[@leskachurek7206]

Play design is not the issue. Play calling is. Lack of situational awareness, predictability, poor blitz pickup, lack of adjustments come to mind. Would like to see JB take over the offense like Boomer did in the 80s.

[@wanderlking8634]

Well of course they'll be running it a lot. If every play results in a touchdown you're gonna be up 70 - 3 at the half and why would you pass it then?

[@tombystander]

I just dont wanna see half our plays be behind the line of scrimmage passes again. That is infuriating

[@charleswise4831]

Cincy could go 15-2 this year and the “Coach-Haters” (every team in NfL has them) would be saying Bengals did that in spite of Zac. If any coach should be on hot seat (not saying they should be), our defense absolutely sucked last year! Anybody hating on Lou??? I mean bottom 5 of the league, yet, Taylor’s offense didn’t score enough points, with a back up QB! Taylor is a classy guy who has developed a wonderful culture (which takes time) and we’ve had some bad breaks (Burrow’s health). Every time the team loses, the haters come out. I can almost recognize their names on this pod bc they are consistent.

[@jasonhopson7969]

James are you growing a beard my guy

[@tlyons332000]

We will still throw the ball 60% of the snaps.

[@lawrencethompson3726]

Just run the G...D ball plz!

[@DeamonteNicholson]

Woh day

[@Oldatl-36]

These dudes be talking crazy

[@Charles-c1h]

WHO DEY!

[@jasondelaney1031]

Come on now ITS FAR FROM WEIRD... multpile nfl qb pundits (whether you like them or not) have said repeatedly that the bengals offense is very basic. It leans too heavily on players just making plays with a lil scheming here and there. Its nothing new that great players make coaches look a lot smarter than the are (see how many ppl Peyton Manning got jobs). Ok I'll give Zac the benefit of the doubt that he aint hurtin the team but his playcalling ain't helping either.

[@shoffy01]

About 2 years too late to give up the playbook

[@samuelsnider7651]

Why is James sounding so agitated about this.settle down!

[@joejune234]

We lost and almost lost games because zac literally refused and stopped running the ball. the offense does not need big changes just stop being 1 dimensional and use some misdirections, not this is what it is try and stop it because they are stopping it. And for the love of God kick the field goal

[@JoeKoors]

Zac taylors offense sucks vs teams that see them often aka the division over multiple years. Hes either bad at in game adjustments or his offense is too predictable generally. He does great calling plays against teams that play us once every 5 years.

[@desmonddaly484]

When Burrow is healthy he has generally lit up divisional opponents… exception the Browns. Especially 2021 swept Steelers and Ravens. 2022 was gelling of new offensive line, getting used to defenses adjusting to Jamarr on the outside, etc. but even that year we scored 37 on Steelers and 27 on Ravens. Not shabby. Zack Taylor is a damn good coach, I think he’s actually a pretty decent play caller. When there’s a good game script, the offense looks unbeatable. Think the Bills playoff game 2022 and 49ers game, where offense was really mixing it up… I think those two games specifically showed you the potential of how truly good the team is top to bottom. Now if we can just make that the norm all the way through

[@kylewilson9293]

Our offense is soooooooo vanilla!!! Just happens to have tons of talent to make it work. But I feel like half the reason burrow gets hit so much. Is our plays don’t help guys get open half the time. We just have crazy talent that overcomes this vanilla offense we run.

[@erictotten6752]

Man James looking bored as if he has another job offer.

[@ironmanxrp4980]

James.... stop... Zac has been a problem and won't change things until the season is on the line... literally the start of the last 3 seasons... burrows health isn't an excuse either... it all falls on the coach period

[@LockedOnBengals]

This is a wild take… they started 5-2 in one of those seasons lol. Burrow’s health was a major factor last year.

[@qtheband751]

Taylor is holding this team back. The Burrow era will be wasted as long as Taylor is at the helm.

[@marktaylor3726]

What would you do differently then?

[@newfoundmoralclarity]

Pretty wild take for a coach who went to a super bowl, a conference championship, and then won 9 games against the hardest schedule in history despite Burrow only being healthy for 3 games

[@qtheband751]

@@newfoundmoralclarity We got to the super bowl despite Taylor. Some of it was a high fire power offence and some of it was luck. Browning won those games for us. We’re going nowhere with Taylor. Come back to this posting if I’m wrong.

[@DEEliot-ky9cl]

No one is thinking the offense will be a run first offense. WTF are Jake and James smoking. The fans want Joe under center more so we can have play action pass. We want more 12 personnel with Gesicki and Eric All. We want Drew Sample as a Full-Back. We want the offense to scheme players open like they do in San Francisco, KC, and Detroit. The only people who think people were thinking otherwise are these two idiots.

[@Montrovantis]

WTF are they going on about this running team nonsense? Can't they get anyone better to cover this team? FFS.

[@travlite8496]

Zach will only allow this during the Preseason then it's back to his idiot screen passes and check down's......

[@pauleilerman3]

So many in the NFL commentaries have dogged and believe Zac Taylor so long that some Bengals fans are starting to believe it

[@thepositiveuniversalprojec8818]

Brilliant show! The future is bright in the Jungle.

[@luke1730]

Too many cooks spoiled the broth

[@denniskeane5862]

It's Zac Taylor's O, so not much will change

[@joshuascott585]

Burrow is injury prone. The O-Line cannot protect Burrow. We need Burrow healthy to win. More 2 Tight End sets, play action, and quick underneath throws will protect Burrow. Move the sticks and keep Burrow clean. Is it sexy no. Do we have sexy offensive skill players, yes. But keeping Burrow from being sacked, which we've sucked at, is key to winning it all.