Before we start, I will say that Bengals’ Coach Zac Taylor is a great person and he is a good leader. By no means am I calling for anything to happen to him.

However, after getting embarrassed by Pittsburgh on Saturday, it certainly is time to give an analysis on the Bengals’ play-caller. Yes, he led this team to a Super Bowl and there certainly has been recent success from this Cincinnati organization.

In the AFC North, though, you have to be able to win the rough games with good play-calling and Taylor simply hasn’t been able to be successful in the AFC North. My columns are usually quite positive, but I don’t think there is a positive bone left in me after Saturday’s performance.

Zac Taylor Quick Reference

He is 0-5 in the AFC North this year. Somehow the team stayed in contention with injuries to key players, but we can’t look past these struggles both with and without Joe Burrow.

He has only 1 season with a winning record in the AFC North (2021). In terms of just the AFC North, he is very unsuccessful.

He is 9-20 against the AFC North in his head coaching career. If you take away his success outside of the AFC North, I think there would be a different view on his ability to coach this team.

Losing to the Steelers haunts me year after year. The blowouts hurt even worse.

The Steelers lead the series 69-39 all time. Taylor’s Bengals’ team lost to Pittsburgh by 24 in 2019, 26 in 2020, and just got mauled by them on Saturday.

The Bengals Playoff Chances are Dwindling

With the loss to Pittsburgh before Christmas Eve, Cincinnati’s chances of making the playoffs are slim. With the Chiefs and Browns left on the schedule, I am not certain that the team ends the season with a winning record, as this roster is depleted. This game was a playoff type of game and Cincinnati simply got manhandled on the road.

Positives

There are still two games remaining and anything can happen. At 8-7, they remain in the hunt.

It’s Christmas weekend. Nothing cures a bad loss like celebrating the birth of Jesus! Seriously, enjoy the time with your family. I am glad God has blessed me enough to have the luxury of enjoying sports and not worrying about shelter, food, or health.

Cincinnati Reds baseball is less than 100 days away now. Pitchers and catchers report in roughly 50 days.

Tee Higgins looked very good again filling in as WR1. I really hope the Bengals keep Tee on this roster for years to come, as he deserves to get paid.

Iosivas was able to take advantage of snaps and reeled in some impressive grabs.

Negatives

In the first half, Jake Browning simply misread the defense time and time again. He also threw one of the worst interceptions all year early in the game. He was forcing on 3rd down and he will have to learn to just take the field goal points at times. He was horrendous in this one and it made fans realize just how good they have it with number 9.

Jonah Williams couldn’t contain JJ Watt. Watt is a different breed, but Jonah was flagged throughout the entire second half. It simply was a matchup no quarterback wants to see while in the pocket.

4th and inches … Zac goes to shotgun to throw? Just add some more gasoline to the fire, why don’t you.

Without nose tackle D.J. Reader, Pittsburgh ran all over Cincinnati. The run defense was already struggling with a healthy Reader, but his absence made it just that much worse.

Mason Rudolph just had a “Ryan Finley 2020” type of performance to lead this Pittsburgh team.

Screen pass, screen pass, misread, 2-yard run, etc … Coming out cold and having a predictable offense has been a problem all season.

Was that George Pickens out there or Jerry Rice? DJ Turner was lost along with all of the defensive backs for the majority of this one.

While this was a tough loss, there are still two games remaining. After COVID-19, I try not to ever take Cincinnati sports for granted.

Merry Christmas from my family to yours and I appreciate everyone who reads my column. Enjoy your time away from work!

This column appears in several newspapers in southwest Ohio.