NFL head coaches have to ride a fine line between pushing their players too hard during training camp and ensuring they don't go soft enough so the aren't prepared for the unforgiving season ahead. Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor appears to have threaded the needle.
Not that Bengals camps weren't tough in prior years, but whether it's Joe Burrow's adamant messaging of urgency, or Taylor's tactical adjustments, the vibe is way different in Cincinnati. This feels like a team prepared to make a Super Bowl run.
Taylor's tenure has been sabotaged by slow starts to seasons. Even the last time the Bengal made the playoffs, they had to dig out of an early 0-2 hole. While last year looked like a step in the right direction amid a 2-0 start, Cincinati's execution on offense left a lot to be desired, which ultimately triggered Burrow's turf toe injury.
On the heels of a 6-11 record last year, Taylor has dialed everything up a notch. And it's working.
Ted Karras' remarks on Taylor tell a different, refreshing story about Bengals camp
CLNSCincy.com's Mike Petragila documented what starting Bengals center Ted Karras had to say about the challenge of this year's training camp compared to years past , which reflects well on Taylor's leadership:
"We've been grinding, and this has been, probably the toughest camp, Coach Taylor's run in my five years here, and I think we have the team that can handle that, and you know we're doing all the right things. So we still have a lot to work on. It's a good feeling that we have time, and we want to be as polished as we can going into Week 1.”
Like yes, a skeptic or straight-up Taylor hater could say Burrow has more to do with the elevated standard at Bengals training camp practices, yet I don't want to discredit the head coach here.
Taylor is working with far superior players than in years past, too. That helps. Karras has had to go against stud nose tackle Dexter Lawrence every day. I'm sure that's colored his perception of who difficult camp has been a bit.
We knew the Bengals' o-line would be pretty stellar, though. They return all five starters. The whole offense has its continuity intact. The major overhaul came on defense, and while Taylor isn't in charge of that side of the ball, it's noteworthy how much they appear to have improved nonetheless under his watch.
Bengals back end of the roster is far more buttoned-up in the preseaosn than years past
Look no further than the first couple preseason games as proof that Zac Taylor has this ship headed back in the right direction. The Bengals' reserve defense got shredded by Eagles backup Tanner McKee last preseason. I didn't want to overreact to that at the time, yet it served as an unsettling harbinger of what was to come in the regular season.
The defense held Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears starting offense to a field goal on the opening drive of the second preseason game, and set the tone in a dominant 27-9 victory.
Recent NFL future power rankings from ESPN that projected out through 2029 gave the Lions the third-best trajectory of any team, while the Bengals checked in at No. 17. Encouraging, then, that Cincinnati's depth players held their own against the allegedly superior, far more complete Detroit roster's back end in the preseason opener, eh?
Facetious as that last bit may be, the overall point still stands. The Bengals are executing at a crisper clip in the preseason than we're used to.
I do believe Ted Karras can distinguish between the challenge of going up against Cincy's massively improved defensive line and the degree of difficulty of camp. Taylor and the key Bengals leadership that truly revamped this roster in the offseason are evidently operating on a different level in pursuit of the franchise's first-ever Lombardi Trophy. That's all Joe Burrow has asked for all along.
Now let's see if it translates to a hot start, lots of wins, and pro football's top prize come February. Because otherwise, all this talk and hype are cheap.
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