A new era of the Cincinnati Bengals was ushered in when Zac Taylor took over as head coach in 2019. After having a defensive-minded leader like Marvin Lewis for so long, fans craved an offensive upgrade, but were fearful of how the defense might taper off.
However, defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo took a very bad Bengals defense that Lewis left in Cincinnati, and he turned them into a league-average unit. They were even bordering on elite during the 2022 NFL season. But then, things took a dramatic turn for the worse.
Anarumo was let go this offseason, rightfully made the scapegoat for Cincinnati's lack of recent success. The Bengals struck up a deal with their old linebackers coach, Al Golden, to replace Anarumo after a successful run at Notre Dame. He, too, has failed. Perhaps even worse.
ESPN buzz indicates Bengals may keep Al Golden as defensive coordinator
With Taylor's job arguably in jeopardy after the 2025 NFL season, fans have expected, or at least been hopeful, that Golden would also get the boot. But ESPN's Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano seem to think he'll stick around. Here's what Graziano had to say:
"I'm interested to see what the Bengals do on defense. Do they give Al Golden a second year as coordinator, or are we looking at another scheme change? The way they feel their linebackers have improved as the season has progressed makes me think they'll run it back with Golden and add players he thinks fit his system," Graziano wrote.
Obviously, this mere report or conjecture doesn't mean that anything is final. But these two insiders are as plugged in as anyone, and if there were rumblings in the NFL's back channels about Golden potentially being on the chopping block, they'd know about it.
RELATED: Bengals' proposed DE options could lessen sting of Trey Hendrickson's departure
It would be a marvel to see Anarumo, who gave several great years to this franchise, get fired but not Golden. Things were certainly bad under the former, but never as bad as they are under the latter. This Bengals defense ranks 32nd in both points allowed and yards allowed. There are only 32 teams.
But these big, glaring numbers are substantiated by the smaller numbers not going their way either. Things like allowing a 47.8% conversion rate on third down, which is worse than last year. Cincinnati has 133 missed tackles this year, and five players with 10 or more missed tackles.
Their 31st-ranked pass defense is only outdone by their 32nd-ranked run defense. You get the point. Golden is nowhere near deserving of an NFL defensive coordinator job, but there seems to be no buzz that he won't be next year. At least the Bengals can only get better from here!