The Cincinnati Bengals drew the NFL's short straw in their Week 8 matchup against the New York Jets, as Zac Taylor's team was the pommel horse for new head coach Aaron Glenn in what became Gang Green's first win of the 2025 season. Simply put, this was a shocking performance.
While Joe Flacco ran Taylor's offense well enough to put up 38 points against a Jets unit that had allowed just 26 points in the last two weeks combined, the Bengals' defense looked utterly lost against a quarterback in Justin Fields who hadn't scored a first-half touchdown since Week 1 and received a verbal lashing from owner Woody Johnson.
Cincy's linebacking corps was ripped apart in this game. This comes right after the Bengals demoted established starter Logan Wilson to roll with a pair of rookies in Demetrius Knight Jr. and Barrett Carter. Wilson, a team captain, requested a trade right after.
Taylor seems to have mismanaged the linebacker position, which was one of the few defensive units this team could be proud of, to the point where even one of the most pitiful offenses in the league in the Jets were able to move the ball virtually unopposed in the second half.
Bengals coach Zac Taylor deserves blame for ruining defense after Jets loss
The Bengals currently have two above-average players in their starting defense without Wilson. Of those two, injured pass rusher Trey Hendrickson was almost invisible against a stalwart New York offensive line and cornerback DJ Turner crashed back down to Earth after a few solid games in a row.
What the Bengals have created is a situation where a team captain doesn't want to be there and two rookie linebackers that are clearly overloaded mentally aren't even able to make plays against the league's worst passing game. In three quarters, the Jets managed to pile up 39 points.
With Hendrickson unlikely to sign a long-term contract, young players going through major growing pains, and a secondary that remains putrid outside of Turner, it remains hard to get excited about the future of this defense despite the draft capital they invested on that side.
No matter how well Taylor can whip up a passing game, even with a backup quarterback in Flacco at the helm, he is never going to take this team back to the playoffs if he keeps shooting himself in the foot with personnel decisions like this on defense.