Typically, playing at home is beneficial for teams in the NFL. However, that hasn't been the case for the Cincinnati Bengals so far this season. The Bengals have played three games within the friendly confines of Paycor Stadium during the 2024 NFL season, and they've dropped all three.
Cincinnati lost the season-opener to the New England Patriots at home, they lost at home to the Washington Commanders on Monday Night Football in Week 3 and they also lost a home game to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 5.
All three of Cincinnati's wins this season -- against the Carolina Panthers, New York Giants and Cleveland Browns -- have come on the road. The team will look to stop the trend of losing at home when they host the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 8.
Zac Taylor is expecting Bengals fans to bring the noise against the Eagles
Prior to that matchup, Bengals head coach Zac Taylor revealed how much the team relies on the fans and how reliable the fanbase has been over the years. Taylor also noted that the Bengals have to do a better job of giving the fans a reason to be rowdy this season.
“I expect the joint to be jumping,” Taylor said. “We rely so much on our fans. The energy when the players get introduced and come out of the gate, it never fails. We’ve got to do a better job of taking control of the game and giving them something to cheer for from start to finish. We’re relying on them.”
Taylor also had a request for fans that involves getting louder earlier on during the play clock when the Eagles are on offense.
"It’s as much as soon as that 40 second clock starts, that (noise) level can waste seven or eight seconds in the huddle trying to hear the call, getting a repeated call, having to call it again because the tight end on the other side of the huddle can’t hear it," Taylor said. "... You can almost make a highlight tape of all the false starts, delays of game or timeouts used here by our rivals. That’s what I’m looking forward to, seeing our crowd do that and our players respond.”
You can't blame the Bengals for looking for any edge when it comes to getting their first home win of the season. If Bengals fans are going to answer the call from Taylor, they're going to have to wake their vocal cords up a bit earlier than originally expected, as the game against Philadelphia has been moved from 4:25 p.m. ET to 1 p.m. ET.
That shouldn't be a problem, though, as Bengals fans can be counted on to bring the energy. Hopefully the team follows suit.