Bengals players had big response to being called out by Zac Taylor after loss to Jets

Shortly after the Cincinnati Bengals fell to 3-5 on the season via a disheartening 39-38 home loss to what had been a winless New York Jets side this past Sunday, Bengals head coach Zac Taylor publicly called his defense out and challenged players to "take some accountability." 

Per Ben Baby of ESPN, Bengals defensive coordinator Al Golden revealed on Monday that members of the Cincinnati defense held a players-only meeting after that unit failed to come up with a key fourth-quarter stop versus the Jets. 

Bengals defense vows to not let offense, special teams down again after Jets debacle

"I don't know what was talked about -- nor should I -- but it does feel like the fact that was called is a sense of urgency there, as there should be," Golden said about the meeting. "Because we cannot do that to the offense and special teams again."

The Jets failed to score a touchdown in their previous two games before they entered Cincinnati's Paycor Stadium. In the fourth quarter of Sunday's contest, the Bengals surrendered 23 points against an offense that was without injured star receiver Garrett Wilson. As Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer noted, the Bengals allowed 254 rushing yards and tallied no sacks in their latest defeat. 

Last winter, Cincinnati fired defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo and eventually replaced him with Golden, who most recently had served as Notre Dame's defensive coordinator. According to ESPN stats, the Bengals ended Week 8 ranked last in the league in yards allowed per game (407.9), opponent rushing yards per contest (151.9) and opponent points scored per game (31.6). 

Al Golden accepts blame following Jets loss

"I’ve got to put them in a better position," Golden added. "We’ve got to pressure more. Of course, you have to win one-on-ones. That’s a part of it. We have to win our one-on-ones and get them off track so it’s more pocket pass and less play action. All of it was coming together to create that. We’ve got to do a better job there." 

The Cincinnati defense will look to produce a bounce-back performance when the Bengals host the Chicago Bears (4-3) Sunday. As of Tuesday afternoon, ESPN BET had the Bengals as 2.5-point underdogs for that matchup.