'Gut Punch' - Bengals Coaches Trying to Overcome Visceral Nature of Back-To-Back Games of Being 'Nowhere Close'

CINCINNATI – The Cincinnati Bengals are digging in and committing to finding answers to pull themselves out of a funk that resulted in arguably the worst two-game stretch in franchise history.

They are determined.

But they also are stinging.

Offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher offered a raw assessment of what the last two weeks have felt like.

“Nobody feels the outcomes of this more than the players and the coaches in this building,” he said. “When you go through something like we’ve gone through over the last two weeks, it’s a gut-punch. Viscerally you feel it.

“You have to turn the page and become problem-solvers very quickly,” he added. “That’s what we do. That’s our job. How do you respond when you’re in a position where you’re not happy with how you’re playing; you’re embarrassed about how you’re playing?” 

The Bengals have had losing stretches in the past and found a way to respond.

In 2023, they were riding a three-game losing streak – and the loss of Joe Burrow to a season-ending wrist injury – when they went to Jacksonville for Jake Browning’s first career road start and kicked off a three-game winning streak.

Last year they opened the season 0-3 and found themselves in a fight all year until stringing together five consecutive wins to fall just short of the playoffs.

But as disappointing as those loss to the Patriots, Chiefs and Commanders were to begin last season, they pale in comparison to the futility – the embarrassment, as Pitcher said – of the last two weeks.

“Part of playing in the NFL is playing with adversity,” head coach Zac Taylor said. “Every team, at some point, is going to face some adversity. We're facing it early in the season. We've done this before. So it's part of our job, is to come to work ready to roll, giving our best, have a sense of urgency. Not hang our heads because we've lost two games. That's unacceptable to me.”

As bleak as things have looked, the fact remains that they are 2-2, one game out of first place in the AFC North Division and currently the No. 6 seed in the AFC.

The combination

“'Urgency' is the word I would say,” Taylor added. “Has our standard been acceptable on every single play in the last two games? I would say it hasn't been. So you've got to look within yourself. Is my standard acceptable? 'Hey, it wasn't that bad.' Not bad is not good enough. It's got to be great. This week on a short week, I expect our guys to hold themselves to that standard, I'll hold myself to that standard that we have to be great. Anything less than that is unacceptable right now where we're at. We've just got to find a way to get our third win and get it quickly and build on that momentum.”

If they can’t find a way to get that third win Sunday and are as uncompetitive as the last two, the punch is going to feel like it’s landing somewhere a little lower than the gut.

Three straight blowout losses would – whether anybody in the building wants to admit or not – sap most, if not all of the confidence that the team is going to be able to turn things around.

Not with games against Green Bay and Pittsburgh and the prospect of 2-5 on the horizon.

A familiar mantra when the team has faced rough stretches in the past has been that they are close to where they want to be.

No is pretending they are close after 48-10 and 28-3.

“The way we played the last two weeks, nobody could sit here with a straight face and tell you that was close to winning football,” Pitcher said. “Two weeks ago, it was the turnovers that make it look really bad. This past week, it really was, to my eye, the penalties that started us down the road that made it look really bad.

“We’ve got to clean up the things that are within our control. No more self-inflicted errors,” he added. “That’s the main message to our guys this week. This game is hard enough. There’s so many variables that are outside of your control that you have to react to once the ball is snapped. You’ve got to control all the stuff that is within your control every play, down-in, down-out. If we do that, it will start us down the right path to getting where we need to be.”