In Seeking Situational Mastery, Bengals Coach Zac Taylor Has Given His Players Presentational Ownership and Control

CINCINNATI – There has been so much discussion the last eight months about the Cincinnati Bengals’ slow start issue – and the corrective measures taken in an attempt to fix it – that another problematic element often has been overlooked.

At least externally.

Internally, head coach Zac Taylor and his staff are well aware the team also had a finishing problem in 2024.

As in finishing games, not finishing the season, which they did on a torrid five-game win streak.

The Bengals had leads in seven of their eight losses last year.

They had the lead or were tied in the fourth quarter in four of those losses.

Situationally, they were substandard.

And that was something that hit Taylor hard because it’s always been something he’s emphasized, deploying director of football research Sam Francis on a mission to watch – and damn near memorize – every situation every team faced at how much their approached affected the outcome of the game.

“Situational football, I'd be hard pressed to image people talk about it more than we do,” Taylor said. “Maybe they do. It's hard to know. But we spend a lot of time on it.”

In the past, Taylor would give presentations every week detailing the unique situations Francis would find while scouring every play of every game.

But that changed this offseason.

Beginning in the spring and continuing through training camp, Taylor turned the presentation duties over to the players, some of whom were responsible for pointing out situational failures by some in the room that cost the Bengals game last year.

And no feelings were coddled.

“You can't worry about assigning blame,” Taylor said. “Any mistake we made in the past is something we all have to learn from. No one can be sensitive. We all just want to win.

“I don't care if it was me. I don't care if it was Joe Burrow. It doesn't matter at that point,” he continued. “It's a team we're watching on tape that made the mistake, and we're not going to do that again.”

Putting players in front of the room is nothing new for Taylor.

But in the past, he’s always had a player stand at the board and explain a play or a scheme or a concept.

It was a way to make sure everyone was invested in learning everything, not just their own assignments. No one wants to get called to the front of the room and not be able to articulate what’s being asked.

And players listening to other players tends to break up the monotony of just hearing everything from their position coach or coordinator.

But the presentations on situational awareness?

“That’s brand new,” Taylor said. “I had a note in my book maybe in February as you think about ways to keep the offseason fresh and different and evolving. And how do you create camaraderie? You create camaraderie by the players talking more. That was a big emphasis for us.”

Not all of the presentations were breakdowns of Bengals failures. Many are examples from across the league showing situations that maybe the team hadn’t experienced much, if it all, and how they were handled.

Asked for an example, Taylor said it could be something where it’s third and 7 and the ball carrier reaches just reaches the ball across the line for what is ruled a first down, but they know a challenge is likely coming.

“What's our mechanism to get on the ball and beat the challenge,” Taylor said. “Defensively, what's our call if the offense is doing that. 

“Or maybe it’s situations when the offense is going to try to bait your offside because it's a no-play situation,” he added.

Taylor assigned each player a situation. In some instances, he would watch the film with the player and then the player’s position coach would go through it with him before stepping in front of the team to present.

“We had a lot of guys get up and share this year in front of the team in a lot of different things,” he said. “It doesn't have to be perfect. You just want it to be authentic. Sometimes it's even better when it comes from their voice in their way. 

“I'm sitting there thinking 'I would say it this way.’ But you've just got to shut up and just let it ride.”

Not all of the players called to the front of the room were asked to present a specific situation.

Sometimes it was just a way for everyone to get to know each other and help build some of that camaraderie and connectivity Taylor has been seeking.

One example Taylor mentioned was putting guard and newcomer Lucas Patrick in front of the team and asking him how he went from undrafted to his 10th year in the league.

Patrick got a little emotional talking to reporters in the locker room Thursday about his journey, so it’s easy to see how his story resonated with the team in May when there were more than a dozen undrafted guys sitting in the room hoping to be standing where he is in 2035.

“I know he had a lot of guys come up to him after that like I didn't realize all that,” Taylor said. “As many of those situations as you can get up there as possible is helpful for the camaraderie of the team.”

In addition to the team chemistry, the goal is that Sunday in Cleveland – or in Week 2 or Week 3 or Week Whenever – there will not be a situation the Bengals face they haven’t covered.

At the end of every day in training camp, the Bengals would go over a couple of different situations after their evening walk-through.

Tomorrow before the team leaves for Cleveland, Taylor, Francis and coordinators Dan Pitcher, Al Golden and Darrin Simmons will go over all of them.

“We talk about situations a lot. We watch it a lot,” Taylor said. “We want to win games because of our situational mastership.”