Before we start, I will say that Zac Taylor is a great person and he is a good leader. By no means am I calling for anything to happen to him. However, after getting embarrassed by Pittsburgh, it certainly is time to give an analysis on the Bengals play caller. Yes, he led this team to a Super Bowl run and there certainly has been recent success from this Cincinnati organization. In the AFC North though, you have to be able to win the rough games with good play calling and Zac Taylor simply hasn’t been able to be successful in the AFC North. My columns are usually quite positive, but I don’t think there is a positive bone left in me after Saturday’s performance.

Zac Taylor quick reference

· Taylor is 0-5 in the AFC North this year. Somehow the Bengals stayed in contention with injuries to key players, but we can’t look past these struggles both with and without Joe Burrow.

· Taylor only has one season with a winning record in the AFC North (2021). In terms of just the AFC North, he is very unsuccessful.

· Taylor is 9-20 against the AFC North in his head coaching career. If you take away his success outside of the AFC North, I think there would be a different view on his ability to coach this team.

· Losing to the Steelers haunts me year after year. The blowouts hurt even worse. The Steelers lead the series 69-39 all time. Zac Taylor’s Bengals team lost to Pittsburgh by 24 in 2019, 26 in 2020, and just got mauled by them on Saturday.

Bengals playoff chances dwindling

With the loss to Pittsburgh before Christmas Eve, Cincinnati’s chances of making the playoffs are slim. With the Chiefs and Browns left on the schedule, I am not certain that we even end the season with a winning record, as this roster is depleted. This game was a playoff type of game and Cincinnati simply got manhandled on the road.

Positives

· There are still two games remaining and anything can happen. At 8-7, they remain in the hunt.

· It’s Christmas weekend. Nothing cures a bad loss like celebrating the birth of Jesus! Seriously, enjoy the time with your family! I am glad God has blessed me enough to have the luxury of enjoying sports and not worrying about shelter, food or health.

· Cincinnati Reds baseball is less than 100 days away. Pitchers and catchers report in roughly 50 days.

· Tee Higgins looked very good again filling in as WR1. I really hope we keep Tee on this roster for years to come, as he deserves to get paid.

· Iosivas was able to take advantage of snaps and reeled in some impressive grabs.

Negatives

· In the first half, Jake Browning simply misread the defense time and time again. He also threw one of the worst interceptions all year early in the game. He was forcing on third down and he will have to learn to just take the field goal points at times. He was horrendous in this one and it made fans realize just how good we have it with No. 9.

· Jonah Williams couldn’t contain JJ Watt. Watt is a different breed, but Jonah was flagged throughout the entire second half. It simply was a matchup no quarterback wants to see while in the pocket.

· Fourth and inches … and, Zac goes to shotgun to throw? Just add some more gasoline to the fire why don’t you.

· Without DJ Reader, Pittsburgh ran all over Cincinnati. Our run defense was already struggling with a healthy DJ, but his absence made it just that much worse.

· Mason Rudolph just had a “Ryan Finley 2020” type of performance to lead this Pittsburgh team.

· Screen pass, screen pass, misread, two-yard run, etc… .Coming out cold and having a predictable offense has been a problem all season.

· Was that George Pickens out there or Jerry Rice? DJ Turner was lost along with all of our backs for the majority of this one.

While this was a tough loss, there are still two games remaining. After Covid, I try not to ever take Cincinnati sports for granted. Merry Christmas from my family to yours and I appreciate everyone who reads my column and carries it. Enjoy your time away from work!

Matthew McAdow is a Peebles resident. He works in human resources in the nuclear industry and has been an avid Cincinnati fan his entire life. He is an Ohio Christian University graduate and has always enjoyed giving an honest opinion on multiple topics regarding Cincinnati sports.