John Harbaugh is about to make Bengals fans sick
The Cincinnati Bengals' Super Bowl trip last February isn't precisely doing head coach Zac Taylor any favors. Many would assume that winning the AFC Championship Game and making it to the big one in your third year with an NFL team would guarantee you job security. However, it's tough to ignore the woes of this […]
The Cincinnati Bengals' Super Bowl trip last February isn't precisely doing head coach Zac Taylor any favors. Many would assume that winning the AFC Championship Game and making it to the big one in your third year with an NFL team would guarantee you job security.
However, it's tough to ignore the woes of this coaching staff (offensively, to be specific). On Monday, I wrote about the sequence that cost the Bengals the game last weekend. You've probably heard or read about it in a million other places by now.
Down three points, Taylor called one of the most head-scratching sequences you'll see this season. The Bengals would waste a first-and-goal from the Baltimore Raven's two-yard line and walk away with no points on that drive. You can read a breakdown of the plays called here.
When the Bengals got to fourth-and-goal, they ran a shovel pass play that has the objective to catch defenses off guard. It looks like a run play with pulling blockers until the quarterback executes a shovel pass targeting one of the pulling blockers.
If you've watched any Kansas City Chiefs game you know exactly what I'm talking about. Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes have excelled at it over the past few years. The only problem is, do you know who else has been successful with it?
John Harbaugh's Ravens. Take a look at what Harbaugh had to say about their defense recognizing the blocking scheme thanks to the fact that they've been running it lately.
Actually, the Ravens ran it in Week 3 and were successful with it. Baltimore went back to the well in Week 4 and also was successful with it.
If the Bengals were going to run a concept like this, you'd love for them to have saved it for another opponent. It's crazy that the Bengals either didn't notice the Ravens had been running it or they simply didn't care.
Every NFL team has advance scouts pointing out trends and handing in reports for the coaching staff to put together a game plan. Did nobody point out that running this play against the Ravens wasn't a good idea?
To make matters worse, it's not like the Bengals are showing any accountability. On Monday, Taylor dismissed a question about giving up play-calling claiming the process is "collective."
Zac Taylor's Bengals made the Super Bowl last year. He's built something special with Joe Burrow at the wheel. Under his regime, the team has established itself as a legit contender. But for them to be in the same conversation as the AFC's elite, this is the kind of stuff that needs to be fixed.
Featured image via Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK
