Cincinnati Bengals coach Zac Taylor blasted after challenge spectacularly backfires
Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor was blasted on social media after his challenge spectacularly backfired, giving the Chicago Bears a touchdown in a back-and-forth affair
Fans made their thoughts known on Zac Taylor's challenge backfiring against the Chicago Bears, with the head coach's face saying it all after a stunning last-minute touchdown.
The Cincinnati Bengals were engaged in a barnburner against the Bears, with the two sides exchanging scores throughout the afternoon. At one point, the Bengals' defense played Bears wideout DJ Moore tight, and Taylor challenged the play after the former was out of bounds.
Upon further review, the officiating crew ruled the play a touchdown, giving the Bears a score and an unneeded headache for Bengals fans. This play came in the same afternoon that Cam Little kicked the longest field goal in NFL history.
"For the goal line and cup in that football, it's like [Cam] Taylor-Britt's elbow kind of keeps it secure enough, just long enough for the ball to be considered in control and breaking the plane," NFL rules analyst Gene Steratore said during the CBS broadcast. "So I think he gets a little assist inadvertently at that point, fellas."
Fans on social media were shocked that Taylor's challenge failed as spectacularly as it did, with some expressing their displeasure with the coach's luck. "Last week's game relinquishes the title of 'Worst loss of the Zac Taylor Era.' A simply staggering display of defensive ineptitude, the kind that everywhere else costs people their jobs," a fan noted.
Another particularly irate fan added on X: "YOU CANT MAKE THIS UP ZAC TAYLOR JUST CHALLENGED A PLAY WHERE THE OTHER TEAM DIDNT SCORE AFTER THE REVIEW THEY DECIDED HE DID SCORE A TD I CANT BELIEVE HE CAN BE THIS BAD OF A COACH."
A third posted: "Zac Taylor reminds you he is the worst coach in the NFL. Endless penalties, no tackling, no defense, clueless play calling and decides to challenge refs to only get more flags. Absolutely pathetic coach. #Bengals #NFL."
Meanwhile, a fourth fan believed that while they believe the Bengals should go in a different direction, what happened against the Bears should not be what causes him to lose his job.
"Im absolutely on the fire Zac train… but i [sic] that one was the right call. If its a fumble and goes our way, we get the ball. If its a score, we get the ball with more time to score twice. (Which mattered) Im all out on the dude but that call was not anywhere in my argument," the fan posited.
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With Cincinnati set for a bye week, Taylor told reporters that his message is to "keep fighting" despite how "frustrating" it is to put in the work each week and not see results.
"Sometimes you gotta take a deep breath and then come back to work and try to uplift others," Taylor said after the loss.
"And the only thing I know how to do is keep trying to lift people up. That doesn't mean we run from corrections. That doesn't mean we don't give criticism. But at the same time, the easy thing to do is question everything and point fingers and be negative and be an energy vampire in a lot of ways.
"We built a locker room full of leaders and great men that are following suit there. And that's what I've seen from them. And that's just what we're gonna continue to do. And I don't have something I can say that's gonna say, hey, we're just gonna fix this and things are gonna be better.
"It's not that simple, I wish it was. But I can promise you we're gonna fight like hell to keep finding wins here and get the season turned around."