The Cincinnati Bengals‘ offseason action positions them fairly well ahead of the 2026 NFL season.
So undoubtedly, head coach Zac Taylor will feel the heat if enough performances go south.
USA TODAY Sports columnist Nate Davis included Taylor among 10 NFL head coaches facing increased pressure entering the 2026 season.
Davis described Taylor’s situation as “fraught with peril” as Cincinnati attempts to end a three-year playoff drought.
The Bengals finished 6-11 last season, their worst record since Joe Burrow’s rookie year, and haven’t reached the postseason since their run to the AFC Championship Game after the 2022 season.
Taylor still owns a 5-2 playoff record and delivered the franchise’s first Super Bowl appearance in more than three decades.
His 52-63-1 regular-season record tells another side of the story entering Year 8.
As his accomplishments bought patience, the next few months could determine how much goodwill persists.
Bengals Have Removed Taylor’s Biggest Excuse
GettyCINCINNATI, OHIO – JULY 29: Dexter Lawrence II #97 of the Cincinnati Bengals signs autographs during the Cincinnati Bengals Training Camp at Kettering Health Practice Fields on July 29, 2026 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
Cincinnati’s offense has continued to produce when Burrow is available.
The offense finished sixth in net passing yards per game and second in red-zone touchdown percentage last season despite Burrow missing nine games with a toe injury.
Ja’Marr Chase finished third in the NFL with 125 receptions, while Tee Higgins tied for second with a career-high 11 receiving touchdowns.
The problems were much easier to find on the other side of the ball.
Cincinnati responded with an offseason renovation that changed the expectations surrounding Taylor.
The Bengals traded the No. 10 overall pick for Dexter Lawrence II, then signed Jonathan Allen, Boye Mafe and Bryan Cook during free agency. Bengals.com described the defensive line investment involving Lawrence and Allen as part of a $160 million overhaul.
Poor defensive play offered an obvious explanation for why a Burrow-led team kept missing January. The front office attacked that weakness with proven veterans and gave defensive coordinator Al Golden a deeper group for his second season.
The spending can help Taylor, though it could also signal his demise, with the roster now looking closer to the one he needs to be judged on.
Taylor Has Already Acknowledged the Urgency
GettyCINCINNATI, OHIO – JULY 29: Zac Taylor the head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals talks to the media during the Cincinnati Bengals Training Camp at Kettering Health Practice Fields on July 29, 2026 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
Taylor hasn’t spent the summer pretending 2025 disappeared.
Dalton Risner revealed that Taylor wrote “6-11” on the board in the team meeting room when training camp opened.
Taylor later said the record “does piss you off to an extent” and that Cincinnati deserved to be viewed through the lens of last season until it proved otherwise, per Bengals on SI.
He has also pushed back on the idea that the situation feels different because of outside noise.
“I felt the pressure after the Super Bowl to get back to the Super Bowl,” Taylor said in July. “I don’t feel it as pressure, it’s exciting to me.”
Bengals president Mike Brown gave Taylor and director of player personnel Duke Tobin a public vote of confidence after last season.
Brown called them the “right leaders to guide us forward” while also acknowledging that the results fell short of the organization’s standards.
That support gives Taylor a chance to repair the trajectory he helped create when he took over a two-win team in 2019 and had Cincinnati in the Super Bowl two years later.
His Bengals returned to the AFC Championship Game the following season.
Since then, injuries, defensive regression and uneven stretches have pushed the franchise farther from that stage.
Since Cincinnati spent the offseason acting like its championship window remains open, Taylor has to demonstrate he’s the coach to take them through it.
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