In the grand scheme of things, it’s not terribly surprising that the Cincinnati Bengals lost Sunday’s game to the New England Patriots. But their coach is definitely not pleased with how they lost.
Zac Taylor essentially blamed Bengals wide receivers for quarterback Andy Dalton’s four interceptions in the 34-13 loss, arguing that the receivers got “bullied.”
“Three of them were against man-to-man coverage, one-on-ones,” Taylor said, via Ben Baby of ESPN. “And we got bullied. We did. Guys could go compete, knock the ball down, go get a one-on-one [ball].”
It’s curious to absolve Dalton of responsibility, especially when he kept throwing at Stephon Gilmore. Gilmore tends to get the better of these one-on-one matchups, as he did against Tyler Boyd on Sunday.
The fact is Cincinnati was the inferior team on paper and played like it. Taylor’s complaints may be valid, but they just don’t have the horses. Maybe that will start to change next year as fans are hoping it will.
