After reaching Super Bowl LVI last season, the Bengals have started 2022 with a pair of losses.
Cincinnati has held opponents to just 43 points over the first two weeks, so it’s not like the sky is completely falling. But the team’s pass protection from 2021 have seemingly gotten worse, with quarterback Joe Burrow taking 13 sacks in the first two weeks.
Still, head coach Zac Taylor is optimistic about his team’s ability to rebound.
“There’s a confidence here that you can’t just manufacture,” Taylor told Geoff Hobson of the team’s website. “It’s an earned confidence and our guys know that we’ll get back on the right track.”
Taylor’s first two Bengals teams in 2019 and 2020 also started 0-2. But after going 10-7 last year, Taylor said the 2022 Bengals are a “totally different team.”
“I think it’s a mixture of both [talent and make up], to be quite honest with you,” Taylor said. “We know that we’ve got great players. We know that the character is where it needs to be, a lot of the leadership. Guys understand what our issues have been and how solvable they are, and that we just need to go forward and put together a better, complete game. I feel really good that everyone’s on the same page and we’ll work in that direction.”
The Bengals’ next chance to get in the win column will come against the 1-1 Jets on Sunday afternoon.