“We’ll see,” Taylor said. “It’s still early in the week, so we’ll just get to Wednesday and see where we’re at. He’s been good. He’ll be day-to-day until we get to Wednesday.”
The Bengals had the advantage of a “mini bye” following the Thursday night game, giving them a few extra days to recover and review going into another home tilt against the winless New York Jets (0-7) this Sunday.
Cincinnati (3-4) snapped a four-game losing streak with the victory against the Steelers (4-2), improving to 2-0 in the AFC North and closing the gap between the top two teams in the division. The start of a winning streak would put the Bengals at .500 with a chance to go into the bye at 5-4 if they continue it with a result against the Chicago Bears on Nov. 2.
That would be a significant turnaround after such a rough start and losing Joe Burrow in Week 2, but Taylor said he’s not concerned about records right now.
“The focus is just winning this week,” Taylor said. “We need to do everything we can to get ourselves ready for the Jets, and again, we just watch the tape. I don’t look at the record. I just watch the tape, and it’s a good football team. They are tough, they’re hard-nosed. Defensively, it feels like you are playing Detroit over the years. We’ve played them twice now, and it’s a physical team. You’ve got to earn everything. Obviously, that’s where (head coach) Aaron Glenn came from, so ton of respect for him and his staff he has. I think Tanner Engstrand’s a good (offensive) coordinator. He’s coordinated before in college, and obviously was part of that Detroit staff, so now they’re finding their foot there in New York. Again, I think it’s a really good coaching staff. They’ve got talent, and we’ve got our work cut out for us.”
The Bengals played complementary football long enough to take a lead against Pittsburgh in the second quarter, and they were able to hold on most of the remainder of the game. It took a comeback drive from Joe Flacco and the offense at the end to regain the advantage and pull out the 33-31 win on Evan McPherson’s field goal, but Cincinnati is hoping to build off the positives that helped make it happen.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Defensive end Myles Murphy said the message going into the weekend was for players to just remember what got them there.
“Very (invigorating),” Murphy said of getting a win before a long weekend. “It’s always good to go into a long weekend with a win. The vibes are high, you want to keep them high. OB (Orlando Brown) after the game said, ‘Remember this feeling, know what it feels like and repeat it. Know what you did last week to get that feeling and repeat it again,’ so that’s the main message.”
Defensively, the Bengals still have a ways to go, but the offense has been clicking over the last six quarters with Flacco. Chase Brown rushed for 100 yards for the first time since 2024, and the passing game was humming along with Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins making plays.
Flacco will get a normal week for the first time since he arrived via trade from Cleveland on Oct. 7 after the game plan for Green Bay was already in place. Last week was too short to add to much more to his plate.
Now the question will be if the offensive line remains the same or whether Dylan Fairchild, now back into a normal routine from a knee injury, gets back the starting left guard spot that Dalton Risner filled the past two games. Lucas Patrick also is back in the mix but sat on the bench behind rookie Jalen Rivers at right guard.
“I think as of right now we’ll keep working through it, but a lot of guys we know we can rely on,” Taylor said Friday. “That’s critical. Young guys that are ascending; veteran guys who we can depend on and that’s really good to have.”
Taylor re-iterated Monday how pleased he was to see the team respond Thursday and come together to get the win.
That gives him confidence the Bengals can keep building in a wide-open AFC playoff chase.
“The sky is not falling when things go bad for a couple of games,” Taylor said of the response. “It’s frustrating and disappointing, but there’s always a way out if you stick together and fight through the adversity. That’s what we’re tried to prepare this team for every step of the way for seven years. Prepare for adversity and a moment in the season when it gets, hard, we stick together and keep doing what we’re doing and don’t panic. Don’t change everything because someone says we need to change everything or live in constant state of fear. That’s not how we’re going to operate. We’re going to keep being aggressive. Keep doing things the right way. Eventually, it’ll lead to a win and another win and you’re right back into it.”
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