The Cincinnati Bengals made further rare acts of desperation at the start of week 11 at cornerback and .
Don't make fun of the word rarely either – the latest Was rarely also, since it was only the third player acquired via trade for the franchise in more than 50 years at the deadline.
And it's probably not as cut and dry as it needs to be. Clearly, the Bengals need more help at running back after Herbert and Chase Brown fumbled last week. And yes, Cam Taylor-Britt was a huge disappointment at corner and the loss of Dax Hill weighs heavily on the depth chart.
But something else could also be true.
The hot seat could be so hot in Cincinnati.
You don't have to watch a Joe Burrow press conference for long to know that the franchise quarterback isn't happy. You don't have to watch a game for long to realize that the team wasn't built and/or trained properly. It's a failure of MVP-level quarterback deployment, Ja'Marr Chase's OPOTY deployment, and, frankly, Trey Hendrickson's DPOTY deployment.
This creates heat. The direct blame should probably go all the way to the top and fall most heavily on Director of Player Personnel Duke Tobin (i.e. the GM they don't call GM). Whether it's the leadership's fault limiting his options or not, he's failing to replace talent like Jessie Bates that they're letting out.
And the coaching staff isn't much better. If Lou Anarumo can't put up a league-average defense with his resources, his spot should be hot. When the defensive assistants can't get a first-rounder like Myles Murphy on the field, it's hot. If the offensive assistants can't get the wideouts named Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins up to speed, then it's hot. If Zac Taylor can't find a way to motivate his guys and win games with an MVP passer, then that's not a problem.
Since the beginning of the Burrow era, we have seen a constant modernization of the franchise. Maybe this is just a continuation of that (although they And ).
But even that is the latest small sign that things are heating up in Cincinnati. The logical conclusion after a failed season in the middle of an elite quarterback's prime is change. It remains to be seen how high up the ladder it climbs, but it's not unreasonable to assume that surveillance should be underway in the hot seat.
If things continue this badly and Burrow isn't happy, perhaps the next modernization will mean a massive shakeup of the coaching staff sooner than anyone would dare predict.
