The 2024 Cincinnati Bengals had a defense problem, and a large portion of that problem was the secondary not able to defend the pass. The Bengals did get 40% of their secondary back from injury in 2025, and they also were counting on Cam Taylor-Britt, who struggled throughout the 2024 season. Unfortunately, they’ll have to wait longer because the Taylor-Britt we saw in Week 1 was not good.
PFF graded Taylor-Brit at a lowly 36.6 coverage grade for his Week 1 performance, which saw Joe Flacco target
the receiver he was covering seven times, completing six, including one for a touchdown.
For his part, CTB didn’t make any excuses or deny the fact that he played poorly. He said he spoke with new defensive coordinator Al Golden after the game and said he “had no excuses at the end of the day.”
“That’s one thing I don’t want to do, is this team counting on me in a clutch situation and I ”F” it up, no that’s not me,” he said afterwards.
Zac Taylor also spoke on Wednesday about Taylor-Britt’s performance on Sunday and agreed the fourth-year corner who is in a contract year.
“Now you’ve got to prove it’s going to be consistent,” he said. “Some of his plays (Sunday) weren’t his best. I see better than I hear.”
The Bengals were kept out of the playoffs in 2024, despite Joe Burrow’s MVP-caliber season and Ja’Marr Chase’s Triple Crown, largely because of a terrible defense. They faced the Browns, who featured Jerry Jeudy and Cedric Tillman on Sunday, and they may constitute the worst wide receiver room in the league. To avoid the same costly issues in 2025, Taylor-Britt will need to step up his game.
