Bengals’ Zac Taylor In One-On-One With Geoff Hobson

ZT: We’ve played different teams, so the first two teams played a ton of Tampa 2 and the next teams mix it in a little, but that’s not really their identity. Teams are going to play true to themselves and they’re not going to create stuff just for us typically. They’re going to maybe tweak how they do things just to put somebody over to help Ja’Marr (Chase) or maybe to help Tee (Higgins) or double T.B. (Tyler Boyd), or whatever it is. I think our coaches have done a good job sorting it out as the game goes on, especially these last two weeks how teams are trying to play us.

GH: Miami, a signature zero blitz team, did it maybe twice, right, in a big departure from what they do>

ZT: One-and-a-half, yeah.

GH: So, you had to be ready for something else.

ZT: Yeah, we had to have a lot of answers ready. It worked, but we only saw it one time.

GH: What has jumped off the page to you about the defense?

ZT: Their bend but don’t break mindset. They’ve given up maybe a big play that puts the other team in the red zone or inside the five but then they hold strong down there or hold them to three points. If our offense has given them a short field for whatever reason, they’ve held the team to three points. They’ve really done a great job of keeping teams out of the end zone. Ultimately, that’s the objective.

You’re not going to shut out every team you play. We would hope to do that but we understand that’s not always in the cards. But these guys have done a great job of just going out and overcoming maybe a play that has happened that some teams can let the drive finish in the end zone, but our guys refuse to do that. That’s a big deal for us.

GH: Sam Hubbard says it’s not about the calls on defense, but it’s about the guys.

ZT: If you get 11 guys on the same page that believe in what you’re doing, then they’re going to make it work. Especially with the way that our guys communicate and play off each other, I certainly believe that.”