Cincy Jungle Roundtable: When will Zac Taylor get his first win?

The Bengals are 0-8 and Zac Taylor’s reign as head coach is off to a rocky start, but they have to win eventually. Don’t they?

We asked some of our writers when they think the Bengals would get their next win...

Patrick Judis — December 8th at Cleveland Browns

“The Bengals schedule is fairly soft after the bye, so there are a few opportunities to end their imperfect season. Right now my money is on their first shot at the Browns.

What makes Cleveland standout? They’re probably the most undisciplined team left on Cincinnati’s schedule, which is saying something. Last year the Browns swept the Bengals with the added motivation of sticking it to their former head coach Hue Jackson. Without that motivation, Cleveland is more likely to overlook the Bengals, even during their own season of struggles.

The Browns look like a team without a purpose or direction, Baker Mayfield doesn’t look like the same guy as his rookie season and they have been terrible at finishing off games this season. It is the perfect mix for the Bengals to snag their first victory.”

John Sheeran — December 1st vs. New York Jets

“Let’s look at this logically. The Bengals keeping things close with the Ravens three weeks before the Ravens ran all over the Patriots doesn’t mean much of anything. Every matchup is independent and the Ravens still represent a bad matchup with the Bengals. After that, they face the Steelers and Raiders, who should both be in the race for a wild card spot come December.

Things will not be relatively easy until the lowly Jets come to town. That’s when Zac Taylor can feasibly expect victory for the first time.”

Matt Minich — November 24th vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

“Ben Roethlisberger has played some incredible games in Cincinnati, but Roethlisberger isn’t playing in this game <insert Roll Safe meme here>.

The Steelers were 0-3 to start the season, which isn’t as bad as it sounds when you consider that they played the Patriots, Seahawks, and 49ers. They have won three in a row, but those games were against the ever-confusing Chargers, the dismal Dolphins, and the Brian Hoyer led Colts.

In their first matchup, the Bengals played pretty well on defense for most of the game, but wore down and a couple of big plays made the difference. If Ryan Finley can put together some long drives to not only score, but keep this defense off of the field, they could play well enough to win.”

Nathan Beighle - December 1st vs. New York Jets

“The first of December is when the Cincinnati Bengals will finally win a game, 15 days shy of being winless for an entire calendar year. They’ll be at home taking on the currently 1-7 Jets who have almost as disastrous a quarterback situation as Cincinnati.

That said, if the prediction is correct, the Bengals will enter 0-11, and the Jets will likely be 1-10. After losing to the Dolphins and scoring just nine points in three combined games this season, the Jets offense had struggled to move the ball, and the Bengals’ mediocre defense should be able to hold Le’Veon Bell’s Jets to under 20.

On the other hand, if the Ryan Finley experiment works, he’ll start with A.J. Green at full strength. This roster, with Green, isn’t the worst in the league, and they’ll prove it at home against New York.”

Nick Manchester - This Sunday vs. Baltimore Ravens

“Call me overly optimistic, but I think the Bengals could get it done at Paul Brown Stadium this week.

The Ravens just came off of a tough game against the Patriots, and walked away victorious. Their next matchup against the winless Bengals has all the makings of a trap game. Throw in the fact that their one loss is to the Browns, and they only defeated the Steelers, Cardinals, and Bengals by one score earlier in the season and it becomes clear that the Ravens have a problem of playing down to their competition.

Not only could the Ravens overlook the Bengals, but there are some things going on in Cincinnati that could influence the outcome.

For one, A.J. Green is supposed to come back, and he has always done very well in his career against the Ravens. Not to mention that there is no regular season NFL film on Ryan Finley, so the Ravens won’t know exactly how to prepare against him. They have never seen him before, but the Bengals have seen Lamar Jackson, and only lost by a single score in that game. Coming off a bye week for his game, the Bengals had two weeks to prepare this time.

Will the Bengals win against the Ravens? Probably not. But people around the NFL are sure to write off the Bengals this week and are willing to pencil in a win for the Ravens.

At the very least, the Bengals will make it tougher on the Ravens than most people expect.”

What about you?

Interestingly enough, none of our experts picked the Week 16 matchup at the Miami Dolphins which has already been dubbed the “Tua Bowl” as the Bengals first win. Of course, if both teams go into that game with one win, it could truly be for the first pick of the NFL Draft.

You’ve heard our takes, now it is time to cast your vote.