Dolphins, Bengals, once in similar spots, are going in different directions
On Feb. 4, 2019, mere hours after the team he worked for played in the Super Bowl, Zac Taylor got the chance of a lifetime by being named head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals.
The same day, mere hours after the team he worked for also played in the Super Bowl, Brian Flores also got the chance of a lifetime by being named head coach of the Miami Dolphins.
It was as if these men were living out twin experiences: Two young coaches holding the reins of oncestoried but embattled football clubs — Flores following the footsteps of legendary coach Don Shula and Taylor following the footsteps of legendary coach Paul Brown.
And, yes, both these coaches and their incomplete teams struggled terribly that first season.
Both watched as their organizations practically induced the tough times — the Dolphins by deconstructing their roster in massive fashion, and the Bengals by actually benching their healthy starting quarterback for one who everyone saw was performing much worse and losing much more.
So, yeah, both these organizations tanked in their own special way last year.
But here’s the thing: Although both teams seemed on similar footing and taking similar paths to a recovery, the two have gone in vastly different directions.
The Bengals followed a 2-14 season in 2019 with high draft picks and high hopes. But they’re mired in last place in the AFC North with a 2-8-1 record.
So after two years, Taylor comes to Hard Rock
Stadium on Sunday with his team and a 4-22-1 coaching record.
The Dolphins followed a 5-11 season in 2019 with high draft picks and high hopes. But they’re getting high-flying results now.
Miami is 7-4 and in second place in the AFC East, one game behind divisionleading Buffalo. Online books are giving the Dolphins, currently in the middle of the playoff race, a 60 percent chance of getting to the postseason.
So these two organizations could not be headed in a more-different direction now.
Flores is being mentioned in the conversation for Coach of the Year.
(I know this to be true because, look, I just mentioned him and I get a vote!)
Taylor, meanwhile, is being mentioned as a candidate to be fired after the season.
“I feel pressure every single day to be urgent to do my job best I can,” he said this week when asked if he feels pressure to win or be fired. “And it shouldn’t change. If you believe in the way you’re approaching things and what your vision is, it shouldn’t change based on wins or losses.
“We tell the guys we want consistent players as they walk in the building every single day. We need to know what to expect from them. I sure as heck am not going to be any different than the day I first showed up on the job. I believe in what the staff has asked these players to do. I believe these players are bought in and they know this is the right way to do it.
“We’re not going change our personalities as we go about our business just because of the trials that we face.”
The task for Flores and his team now is building on a foundation that seems mostly well laid. No, the quarterback situation is not settled yet because no one can guarantee Tua Tagovailoa is going to be a star.
But the Dolphins have taken multiple positive steps to improve the defense and field dominant special teams, so now the task is to keep filling voids at receiver and running back and perhaps offensive line (again).
The task for Taylor and the Bengals is to win a game to change the conversation from the gloom and doom of folks losing their jobs.
“We have a seven-day work week,” Taylor said this week. “It starts on a Monday and our rhythm is exactly the same and it ends on Sunday with you wanting to win a football game. Because I sure as hell know what it feels like when you don’t. And we’re all sick and tired of this feeling.”
A head coach’s job is, in part, to sell his team on his message and vision.
While the sales job last year was obviously a challenge for Flores, right now he can easily sell his players on continuing the course.
Because they’re seeing that what the coach is selling is often working for them and delivering victories.
Taylor can’t do that. So what is he selling?
Hope. That’s all he’s got. “I know there’s a day we’re going to bust down this wall and there’s going to be some great times ahead,” Taylor said. “I know that. Right now it’s very difficult sometimes when we deal with these losses. But I also know what our future holds for us, and we have to keep working towards that.
“And these two years that we’ve endured will serve us incredibly well in the future when we’re winning a lot of football games and we’re playing for championships. These will be times we look back on and reflect on as almost necessary for where we end up being.”
Yeah, maybe.
Maybe not.
What amazes in all this is these two teams are getting such drastically different results week to week while trying virtually the same things to address their past losing ways.
The Dolphins last offseason drafted a quarterback they see as their future. The Bengals did the same thing and generally seem to have gotten it right with No. 1 overall draft pick Joe Burrow.
The Dolphins had 11 draft picks and many are contributing. The Bengals had seven draft picks and many are contributing.
The Dolphins spent roughly $250 million in free agency to restock the roster with experience. The Bengals took a similar approach, spending $211 million in free agency with good players, such as nose tackle D.J. Reader and safety Von Bell.
One difference is the Bengals had a significant free agency miss in cornerback Trae Waynes, who signed a $43 million contract and hasn’t played because of a pectoral injury and a stint on the COVID-19 reserve list.
But both teams actually failed to address areas of weakness.
The Dolphins didn’t fix the running back position in the offseason and the Bengals didn’t help their offensive line — which got Burrow hit more often than any other quarterback.
Burrow is out for the season with knee injury after undergoing surgery on Wednesday.
So on the surface, the Bengals should be better than they are. And the Dolphins perhaps shouldn’t be as good as they are.
One supposes the fact the Dolphins seem more disciplined, more detail-oriented and better coached is a reason for their better results.
The Miami personnel department also didn’t blow $90 million on two players who haven’t contributed, as Waynes and Joe Mixon have failed to do in Cincinnati.
But it says something that last December the two teams played at Hard Rock and the Dolphins won, 38-35, in a game pushed to overtime.
And this December, as the two prepare for a rematch, the Dolphins are strong 11-point favorites. So what does that say? That two teams that began 2019 in generally the same position long ago parted ways, with the Dolphins so far enjoying a sizable advantage.