Last week, the Cincinnati Bengals defeated the Carolina Panthers in an ugly contest to claim their first win of the season. In the game, Cincinnati allowed Chuba Hubbard 102 rushing yards, Joe Burrow threw his first interception of the season, and quarterback Andy Dalton put up remarkable stats. Cincinnati was aiming for a more decisive victory over one of the NFL’s poorest clubs.
Even amongst all of those weak performances from last week, the obviously most alarming came in the form of starting cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt. Just two weeks after his incredible interception against Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was the talk of the NFL, Taylor-Britt put on certainly the worst game of his short NFL career. In the first quarter against Dalton and the Panthers, the young cornerback gave up five receptions on six targets for 84 yards and a touchdown pass to wide receiver Diontae Johnson.
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While those numbers may seem rough, the most alarming part was just how lethargic Taylor-Britt appeared during that interval. The Nebraska product was incapable of sticking with defenders and on those five receptions, Taylor-Britt was rarely found within five yards of the wide receiver. The remarkably poor performance earned the Cincinnati defender an abysmal Pro Football Focus (PFF) overall score of 27.5 for the game and he was benched by defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo after the first possession.
After the game, Anarumo would say that although “he was erratic”, he would be sticking with his starting cornerback for the foreseeable future. That being said, he must have been furious with one of his best players to bench him after one poor possession. That indicates that Anarumo believed it was more a question of effort that he thought needed to be addressed in front of the whole team and that is also why this could end up being a larger problem as the season moves forward.
While Taylor-Britt struggled early in the game, the other two outside cornerbacks, D.J. Turner and Dax Hill, both played well in the win. Given Anarumo’s attitude, Taylor-Britt will most likely start this week, but the young defensive back will be given a short leash against the Baltimore Ravens’ underwhelming wide receiver corps. If Taylor-Britt does not perform well against wide receivers Zay Flowers and Rashod Bateman, the Cincinnati coaching staff may make the switch again, but this time for good.
