DDN Sports Newsletter: Reds, Bengals remind us why coaching matters

The Cincinnati Bengals are 0-3 because a wonderfully diverse and advanced offensive game plan wasn’t enough to overcome a woefully unprepared defense in a 38-33 loss to the Washington Commanders on Monday night.

Now Zac Taylor’s team will have to wobble through the first half of the season again hoping not to get knocked out before Thanksgiving (or Halloween?) after another offseason that seemed not to prepare the Bengals for real games.

If they hadn’t laid a total egg in Week 1, the trip to Carolina this Sunday wouldn’t feel so desperate, but that is where we are.

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Taylor and his offensive staff get credit for revamping the offense on the fly (again), suddenly utilizing multiple tight ends and the running game to make Joe Burrow’s life easier (and he took advantage beautifully), but there is not much reason to be optimistic about a defense that entered the season with low expectations anyway.

Defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, whose team has finished in the bottom third of the NFL in scoring in three of five seasons in Cincinnati, has not shown much ability to adjust to his personnel, and his success against Kansas City in 2021 looks increasingly like a one-off.

Getting healthier, especially up front, could help, but how much?

Don’t look for any mercy from new Panthers starting quarterback Andy Dalton this weekend.

David Bell is gone, but the Reds continued to play losing baseball this week

That was probably to be expected given the season is almost over, the players seemed to love Bell, and they had to go Cleveland.

Some people up by the lake still seem to struggle with the basics of baseball’s unwritten rules and the country’s basic geography, but Cleveland’s front office certainly knows how to build consistent winner despite playing in a small market.

READ MORE: Saying ‘Cincitucky’ is both silly and ignorant

Was Bell always dealt a good hand? Certainly not, but he maintained his job through multiple periods even a winning manager probably would have been shown the door.

Fan frustrations with the front office and especially ownership are more than warranted, but the Castellini group did open the wallet in hopes of improving the rotation then the lineup in the early years of Bell’s tenure before the 2022 fire sale and the Reds still haven’t scored a run in the postseason in over a decade.

Some key injuries to the lineup put the 2024 Reds behind the eight ball early, but the pitching staff took a major step forward to pick up the slack.

READ MORE: 10 potential candidates to be new Reds manager

The No. 1 reason they missed the postseason was a dismal record in one-run games.

This is particularly problematic given how regularly they gave away outs on the base paths and in the field that directly led to close losses.

My vote for Bell’s replacement would be for Barry Larkin.

READ MORE: Hal McCoy on Bell’s being fired

Buckeyes beginning Big Ten play

On the other end of the spectrum, Ohio State seems to be on the upswing from a coaching perspective.

Ryan Day has endured some slings and arrows after three straight losses to Michigan, but he has never hesitated to try to make his team better — specifically in terms of making staff changes when warranted.

He seemed almost annoyed this week having to recap some of the imperfections in his team’s 3-0 start.

Not that he was put off by any questions, mind you, but more that what he’s seen so far wasn’t even better than outscoring three overmatched teams 157-20 would indicate.

“I don’t feel good about anything,” he said, a line that might as well have been delivered by Woody Hayes himself.

Of course fans (and some of us in the media) are known to nitpick such results, but the head coach looking for every opportunity to make his team better struck me when striking a balance between positive and negative energy seems to be a constant challenge these days.

In focus this week as the Buckeyes travel to Michigan State are both lines, where two players from the southern part of our coverage area are still sharing a spot on offense and the potential return of a playmaker could bolster the defense.