Bengals Coach Zac Taylor Has A Secret Weapon For Getting His Team To Rally Starting In December

The Cincinnati Bengals are currently on the outside looking in as the NFL calendar flips to December and seeding for the playoffs begin to take shape. But coach Zac Taylor may have a way to get his team playing great and becoming postseason relevant:

No, not suddenly drafting two or three defensive studs to help the struggling defense.

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – NOVEMBER 07: Joe Burrow #9 of the Cincinnati Bengals reacts after his team was defeated by the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium on November 07, 2024 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

Bengals Bring Back Ping-Pong Tables

Ping-Pong.

Like, table tennis. Or paddle tennis. Or whatever you want to call it.

“It’s December football now, and we need everyone to be at their best, need everyone to have energy when they walk in the building,” Taylor told reporters this week. “That creates some competitiveness. That’s about all there is to it.”

Actually, that’s not all there is to it.

The ping-pong tables, and obviously the games played on them, have been a part of the Bengals’ locker room in recent years. But they went missing this season when the club refurbished the locker room.

Taylor told the team they were coming back before the bye and, voilà, they are back this week.

INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 17: Evan McPherson #2 of the Cincinnati Bengals watches his successful field goal attempt against the Los Angeles Chargers during the second quarter at SoFi Stadium on November 17, 2024 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

Bengals ‘Excited’ About Ping-Pong

So how does that help? 

“It got everybody excited,” kicker Evan McPherson said. “Some people may think it’s stupid, but I think it does help because the vision of it is you’re playing with guys you might not always talk to. There are a bunch of guys you may not get around to talking to.

“Everybody loves ping pong, so you may be playing against a guy or with a guy that you don’t talk to much. I feel like the teams I’ve been on the past three years have been really close. I feel like the games we play with each other have something to do with it.”

Taylor is obviously aware ping-pong is not going to turn a disappointing season around. But the dude is a football coach and if it helps the football team in any way, he’s going to be for it.

Players Interacting Cannot Hurt

“I just want guys to interact,” he said. “That’s one way to do it.”I’m not overthinking it too much, but here’s a way to create some energy and get guys up and active.”

The Bengals need to activate some wins. 

They lost three out of four games before their bye and find themselves in third-place in the AFC North and as the 10th seed in the AFC playoff race – with only seven seeds qualifying for the postseason.

So something drastic has to happen for the Bengals to be relevant in the season’s final six weeks.

So, yeah, maybe ping-pong will make for happier players. And happier players will make more plays.

And more plays will get the Bengals some much-needed wins.