Bengals

Zac Taylor enters his eighth year as the Bengals’ head coach and faces pressure to succeed after missing the postseason over the last three years. Taylor said he doesn’t pay attention to outside noise, but it’s still tough to ignore. 

“The ones that get you — this happened last night — ‘Hey, don’t listen to what people are saying. You’re doing a great job,’” Taylor said, via Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic. “OK. I don’t know what people were saying. Thanks for bringing it up, though.”

Taylor is among the favorites to be the first coach fired this season. Taylor said he knows what their team looks like when things are going well and is trying hard to replicate those days. 

“I know what it looks like when it’s good and that’s what you’re fighting for,” Taylor said. “You just want to replicate that and go beyond it. And so it’s worth being in a situation where people are gonna judge you and say terrible things to you and about you. It’s worth it because if you do the good things, it’s tenfold the opposite direction.”

Bengals OC Dan Pitcher praised Taylor for his consistency and thinks it’s a “very conducive environment” to do great work. 

“Anytime anybody has ever asked me about Zac, to me, the first attribute that I always mention is consistency,” Pitcher said. “That is a critical attribute, I think, for any leader. For anybody who works under him and for the whole staff, I just think there is such ease when the leader is consistent and you know what the environment is going to be and that is the same when times are good and times are bad. You know what to expect, that is a very conducive environment to produce your best work.”

Ravens

“Super Bowl or bust” describes a growing number of teams in the AFC. The last franchise in the conference to win a title that wasn’t the Chiefs or the Patriots was the Broncos all the way back in 2015. The Ravens are in a group that includes the Bills and Bengals, who are feeling increasing pressure to win a ring. 

“It would be crazy for me to say I played with Lamar Jackson and we didn’t win no championships,” Ravens RB Derrick Henry said via Ryan Mink of the team website. “I cannot have that. I do not want that to be a thing. We’ve got to do it.”

For Henry, the thought of a championship is one of the biggest things keeping him going strong in his career — more than stats, accolades or climbing the league’s all-time rushing leaderboard. He’s 10th right now with 13,018 yards and is within striking distance of Curtis Martin (14,101 yards) for the No. 6 spot. 

“I want to win a Super Bowl. That’s a big motivation,” Henry said. “I just want to be able to feel that feeling. I’m tired of watching. Every year, I’m tired of being at home on the couch watching. I want to be a part of it. That’s what’s motivating me right now. I’m going to keep going until we get to that point. We have the 2026 season to get that accomplished.”

“If me getting to No. 6 gets me to the Super Bowl, then so be it. If we get that ring, everything else will happen,” Henry added. “For me to be able to be in the top 10 and this year to be able to get to 6, it’s so crazy to me. Like, me?! The guys I grew up watching, idolizing and hearing about, it’s so crazy.”

Steelers

Mike McCarthy‘s move to the Steelers as head coach is a homecoming for the veteran coach, returning to the city he was born in. McCarthy reflected on coming to Pittsburgh, calling it the “greatest place on Earth.”

“This is where I’m from. This is the cloth that I was cut from,” McCarthy said, via Ralph Vacchiano of Fox Sports. “When you grow up in Western Pa., we’re all sick in the head because we’re all brainwashed as kids. It’s the greatest place on Earth.”

McCarthy understands how important the Steelers are to the city. 

“I think that’s part of the beauty of the fabric of our great city,” McCarthy. “It’s totally intertwined with the Pittsburgh Steelers organization. No disrespect to the 31 other teams, but I don’t think there’s a professional franchise in sports that’s more intertwined than we are with the city of Pittsburgh, the steel industry, the blue-collar background and how the city adjusted and grew. Just the whole history of our surroundings is such a parallel to how we want to play the game, that we’re willing to do whatever it takes to be successful. That’s something that’s been in place for over 50 years — the black helmets and the black shirts and the way this team plays.”

McCarthy said he wouldn’t have signed with Pittsburgh if he didn’t think he could win a Super Bowl with them.

“Well, I wouldn’t say I imagined it yet, but I’m working toward that,” McCarthy said. “That’s why I do this. And now, to be able to do this back home, trust me, it’s not lost on me how special this opportunity is. That’s what gets me up in the morning. I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t think I could win the Super Bowl here.”