Fire Zac. Fire Duke. Save Burrow.

It’s been a three-year-long winter for the Cincinnati Bengals, and 2025 has been the coldest year yet. Somehow, the Bengals have outdone the Kansas City Chiefs for the most disappointing season for a team with actual championship aspirations.

Cincinnati has been through the wringer. Star quarterback Joe Burrow went down with a turf-toe injury in a Week 2 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars, and it’s been all downhill ever since. Last weekend may have been the lowest point of the Burrow era, with the Bengals seeing the last of their playoff hopes stomped out with a 24-0 home loss to the Baltimore Ravens, and Burrow himself painting a bleak picture of his future with the organization.

“If I want to keep doing this, I have to have fun doing it. I have been through a lot. If it’s not fun, then what am I doing it for?” Burrow said to the media after a loss to the Buffalo Bills.

“You think about a lot of things,” he said in a separate press conference, when asked if he’s thought about playing for a different franchise.

And so here we are, with Southwest Ohio feeling like a powder keg. Fans have had enough. They have an NFL-caliber quarterback and the best receiving corps in the league, and nothing to show for either. And desperate folks resort to desperate measures. Enter the billboard: Fire Zac. Fire Duke. Save Burrow.

The billboard was sponsored by Cincy Unfiltered, a Cincinnati sports talk podcast that wants the same thing as the overwhelming majority of the fanbase, for the franchise to tear it down and rebuild with a serious coaching staff and front office. There is no salvation coming. The Bengals’ starting running back last season, Zack Moss, put it as plainly as possible.

“Been telling people easily the worst franchise in sports!”

Been telling people easily the worst franchise in sports! https://t.co/NhsiUKsanP

— ZMO✝️ (@PresMoss2) December 15, 2025

It’s hard to argue with him. As bad as the Bengals offense has been at times throughout the season, the defense has been historically so. It’s not a new issue, either. These problems persisted a season ago, so how did Cincinnati approach negotiations with the NFL’s reigning sack leader, Trey Hendrickson, on a potential contract extension? As contentiously as possible.

Hendrickson resorted to a training camp holdout that he gave up on when he realized he was in maybe the only organization in the league this side of the Cowboys that wouldn’t reward his on-field dominance. But even in JerryWorld, they’ll trade their star pass rusher to recoup something. The Bengals? Forget about it. Hendrickson begrudgingly signed a one-year deal that will almost certainly ensure he’s in a different jersey for the 2026 season, and the Bengals won’t get anything in return for letting him walk.

And the front office that allowed this isn’t going anywhere. The Athletic’s Paul Dehner Jr. reported on the state of affairs for the Bengals brass, and Duke Tobin, Cincinnati’s Director of Player Personnel and de facto general manager, isn’t going anywhere. Per Tobin, “There’s no way around the results and outrage currently directed at Tobin by the fan base. He’s never seen his role challenged or exposed to this level externally. Internally, however, it’s just not happening. Tobin is viewed as family in nearly the same regard as (the Brown family, which owns the Bengals). There is zero thought that his job is in jeopardy.”

So the front office with the smallest scouting department in the NFL isn’t going anywhere, but what about the coaching staff? Fat chance..

Burrow has been openly supportive of Taylor throughout his career in Cincinnati, and it’s inarguable that Taylor has spearheaded one of the league’s most potent offenses when his stars are healthy. But on-field results aside, his job security stems from the contract extension he signed after reaching the AFC Championship in 2022 that will keep in the Queen City through 2027, at least.

Remember, this is the Bengals we’re dealing with. Marvin Lewis was the head coach for 16 years without ever winning a playoff game. Zac Taylor has been to a Super Bowl.

Bengals fans might feel like the pressure cooker is on, and that Tobin, Taylor, and co. are in it, but that’s just not reality. The Bengals have an All-World talent at quarterback who has only been to the playoffs twice in his six-year career, but all signs are pointing to him being remembered in the same breadth as Carson Palmer.

Qwame’s debut novel, The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now, and he thinks it’s great! If you enjoyed this article, it just might be worth your time to check that out as well.