If you reference my article assessing whether or not Sean McDermott is the right coach for Josh Allen and the Bills you can see my viewpoints on this matter. In a league with 32 starting quarterbacks, there are only four who are universally regarded as elite. The Bengals with Joe Burrow have one of those four quarterbacks. With no one for obvious reasons questioning whether or not Andy Reid is the right coach for Patrick Mahomes, with little to no questions being asked of John Harbaugh as the Ravens coach for Lamar Jackson. The head coaches of the remaining two elite quarterbacks are consistently brought into question. You can see the concerns and my overall feeling about McDermott as the coach of the Bills in the article I did on him and here, I will go into detail regarding my stance on Taylor as coach of the Bengals.
Zac Taylor did not have a very long track record in the NFL prior to being hired as the head coach of the Bengals. With an offensive background Taylor only held an offensive coordinator role for one season and one season only before being hired as a head coach. In the 2015 season with the Miami Dolphins was the only season that Taylor held an offensive coordinator position in the NFL. With the Dolphins in terms of an offensive attack ranking 27th in the NFL in points per game that season. Taylor, however, held other positions as an offensive coach in the NFL in addition to it. Such as being the quarterbacks coach for the Dolphins prior to being hired as the offensive coordinator of the franchise. Most importantly he served as the quarterbacks coach for the Los Angeles Rams during the 2018 season working with Sean McVay. That position directly led to him being hired by the Bengals as the head coach. As Sean McVay at the time was heralded as the smartest young offensive mind in the NFL and Taylor was a disciple of his. Current Packers head coach Matt Lafleur served as the offensive coordinator for the Rams in McVay’s first season with the team. In the 2018 and 2019 seasons after LaFleur departed the team, head coach McVay also served as the offensive coordinator. In the 2018 season, Taylor was the quarterbacks coach of the Rams and without there being an official offensive coordinator outside of the head coach, Taylor was likely the 2nd most prominent offensive coach on the Rams’ offensive staff that year after Sean McVay. Being perhaps the lead assistant to Sean McVay on the offensive side of the ball for a Rams team in 2018 that was one of the most explosive offenses in NFL history which made the Super Bowl. Taylor landed a head coaching gig with the Bengals headed into the following season.
When I evaluate how strong a head coach is, the two biggest things I factor in are the following. Firstly, your win-loss record for obvious reasons, and secondly, how consistently strong your side of the ball is in which you have a background in. Before this past season, where the Bengals missed the playoffs, Zac Taylor was an A to an A- in both categories. In two seasons with a healthy Joe Burrow the Bengals came within inches of winning a Super Bowl and getting to another Super Bowl. Both those seasons the Bengals had a top 10 offensive attack as well in terms of points per game scored. Based on that alone, Zac Taylor is not to be questioned even in the slightest form as an NFL head coach. As although the Bengals did not win the Super Bowl, they came extremely close both times, losing by inches to the eventual champion in the semifinal or final round each year. Even the greatest dynasty in NFL history, which was the Patriots with Tom Brady and Bill Belichick only won the Super Bowl in 6 of 19 seasons together. Despite how dominant the Chiefs with Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid have been, more than half the time they still fail to win it all, as the Chiefs with Mahomes/Reid have won the Super Bowl in only three of seven seasons together. After the first two seasons with a healthy Joe Burrow, who many if not most view to be just as good as either Brady/Mahomes when he is healthy. The Bengals were on a very similar trajectory to the Patriots and Chiefs with those two legendary quarterbacks with Zac Taylor being the head coach of Cincinnati.
However, this past 2024 season, the Bengals took a noticeable step backwards not even making the postseason after being one of the favorites to win it all entering the year. Ruminations of Taylor’s job security and his future in the position started to at least be mentioned although the Bengals were not going to seriously consider firing him after just one down season. The Patriots in the first portion of their dynasty also had a similar type of season as well as the Bengals had this past year. Where the team failed to even qualify for the postseason despite having their star quarterback healthy and being one of the favorites to win it all entering the season. In the first portion of the Patriots dynasty, New England with Brady/Belichick won it all in the 2001 season, then missed the postseason all together in the 2002 season, but then proceeded to win the Super Bowl the next two seasons. Just like the Bengals with Joe Burrow/Zac Taylor came within inches of winning it all in the first two seasons with a healthy Burrow but then missed the postseason all together in year 3 with a healthy Burrow. Both the Patriots in the 2002 season and the Bengals in the 2024 season did not fall off a cliff in terms of how strong they were as teams as both teams still finished 9-7 and 9-8 respectively and narrowly missed the playoffs. But head coach Zac Taylor was still brought into question because if you miss the postseason with one of the only four truly elite quarterbacks in the game, pundits and the NFL world in general certainly question if that rare/special quarterback talent is being utilized to the highest extent possible.
I certainly question Zac Taylor as the head coach of the Bengals after this past failed season and even before this past season as well. As his track record before being hired by the Bengals as the head coach left much to be desired and was a pretty short track record as well. I was also of the mindset that Joe Burrow is as good of an NFL quarterback as I have ever seen, including Tom Brady, and many coaches could have seen the success that Taylor has seen thus far with Burrow at the helm. My critiques of Zac Taylor arise from the following and these critiques are most evident from the 2024 season. In the 2024 season the Chiefs went 15-2 and made the Super Bowl while the Bengals went 9-8 and missed the playoffs. Despite that essential drastic difference between the two teams this past season in terms of record and postseason finish, the Bengals and Chiefs were pretty much even in terms of how good they were. That equality in terms of how good they were as teams was exemplified by their head-to-head matchup in the 2024 season. The Bengals this past season had the Chiefs beaten and just needed to stop Kansas City from converting on a 4th and 16 in order to win but failed to do so. Despite the Chiefs 15-2 mark and the Bengals 9-8 record both teams were essentially the same type of ~12-5 caliber team underneath those records. But Kansas City won close games and closed out games at a stronger rate than any team in the league and the Bengals lost close games and closed out games at perhaps a worse rate than any team in the league. Kansas City consistently won games where the majority if not the vast majority of the time a team loses. Whereas the opposite was the case with the Bengals were they consistently lost games where the majority if not the vast majority of the time a team wins.
Although Zac Taylor deserves credit for having his team’s overall ceiling be neck and neck with Andy Reid’s team on a consistent basis. The Bengals under Zac Taylor do not have nearly the intangibles to win close/big games on a consistent basis that the Chiefs with Andy Reid have as of now. Prior to the 2024 season, the same issue persisted as the Chiefs won so many big/close playoff games and perhaps if the Bengals under Zac Taylor had some of those same intangibles as a team, maybe they would have already won a Super Bowl. I also question Zac Taylor, especially juxtaposed to Andy Reid, who is his biggest competition as of now, in the following light. The Chiefs led by Andy Reid and a similar type of quarterback consistently perform well in the regular season allowing them to secure home playoff games and never leaving themselves at risk for missing the postseason. Whereas that does not seem to be the case with Cincinnati led by Zac Taylor.
Even prior to the 2024 season the team with Burrow consistently underperformed in the regular season in a fashion in which I never recall Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes performing in. In the 2021 season with a healthy Burrow where the team made the Super Bowl the team only went 10-7 with the Chiefs being led by Reid/Mahomes never winning less than 11 games in a regular season. This was despite Burrow nearly winning league MVP and the team making the Super Bowl. Granted the 10-7 mark did not come back to haunt them as they were able to win two road playoff games in route to narrowly losing in the Super Bowl. But who knows perhaps if they secured higher seeding and potentially an AFC bye which their QB play and postseason play indicates they were capable of doing but didn’t do. Maybe the additional rest and wider margins of victory in the AFC playoffs could have led to a better Super Bowl performance and a win. In the 2022 season with a healthy Burrow the team started off 0-2 but finished 12-4 (not playing the whole season due to the Damar Hamlin situation). The Bengals narrowly lost in the conference title to the Chiefs in Kansas City. If the Bengals had gotten off to a better start in the regular season, they could have certainly had that conference title game at home, potentially leading to a win instead of a narrow loss. The Bengals in the 2022 season lost two tight games to the Ravens and Cowboys, both of whom were playoff teams that season which is understandable. However, the Bengals lost vs the Steelers early in the season and lost by three possessions to the Browns as well, with neither team even making the playoffs. The Bengals even beat the Chiefs in the 2022 regular season. But because the Chiefs, despite being an equivalent caliber team to Cincinnati, did not get off to a slow start and did not consistently lose to inferior competition in the regular season, they secured home-field advantage in the eventual conference title against the Bengals in route to winning their second Super Bowl. In such a close neck and neck back and forth game in the conference championship between the Chiefs and Bengals that year, one can certainly point to home field advantage giving Kansas City the slight edge. In the 2023 season, the Bengals with Joe Burrow healthy, again got off to a 0-2 start for the second consecutive season. With the Chiefs led by Mahomes/Reid never getting off to a 0-2 start in seven seasons together. Burrow eventually suffered a season ending injury later in the year and the Bengals failed to qualify for the playoffs. However, if the Bengals had again gotten off to a better start maybe they could have made the postseason even without Burrow, as backup quarterback Jake Browning was playing pretty well.
These issues with regards to consistent performance in the regular season or lack thereof with the Bengals under Zac Taylor were brought to light in a flagrant fashion during the Bengals 2024 season. Where once again the team lost many games that they were in line to win including a poor early season loss at home to a 4-13 Patriots team which saw the Bengals start off 0-2 for the third consecutive season, but this time they started off 0-3. Outside of the inconsistency in the regular season I have some more concerns with Zac Taylor as the head coach of the Bengals as well, especially juxtaposed to Andy Reid. Before Andy Reid landed Patrick Mahomes as his starting quarterback, Reid was one of the most established head coaches in the NFL and almost universally recognized as the best head coach in the league to have not won a Super Bowl as of yet. Whereas the opposite could be said of Zac Taylor before he inherited Joe Burrow as his starting quarterback. Many, including myself, question whether or not Taylor was even qualified to receive the Bengals head coaching job to begin with. As typically a head coach has to spend several seasons in a coordinator role and have his side of the ball be elite before becoming a head coach. Whereas that was not the case at all with Zac Taylor, as Taylor spent only one season in an offensive coordinator role where his offense finished 27th in terms of points per game that season. However, because of Taylor’s exposure to Sean McVay whose exposure to has gotten a few other head coaches hired as well, Taylor landed a head coaching job.
Additionally, in Taylor’s first season as head coach of the Bengals without having Burrow as the quarterback, the team went an abysmal 2-14. In Taylor’s second season on the job with a rookie Joe Burrow who missed much of the year due to a season ending injury, the team went 4-11-1 under Zac Taylor. Compare that to Andy Reid’s track record before becoming a head coach and before inheriting Patrick Mahomes. Although Reid did not have a long and successful track record as a coordinator before becoming a head coach. As his background before becoming a head coach was similar to Taylor’s with Reid serving as the quarterbacks coach with the Packers and Brett Favre while never even serving as an NFL offensive coordinator before becoming a head coach in the NFL. However, as a head coach in the NFL before inheriting Patrick Mahomes, Reid consistently had the Eagles in conference titles along with reaching a Super Bowl despite having a QB talent that was closer to average. With the Chiefs before the arrival of Patrick Mahomes, Reid again had Kansas City consistently in the post-season despite having a quarterback who was closer to average. Compare that to Zac Taylor’s 6-25-1 record as an NFL head coach before inheriting a healthy Joe Burrow who was not a rookie.
Despite my criticisms of Zac Taylor, I remain optimistic that he is indeed the right coach for Joe Burrow and the Bengals. My only issue with Zac Taylor is the team consistently underperforming from time to time in the regular season, which is certainly a correctable issue. Joe Burrow, although he was the #1 pick in the NFL draft, was not heralded as a generational type of prospect while also having average physical traits in terms of athletic ability and arm strength. Despite that Burrow has turned into one of the only four NFL quarterbacks who are universally regarded as elite in the game today. Zac Taylor certainly deserves a good amount of credit for that and who knows, maybe if Burrow did not have Taylor as his head coach, he may not be in that elite group. Even after offensive coordinator Brian Callahan, who was in the role for all of Zac Taylor’s tenure, departed to become a head coach prior to the 2024 season. The offense with Zac Taylor did not skip a beat although the team regressed. Even during the 2024 season where the Bengals missed the postseason the team looked very strong. They had the eventual AFC Champion Kansas City Chiefs beaten in the regular season but failed to close it out. The Ravens with Lamar Jackson are consistently the most dominant regular season team in the NFL and the Bengals had them beaten twice this past regular season but failed to close out either game. As Cincinnati under Zac Taylor was up by double digits in the second half of both games vs the Ravens/Lamar Jackson in the 2024 season but failed to close it out either time. Failing to close out games in the regular season falls under my only real criticism of Taylor at this point, which are his teams consistently underwhelming and disappointing in the regular season. It is underwhelming and disappointing because given his team’s strong postseason track record and their strong performances in the regular season otherwise, the team is obviously much more capable than many of the disappointing losses they consistently suffer in the regular season under Taylor. That issue I point to with Taylor is however correctable and as he gains more experience in a head coaching role, I think his teams will begin to overcome it. Zac Taylor, as head coach of the Bengals is only one of two current head coaches to have beaten the Chiefs with Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid in the playoffs. Zac Taylor, in the first two seasons with a healthy Burrow has come within inches of winning a Super Bowl and getting to another one. On the same trajectory of Bill Belichick and Andy Reid as head coaches for Brady/Mahomes prior to the 2024 season. If the Bengals had just closed out games at even a below average rate instead of the poor rate that they did in the 2024 season. I could have certainly seen them in the conference title or Super Bowl again this past season if they indeed sneaked into the playoffs with better late game performances in the regular season.
Sean McDermott and Zac Taylor are certainly to be questioned as their quarterbacks in Josh Allen and Joe Burrow are universally regarded as two of the only four elite quarterbacks in the game today. Despite that, neither quarterback has won a Super Bowl as of yet with those two head coaches. I would not fire McDermott or Taylor or even consider doing that as of now, but with everyone pretty much agreeing that there is little to no gap between Allen/Burrow and Mahomes. But Mahomes having three Super Bowl wins compared to those two quarterbacks having a combined zero, one certainly questions the head coaches of those two star QBs. Just like with McDermott, I am of the mindset that Taylor is fine as of now, but has not proven to be a next level game changer at head coach like Andy Reid has proven to be. Just like with McDermott, I would not consider firing Taylor as of now, but if the Bengals were to have another disappointing season, and if Kyle Shanahan or Bill Belichick were to become available as NFL head coaches. I would strongly consider moving off the current coach to hire one of those two individuals.
