Bengals Report: Front office questioning Zac Taylor’s offensive strategy

According to Matt Miller of Bleacher Report, some members of the Cincinnati Bengals’ front office have questioned Zac Taylor’s offensive strategy.

As the Cincinnati Bengals trudge along without Joe Burrow and fall into a deeper hole in the AFC North, the questioning of the direction Zac Taylor has the team heading continues to grow louder. Up until now, the doubt has primarily come from the fan base.

However, according to Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller, there are some within the front office beginning to scratch their heads as to the offensive gameplan that has been deployed. Specifically, members of Cincinnati’s decision-makers are wondering why their franchise signal-caller was asked to stand in harm’s way for so long rather than having the scheme altered to get the ball out faster.

Before falling victim to a gruesome injury, the Bengals’ young gunslinger was on pace to shatter the record for the most passing attempts as a rookie. Through ten and a half games, Burrow dropped back a whopping 404 times. A week two matchup against a dangerous Cleveland Browns pass rush where the LSU product was required to throw 61 times highlights just how often he was subjected to being hit.

Why hasn’t Zac Taylor utilized the run game more?

Obviously, Burrow was put in a less than ideal situation behind one of the league’s worst offensive lines. Zac Taylor has defended his approach, however, alluding to the fact that the team’s best shot at winning games was behind the arm of Burrow and he would do what was necessary to win, even if that meant throwing the ball the majority of the time.

Still, it seems like a team that just coughed up over $40M to extend running back Joe Mixon would be more inclined to run the ball and take some of the pressure off Burrow. Of course, Mixon has been sidelined due to injury for the past several weeks, but even before he went down, the Bengals weren’t focusing on the ground game as much as they should have been.

Miller concludes his report by stating Taylor could ultimately become the fall guy for the injury Burrow suffered. The fate of the second-year head coach likely depends on which members of the front office are questioning his strategy.