If they fire Zac Taylor, the Cincinnati Bengals could be a quick turnaround

With Zac Taylor sitting at a 4-23-1 record as a head coach, the Cincinnati Bengals should enter damage control mode to rebuild.

The internet doesn’t need more articles debating whether or not Zac Taylor should be fired. Four wins in almost two full seasons says it all. The only question that remains revolves around whether the Cincinnati Bengals’ front office will actually make the move. If they do, the franchise can be turned around quicker than most think.

The Bengals have done some things right in the last year or so.

Despite replacing Marvin Lewis with Taylor, the cupboard isn’t completely bare in Cincinnati. They drafted Joe Burrow. Only time will tell if he can recover and return to his pre-injury level.

Assuming he does, the Bengals have a franchise quarterback, a massive piece of the puzzle for any NFL team.  Burrow throwing the ball to guys like Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd is enough to make defensive coordinators sweat. Cincinnati will also be in a prime position to improve the offensive line via the draft.

While I’m not advocating for defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo to keep his job beyond this season, the defense has held opponents to 20 points or fewer in four of the last five games. That side of the ball isn’t as hopeless as it appeared early in the season.

Lastly, Cincinnati was finally active in free agency this past offseason, although some of that money has proven not to be well spent. Still, at least the franchise is no longer largely ignoring free agency.

Everything here is good news. Now for the bad news.

None of it matters if Zac Taylor stays

NFL players aren’t stupid. They know when a head coach doesn’t know what he is doing. We have been at that point with Taylor for some time now. Even though he tries to say everything is fine at the podium each day, it isn’t hard to see what’s going on.

The ghastly record, reports of a bad locker room environment, and Sunday’s ugly display in Miami all fit. Taylor is the substitute teacher whose class is running wild.

Nothing more needs to be seen. The Bengals made an awful head coaching hire in Taylor. It happens.  The trick for any front office is admitting they missed on a coach or player and correcting it before the damage done is irreparable.

Moving on from something that isn’t working is an aspect the Bengals have always struggled with. As highlighted above though, the organization seems to be slowly changing its ways. However, all of it is moot if they don’t make a change on the sidelines for 2021.