The Cincinnati Bengals are 3-1 for the first time since 2016 but even with that being the case, Zac Taylor‘s job isn’t safe. He’s still won just nine games through two years and four weeks with three of those wins coming this season.
Even though Cincy won last Thursday, fans were understandably still annoyed with Taylor. Early in the game, he made a head-scratching decision to call a run play on 2nd-and-long, and no surprises, but the Bengals ended up punting on that play. This didn’t get made into a big deal because the team won but it’s decisions like these that infuriate the fans, and rightfully so.
During the game, it was hard to find much praise for Taylor.
I don't know what Zac Taylor is doing right now but let's just say it's a good thing he knows Sean McVay
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) October 1, 2021
Zac Taylor is almost certainly the NFL’s worst head coach.
— Jeremy Birmingham (@Birm) October 1, 2021
Honestly. What did Zac Taylor hate so much about the way they moved the ball on the opening drive? https://t.co/S95BhjXibU
— Dan Graziano (@DanGrazianoESPN) October 1, 2021
After the Bengals moved down the field on their first drive of the game (that, unfortunately, resulted in zero points), Taylor moved back to his conservative style of playcalling, which was beyond frustrating. As a result, the Bengals trailed 14-0 at the half and the team was rightfully getting booed.
Bengals HC Zac Taylor isn’t out of the dog house just yet.
Taylor took over a bad situation in the Queen City but we’re finally starting to see that this team is talented and could do well. Taylor has to be better at his job though. He can’t go conservative or call such puzzling plays in critical situations.
With Joe Burrow, Joe Mixon, the wide receiver trio of Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Tyler Boyd, the offensive line finally starting to play better, and the defense looking like a top-15 unit, there’s no reason this team can’t finish the season with a winning record. Taylor has to take advantage of the talent he finally has on his roster and win games.
The win over Jacksonville was fun but Taylor was expected to lead his team to victory there. Beating bad teams is a good start for the former Nebraska quarterback but now he has to crank it up a notch and beat better teams.