The Cincinnati Bengals STOMPED on the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 12, and no one was happier than Zac Taylor.
Taylor called the game to a tee, from sticking with the run game to get Joe Mixon two touchdowns to challenging a play in the 4th quarter despite the Bengals’ 31 point lead.
Taylor believes in this team in 2021, and he had plenty of good things to say about how much Cincinnati has matured from the start of the season.
Zac Taylor won six of his first 32 games in Cincinnati.
— Matt Edwards (@MattEdwards) November 28, 2021
He’s now won seven of his last 11.
Patience pays off.
Though Mixon had the most productive day of any Bengals player, wideout Tee Higgins had the next best day with six catches for 114 yards and one score.
Notably, rookie Ja’Marr Chase failed to find the end zone and only recorded 39 receiving yards that game. Taylor knew the Steelers were paying special attention to Chase, but that didn’t change the game plan one bit.
Zac Taylor: "When people ask about people taking away Ja’Marr, that’s not a concern because we have Tee."
— Charlie Goldsmith (@CharlieG__) November 28, 2021
Cincinnati Bengals’ Zac Taylor spews rainbows and sunshine after Week 12 win
Taylor also had his bit to say about the non-call on T.J. Watt roughing up Joey B:
Bengals coach Zac Taylor, on the Joe Burrow-T.J. Watt spat in the second quarter: "Any time you see the quarterback on the ground, we're always going to defend our guy."
— Ben Baby (@Ben_Baby) November 28, 2021
Cincinnati got the last laugh, anyway. The Bengals clobbered the Steelers 41-10 in a decisive division matchup that has huge playoff implications. If the Baltimore Ravens fall to the Cleveland Browns on Sunday night, Cincinnati will move into first place in the AFC North.
That’s right. FIRST place.
This wasn’t just any other win, either. Taylor pointed out that while the goal this season is to beat the entire division, there’s something extra satisfying in beating the Steelers twice.
Bengals coach Zac Taylor on any significance of beating the Steelers twice: "Our goal is to go through this division. We gotta be better than we ever have been in this division."
— Ben Baby (@Ben_Baby) November 28, 2021
Well, Taylor didn’t say it outright, but you could tell from his facial expressions. He also went on to say it feels “pretty dang good to go 2-0 against any team in the division.”
Overall, the Bengals couldn’t have asked for a better game, and their offense and defense both came up big in Week 12.
On chugs the Bengals hype train in 2021. Toot toot.