Bengals WR Ja'Marr Chase sounds like he may have real beef with Zac Taylor

The Cincinnati Bengals may have won 43-36 in overtime on Sunday against the Tennessee Titans, but that doesn't mean there ain't potential trouble in paradise. Despite having his best game of the season to date, Ja'Marr Chase was none too pleased throughout.

Chase piled up 11 receptions on 16 targets for 141 yards and a TD, as he, Tee Higgins, and Joe Burrow shredded the Titans secondary. Still, Ja'Marr was seen getting heated on the sidelines to anyone who'd listen.

Head coach Zac Taylor was caught in the crossfire. Not only during the game but after — hence my assertion that there could be some beef rising.

Chase publicly questions Taylor after being furious on the sidelines

Just look at what local media was tweeting out during the game. It was quite the saga/spectacle, and Ja'Marr Chase was fuming despite Mike Gesicki scoring a TD to cap off one scoring drive.

As for Taylor's response in the postgame presser, well, he seemed to kind of brush it off as something that happened in the heat of the moment:

"He can be mad at me, he can be mad at whoever. I trust him to go out there and do his job...I kind of like it to be honest with you."

Taylor added, "It's a tight game. It's an emotional game. We'll work through that."

Burrow responded positively to Chase's outburst, and joked that the emotion Ja'Marr shows is often when the ball isn't coming his way often enough. Or perhaps well enough in some cases, because Joe Shiesty threw a wounded duck that resulted in an interception (his third on the day) on what should've been a long Chase TD.

Here's where things get really interesting. Chase was asked about the Bengals starting slow and falling behind 13-0 for the second straight week, and had an interesting response as to why that was (via David Wysong of The Cincinnati Enquirer):

"Eh I don't know. Ask Zac. That's not my job. Ask Zac."

Are we starting to not believe in Taylor?

I've defended Zac Taylor at basically every turn and so have the players. Shoot, the offense put up 43 points in Week 8 despite four turnovers. That's pretty good!

But why does it feel like some points are always left on the field? Why are the first 15 scripted plays, the stuff you're supposed to be working on all week and feel best about, so often resulting in such sluggishness in the first quarter?

Some fans are keen to see improvement, and to see this what this Bengals team might be able to do with perhaps a more forward-thinking, innovative coach/offensive play-caller.

Or at least that seems to be the general consensus. I'm starting to come around to that school of thought as well. Taylor has done a fine job during his tenure and never seems to get too high or too low. That matches the even-keeled demeanor of Joe Burrow.

At a certain point, though, you have to wonder if Taylor is elevating the team or just kind of riding this out as far as the Burrow-Chase-Higgins trio can take him.

Is Taylor actively making those guys better? Is there another coach out there who could? That's what the Bengals need to be asking themselves.

And it's wild to say all this when the team is 5-2 with the No. 2 scoring offense in the league. For now, Taylor is under contract through 2027, and one of Burrow's points from his Sunday press conference is notable: "We lose that game the last three years."

Yeah, Burrow knows the score. So does Taylor. The vast majority of the blame for not being in the playoffs the last three years falls on the defense. As long as Burrow keeps playing at a high level, regardless of Chase's occasional dissatisfaction, Cincinnati's improved defense (36 points allowed to the freaking 1-7 Titans notwithstanding) should lead to the wins continuing to pile up.

This is certainly worth monitoring, though. The players always have Taylor's back. Maybe that's becoming not so much the case with Ja'Marr.

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