Here's why the Bengals' Zac Taylor is among the NFL's most underrated head coaches

Is Zac Taylor underrated as a head coach across the NFL? Ever since he was hired by the Cincinnati Bengals in 2019, he has been the face of intense scrutiny in the Queen City. Such is life in any NFL town, but let's face it, wasting any season of an elite quarterback's prime is a gridiron sin.

The Bengals endured a brutal season in Taylor's maiden year at the helm, going 2-14 and securing the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 draft. Call it the best tank job in franchise history if you like. The outcome was Cincinnati selecting superstar QB Joe Burrow, and the organization's trajectory changed forever.

Although the team went 4-11-1 in 2020 and saw Burrow suffer a severe knee injury, there was a glimmer of hope amongst fans based on how well Joe Brrr fared as a rookie. That promise was fulfilled in 2021, when the Bengals made a dream run to the Super Bowl.

Unfortunately, the team fell just short of victory in a 23-20 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. The 2022 season ended just one round sooner in a similarly heartbreaking, identical-score loss to the Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game.

During this time, Taylor was quite a popular figure in Cincinnati. He established a tradition of presenting game balls to local bars after playoff wins, which endeared him to fans.

There was still some criticism, however, as some wondered if the team's success was in spite of him. I've always found this narrative a bit silly. Winning in the NFL is hard, and it takes a team full of talented players and coaches to reach the Super Bowl.

The next two seasons proved to be challenging for the Bengals, missing the playoffs by one game in back-to-back years for various reasons. Naturally, the criticism of Coach Taylor has only grown in that span. In a recent article by Lou Scataglia, Taylor checked in as the 20th-ranked head coach in the league — below highly unproven coaches such as Jonathan Gannon and Mike McDaniel.

This lower ranking seems unfair for a coach with Taylor's resumé. Cincinnati has strung together four consecutive winning seasons and two division titles in the brutal AFC North. Burrow suffered a season-ending wrist injury 10 games into the 2023 campaign, and an ultra-weak defensive unit in 2024 all but dashed any playoff aspirations early on.

I mean shoot, Taylor is even getting roasted on Twitter for his preseason record against the spread these days.

Taylor has navigated a reputedly frugal ownership situation and the constraints of a small-market team to help develop one of the strongest offensive units in the NFL. He's called the shots for an explosive offense that ranked first in the NFL in passing yards, sixth in points, and ninth in total yards last season.

For the critics who say that Taylor is carried by the likes of Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins, he proved this narrative to be false during the 2023 season. He led the team to a 4-3 record with backup quarterback Jake Browning (who was relatively unknown at the time) once Burrow was sidelined.

Browning hadn't started an NFL game until that point, yet he ranked second in the league in passing yards and completion percentage over the final seven weeks of that season.

So why does Taylor draw so much heat from fans and media? It comes down to a few factors. First and foremost, Taylor doesn't necessarily fit into the mold of NFL coaches. These days, most coaches are categorized as either schematic masterminds (think Sean McVay, Kyle Shanahan) or old-school motivators (i.e. Dan Campbell, Mike Vrabel).

It feels like Taylor finds himself somewhere in the middle of these two buckets. He's not perceived as quite as much of a tactician as McVay or Shanahan, nor as fierce of a motivator as Campbell or Vrabel. Taylor tends to rely on collaboration versus trying to do things all by himself. This leads some from outside the building to question his importance and leadership.

This has never seemed to be a concern for those inside the building, however. Burrow and many of the players have consistently defended Taylor, praising his leadership and the culture he's helped build in Cincinnati.

The second major reason Taylor tends to draws criticism is because of the new standard that he set with his success in Burrow's first two healthy years. By leading the team to back-to-back AFC Championship appearances and a 5-2 playoff record, expectations inevitable rose. All of a sudden, the so-called "Bungles" looked like annual Super Bowl contenders.

Because the Bengals have fallen short of that championship standard of late, there's a notion that Taylor is on the hot seat entering 2025. To his credit, Cincinnati's tenured coach isn't shying away from any Super Bowl talk. Just look at what he said when new defensive coordinator Al Golden was hired in January.

Overall, I completely understand the frustration for failing to reach the playoffs since that AFC title game loss in Kansas City. When the team has enough talent to win a Super Bowl, it's gutting not to even have a chance to punch your ticket.

When it comes to criticism of Zac Taylor, though, it's important to keep things in perspective.

In six years, Taylor has established himself as one of the better coaches in Bengals history, especially when it comes to playoff success. He, of course, has much more to prove, starting with a return to the postseason this year and making a legitimate run for the Lombardi Trophy.

Once again, thanks in large part to the offensive juggernaut he created with Burrow at the controls, the burden falls on Taylor to deliver on Super Bowl-or-bust expectations. Here's another factor to bear in mind: This Bengals offense is looking as good as it ever has in the Joey Franchise era at the dawn of a new year.

My guess is that nobody recognizes the sense of urgency more than Taylor himself. He must be excited to go out and put an end to some of these narratives this season. If he doesn't, maybe then we can have a real debate about whether or not he deserves to be the head coach in Cincinnati.

At least for the time being, Taylor deserves the benefit of the doubt — and deserves to be recognized as one of the most underrated coaches in the league.