On Sunday, the Cincinnati Bengals suffered their second consecutive loss as they fell 22-17 to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
After starting out the season 2-0, the team appeared to be living up to the high preseason expectations. Unfortunately, these past two weeks have resembled the Cincinnati Bengals of the past three seasons, when the team has failed to reach the postseason.
One of the main talking points coming out of Cincinnati’s loss against the Jaguars was the team’s inability to run the football. When asked about Cincinnati being outgained and perhaps looking to find a better offensive balance, quarterback Joe Burrow said, “Let’s throw it more.” Burrow’s comments led to ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith calling out Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor.
Stephen A. Smith Calls Out Cincinnati Bengals Head Coach Zac Taylor After Jaguars Loss
During First Take, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith issued the blunt statement, “The Bengals need a new head coach.”
—@stephenasmith on what needs to change for Joe Burrow and Cincinnati 🚨
Smith added, “What has Zac Taylor done as a head coach? They’re 31st in the NFL in rush attempts, 31st in the NFL in rush offense and 27th in yards per attempt. That means you’re completely reliant on the pass. Now, I understand why, I mean because obviously you get two yards per carry and you don’t want to find yourself in second-and-eight or something like that. I get it, I understand it. My point is it’s all about Joe Burrow. It’s all about Joe Burrow and him throwing the football. That’s what saves the day.”
Smith questioned, “When has the leadership ever been mentioned about the Cincinnati Bengals. We talk “Joe Burrow, Joe Burrow, Joe Burrow” and I’m not saying that we shouldn’t. The man’s getting paid $275 million dollars, he’s a star quarterback, I get it, he can ball… My points is when do we get to talk about Zac Taylor? With the weapons that you have at your disposal, compared to what you’ve actually achieved.”
Zac Taylor’s Comments
Regarding the Bengals going from 2-0 to 2-2, Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said, “It is (frustrating). We’ve played some good teams, and I was hoping we’d be 4-0 when we came out of that stretch, but we’re not. And so, we just have to continue to learn who we are and continue to make the adjustments that we need to make. I thought there were a lot of good plays the guys made out there today. We’ll see the ones that we have to clean up that have held us back from winning the last two games. Obviously, we’ll do everything we can to clean that up.”
After Cincinnati missed out on the 2025 playoffs, Bengals team president Mike Brown released a statement in which he confirmed that Taylor would return to Cincinnati in 2026 after the team missed the postseason for the third consecutive season. However, that stance may change if Cincinnati misses the playoffs yet again, especially considering the team was very aggressive in improving the roster this offseason.
Since the team’s back-to-back deep playoff runs, the Bengals have gone 26-29 under Zac Taylor.
Stephen A. Smith Calls Out Bengals Head Coach Zac Taylor After Jaguars Loss