Michael David Smith ,
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Another Bengals season looks doomed without quarterback Joe Burrow, and that’s been the norm under head coach Zac Taylor.
Taylor became the Bengals’ head coach in 2019, and led them to a 2-14 record — which had one silver lining, the first overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft, in which they took Burrow after his Heisman Trophy and national championship-winning season at LSU.
Burrow suffered a torn ACL in his rookie year, perhaps foreshadowing how much injuries would define his Cincinnati tenure. Since returning in 2021 and winning the NFLs Comeback Player of the Year award, Burrow has been one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL when healthy, and the Bengals have been unable to compete when he’s not healthy.
Overall, Taylor is 45-32-1 as the Bengals’ head coach, counting the playoffs, with Burrow as his quarterback. With all other quarterbacks, Taylor’s Bengals are 9-28.
This year Burrow started the first two games of the season and the Bengals started 2-0. Burrow has been out since, and the Bengals have gone 1-6 without him.
The Bengals’ struggles have not been entirely about Burrow’s absence. In fact, Joe Flacco has played well in his four starts for the Bengals this season, completing 64.7 percent of his passes, averaging 313.5 passing yards per game, and throwing 11 touchdown passes and just two interceptions. The Bengals’ defense, however, has been among the worst in NFL history .
Given that defense, it’s entirely possible the Bengals would be losing even with Burrow. But Taylor’s history shows that they’re a sure thing to lose without Burrow.
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